S1E2: Community Ground-rules: Tools for Love, Life and Leadership

How do we ensure that all students feel seen and affirmed, no matter their identity? Founder of the Radical Maestra, Kathy Lebrón is on a mission to help educators, families, and students use education as a vehicle for healing and liberation. In this episode, Kathy provides tangible tools for teachers who want to invest in their own professional development around the topic of power, privilege, antiracism, and restorative justice. She also explains how educators can intentionally weave social justice curriculum into the classroom for students of all ages. 

In this week's episode, Gaby and Jenelle meet their shero, Reshma Saujani who is an award-winning Founder and CEO of national nonprofit Girls Who Code and author of the book “Brave, Not Perfect,” which transformed both of their lives. 

In fact, the book was so impactful on them that they both got "Brave, Not Perfect" tattoos to remind them that failure is merely a stepping stone to success. 

If you’ve ever struggled with imposter syndrome, feared risk-taking, or felt marred with perfectionism, then this episode is for you! 

If we want to be inclusive leaders at work and in our communities, we also need to be allies and advocates for those who experience mental illness.

In this episode, we are joined by two guest experts and advocates who are using nontraditional means to raise mental health awareness. First, we hear from Dr. Jonathan Singer, Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago and President of the American Association of Suicidology who leverages social media to make suicide and mental health research accessible. Next, we connect with Dior Vargas, a Latina Feminist Mental Health Activist who is working to make mental illness awareness more inclusive through a grassroots initiative called the People of Color and Mental Illness Photo Project.

Want more behind the scenes materials? Sign up for our newsletter on our website https://www.thewaywelead.com/. 

Many companies wait until their business hits a period of high-growth or experiences a significant retention issue before investing in diversity and inclusion strategies, but startups can’t afford to treat D&I as an afterthought. We’re joined this week by Kellie Wagner, founder of Collective, a diversity and inclusion consultancy and research lab shifting how companies grow, engage, and retain diverse teams. Kellie outlines proactive tips that every business should use to avoid the pitfalls of what she calls “diversity debt.” We talk about managing across difference and discuss minimizing bias in the workplace by building operationalized processes for hiring, performance reviews and promotions. 

It’s so important for young people to have diverse role models in every field. This rings true to our most recent guest Charnelle “Cha” Quallis, who joins us to discuss diversifying the film industry, especially in the editor's room. While there is a recent proliferation of female editors in both fiction and non-fiction storytelling, the industry continues to lack representation from female editors of color. We talk about why we need more diverse decision-makers in the film industry, the importance of championing young talented editors of color, and we begin to tease apart some of the pervasive diversity challenges that continue to afflict Hollywood.

People are most effective when they can influence their immediate sphere. This week’s guests, Marie Bigham and Steve Frappier focus on removing barriers in a field they've dedicated their lives to over the last two decades: post-secondary education. In 2016, they were part of a small group that launched ACCEPT (Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today), a nonprofit organization that empowers college admissions professionals to center justice, equity, and anti-racism in their work and communities. This episode is chock-full of learnings on the hidden superpower of being multiracial, how to practice cultural humility, and how to build meaningful and active communities who advocate for equity and access.

For more, check out S1E5 episode notes for full speaker bios, episode highlights, links to references, and for a fully accessible interview transcript.

Want more behind the scenes materials? Sign up for our newsletter on our website here. 

Innovation strategist and entrepreneur, Dalia Katan is leading the conversation on how diversity and human connection can unlock untapped growth for organizations. Dalia joins us to share her practical research-based tips for creating workplace environments that can reduce prejudice and improve social cohesion across gender, race, ethnicity, and political ideologies. We also start to ask what it looks like to be a champion for underrepresented folks when we have a seat at the table.

Check out S1E4 episode notes for full speaker bios, episode highlights, links to references, and for a fully accessible interview transcript.

Want more behind the scenes materials? Sign up for our newsletter on our website here. 

What happens when a member of your family or community is NOT a good ally or worse, completely rejects us for who we are? Our long-time friend and DC Center for the LGBT Community’s Board Co-Chair, Rehana Mohammed joins us to talk about her intersectional identities. She also shows us how being an ally can get messy when you live in a tight-knit community, and provides tangible tips for how to ask for allyship when folks in that community aren't quite getting it right.

Check out S1E3 episode notes for full speaker bios, episode highlights, links to references, and for a fully accessible interview transcript.

Want more behind the scenes materials? Sign up for our newsletter on our website here. 

We're high school sweethearts who are now married. We're both convinced that our relationship wouldn't have made it through the trials and tribulations of growing up over the last 15 years if it hadn't been for the tools that we learned in an after-school program called, "City at Peace." In this episode, we outline the community ground rules for The Way We Lead and give you a look into the experience that first provided us with these tools which have served us well, not only in our relationship but also in our work and every day lives.

Check out S1E2 episode notes for full speaker bios, episode highlights, links to references, and for a fully accessible interview transcript.

Want more behind the scenes materials? Sign up for our newsletter on our website here. 

If you're anything like us, you might feel overwhelmed by the inequality in the world, but feel unsure of how to take action.  We invite you to join us as we take off on a journey to become better allies. Listen in to get to know your hosts Gaby and Jenelle as they learn practical strategies from real-world leaders to actively advocate for underrepresented and marginalized groups.

Check out S1E1 episode notes for full speaker bios, episode highlights, links to references, and for a fully accessible interview transcript.

Want more behind the scenes materials? Sign up for our newsletter on our website here.