Posts in social impact
Episode 1. The History, Trauma, and Tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn.

The idea for the MMIWR (R standing for relatives) series originated from a conversation I had six years ago with my sister-in-law. I first noticed airport signs in Washington asking people to keep an eye out for human trafficking victims. Our conversation quickly went from human trafficking to the MMIW crisis. I’ve never heard of either back East. It was astounding to learn that this was happening in the US (and Canada) and that the mainstream media was barely covering the issue.

The more I spoke who families and read articles, the bigger the MMIW story would become. The systemic struggles created an environment for many Indigenous Womxn, Boys, Girls, and Two-Spirits to be susceptible to murder and/or disappearances. Most are not aware that there are 5,712 cases of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls in the US.

When a blond Youtuber by the name of Gabby Petito went missing in Wyoming, it made national news. In the same state, between 2010 and 2020 there were 710 Indigenous people missing. Not one of them has ever received national media attention. The goal of the series is to amplify Indigenous Voices and create a broader MMIWR awareness in the mainstream media.

This MMIW series features the voices of Indigenous survivors, relatives, state patrol, tribal law enforcement, sexual assault coalition directors, senators, lawyers advocating for tribal sovereignty, environmentalists, and many more voices impacted by the MMIW crisis.

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Y-Vonne Hutchinson: The Author talks race, inequality, tourism, and securing our future.

Y-Vonne Hutchinson is an Author, former international human rights lawyer, and Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Founder of ReadySet, a diversity and inclusion training firm that helps tech giants, political leaders, media outlets, and Fortune 500 companies speak more productively about racism and turn talk into action. Y-Vonne also hosts a podcast called Time To Act about Diversity and Inclusion.

On the show, we talk about her latest book HOW TO TALK TO YOUR BOSS ABOUT RACE: Speaking Up Without Getting Shut Down. This episode is a conversation on race, inequality, and how race is fluid. A candid discussion from a global perspective that leaves the viewer with concrete advice that they can use in their work life.

Part memoir, part actionable guidebook, this book equips employees with a framework to think about race at work, prepares them to have frank and effective conversations with more powerful leaders, helps them center marginalized perspectives, and explains how to leverage power dynamics to get results while navigating backlash and gaslighting.

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Ethan Zuckerman: Talks Metaverse, building a better internet, and the power of local communities.

Ethan Zuckerman is a Professor at the UMass Amherst. On the show, Ethan talks about the Metaverse, trust, Facebook vs Apple, making the Metaverse a safe space, governance of online spaces, data ownership, what the biggest piece missing from the Metaverse conversation is, Omar Wasow and Black Planet, and technical barriers when it comes to storytelling access on various platforms.

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Ben Curtis: On being a Creation Coach, the Dell Dude, and going after your dreams with abandon.

Ben Curtis is a magician, award-winning actor, musician, and public speaker. He is also a Creation Coach dedicated to creating more love, compassion, and permission to go after your dreams with abandon.

You also probably recognize Ben as the iconic "The Dell Dude” from the Dell commercials in the early 2000s. Dell recently brought him back to kick off a new campaign. I can’t help but feel like somehow this is the circle of life. It truly is magical.

Ben and I have been meaning to record this podcast for quite some time since we are neighbors in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. What most people don’t know about “The Dell Dude” is that Ben is a really talented actor. Having studied at the best institutions. He attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts on an acting scholarship based on his audition. He studied at Tisch's Experimental Theater Wing (both in America and Amsterdam). Ben also attended the Lee Strasberg Institute & the Atlantic Theater Company.

This podcast was really inspiring and happened right when his Dell spots went live. It was inspiring to speak about dreams past and present. Dream on and share this episode with someone who would appreciate it.

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Pebe Sebert: Singer and Songwriter on music, aliens, and her dog rescue Magic Mission.

Pebe Sebert is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who is also known for being Kesha’s mom. She started singing at the age of four and performing publicly at six. Pebe has written for Kesha, Miranda Cosgrove, Miley Cyrus, Pitbull, Riders in the Sky, and many more. Sebert co-wrote one of my favorite songs “Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You Dear” with High Moffatt. It's been performed by Dolly Parton, Kesha, Joe Sun, and Brian Collins.

This is a really fun podcast. Pebe talks about music, aliens, Eckhart Tolle, and her love of animals. Recently Pebe launched Magic Mission dedicated to improving the lives of street dogs in Central America. Their goal is to help spread a culture of animal kindness. Eliminating suffering and overpopulation through the support of community education and sustainable, safe spay and neuter programs. The non-profit also helps the dogs get adopted in the US.

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Len May: CEO & Co-Founder of EndoCanna Health talks about genetics and Cannabis.

Len May is the CEO & Co-Founder EndoCanna Health, a Bio-Science Technology company. Think of them as a 23 And Me for Weed. An accomplished public speaker, he is on a mission to educate about the healing powers of Cannabis. In this episode, we'll talk about Cannabis, DNA, how your genetics play a role in your Canna experience, and how to talk to your Boomer parents about trying Cannabis.

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Anne Griffin: Founder of Griffin Product & Growth talks about building culturally inclusive tech.

On the podcast, Anne talks about building culturally inclusive tech products, hacking Neuralink, using blockchain for ethics, and adapting cultures into AI. It’s an engaging discussion about creating emerging tech for marginalized groups and global communities.

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Minda Harts: Founder and CEO of The Memo. Advocate for women of color in the workplace.

On the show we discuss Courageous Conversations and Courageous Listening, being a Corporate Kaepernick, how to navigate Corporate Mean Girls, how to go against Conformist Culture at work, Diversity and what it means to different cultures, and much more.

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Gia Morón: President of Women Grow.

Cannabis is the first industry, across most industries that had the most women in leadership. Yet those number aren’t strong enough. But it says a lot about where the industry is early on. We as women have stepped forward earlier... So, we look at the legalization of Cannabis, we’re still in the infancy stage. Yes it started out as a male dominated industry, but women have absolutely started fighting the fight earlier. And really speaking up and vocalizing that this will not be a repeated cycle that we’ve seen in other industries. That said, we are beginning to see more women coming into the space. And I think for several reasons. If you are looking at the plant from the medicinal side, women are generally the caregivers of their households... There are a number of women who are in the space that perhaps are not being recognized as leaders. These are the women that are caring for their families, they are caring for the communities, they are Advocates. They are in the forefront, really fighting for patient rights. And then when you look at from the Entrepreneurial side, there are many women who are saying “I opened the door, but I am not going to let it close behind me. And I’m going to help more and more women come up and come through to start building their businesses.I’d like to look at where we’re going, vs how we started out. Since how we started out was somewhat of a repeated behavior and pattern. What I believe we’re seeing is a change on the horizon. Which I hope to see more and more of.

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Kevin Arbouet: Director, Writer, Producer.

Kevin started his career as a stunt man and martial arts choreographer. He is a Director, Writer, Producer and the Former Vice President of Lee Daniel’s Entertainment. Kevin’s is focused on expanding the idea of what diversity in filmmaking means. In his own words “It's important to me that the movie industry offers audiences a wide range of diverse voices telling stories.” Our conversation explores who gets to tell stories in the movie industry and the importance of representation in the writers room.

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Esther Wojcicki: Leading educator, Author, Journalist, Mother of a PhD and two Silicon Valley CEOs.

Esther discusses techniques from her new book How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. Esther knows a thing or three about parenting. On the show Esther talks about building trust, how success is tied to delaying gratification, and shares her advice for retirement. We also discuss how children benefit from grit and the difference between Western and Eastern children when it comes to overcoming adversity.

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Gregory Stevens: Organizer, Former Baptist Pastor, GXDDESS.

Gregory Stevens moved to Palo Alto since he wanted to live and work in a Progressive town. This episode talks about a lot of very serious issues but it’s highly palatable (and delicious.)  Gregory is a bright and witty human who seems to never run out of energy. He became a Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Palo Alto — a Progressive Church. There he proceeded to question what Progress was and who gets to benefit from it. In a town filled with millionaires and billionaires, Gregory brought attention to the poor communities that are being displaced by gentrification, as well as Police Brutality. We talk about how we have to bring attention to dominant systems of power that are destroying our planet. Stevens says "Scream like hell when you see injustice. But don’t just scream — create. Your scream has to be a “doing". Create a space in which the world that you want is real. Do something that is not dominated by money. In the shell of this scary and dark world, we are creating a beautiful, bright, vibrant alternative. A heaven on earth.”  

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Miki Agrawal: Entrepreneur, Inventor, Author, DJ, Seeker, Mama.

We talk about her new book Disrupt-Her. A Manifesto for the Modern Woman. We talk about Entrepreneurship, naivety, business, women in business, LOHAS, and social impact. Her advice on fundraising and meeting people halfway is incredible helpful. Especially when it comes to raising funds for taboo products. I breathe a little heavy into the mic and interject excitingly. Miki had so many incredible ideas to share. Miki also talked about animal instincts in women and diversity and how they contribute to competition and the abundance mindset. Fascinating discussions abound.

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Rafael Espinal: New York City Councilman from Brooklyn. Fighter for socioeconomic & climate issues.

Rafael is a Brooklynite who works really hard to make the borough a great place to live, work, and grow for all. If you’ve recently been dancing in an NYC bar, it’s all thanks to Rafael’s work. He is responsible for writing a bill repealing the notorious NYC Cabaret Law from 1926 that prohibited dancing in bars. We caught up to talk about his recent bill to ban plastic straws in NYC. On the show Espinal talks plastic pollution and how it affects our waterways, the environment, nutrition in Brooklyn's food deserts, high Asthma rates in many Brooklyn neighborhoods that correlate with high vehicle traffic areas, the L Train Shutdown and how it relates to climate change, and also a new bill that he's working on that gives New Yorkers the right to disconnect after work.

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Hawk Newsome: President of Black Lives Matter NY.

Hawk Newsome is the President of Black Matter of the greater NY area. He is an activist, working at the forefront of the New Civil Rights Movement. Throughout his life Hawk has engaged in protests and activities to combat injustice. Over the past few years, he has worked tirelessly leading protests and seeking justice for the families of those slain by police officers. Most recently Hawk created controversy by speaking at a Trump rally. Resulting in mixed reactions from both sides. On this episode we talked a lot about love and dreams.

 

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