Guest: Dr. Leeja Carter ([email protected]) Difficult Truths. A conversation about how the power and promise of work among women, and Black women, in particular, are not always realized. And how, given the effort to amplify solidarity with women’s leadership, discussing these difficult truths can be frowned upon. In this conversation, we shine a light on the breakdowns in solidarity, unpack root causes, and explore pathways toward empowered leading.     Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Dr. Leeja Carter. Leeja is a dear friend and much more. She is a psychologist and an expert on inclusive and equity-focused practice in sport and health.  I purposely invited Leeja to this conversation about the complexity of relationships between women and especially Black women in the context of our work and leadership experiences.  Touchy, yes, but we are able to handle it. We have the relationship strength to hold this conversation. In this episode, we talk about relationship ruptures between Black women, how to heal them, and the personal values and priorities in work and relationships that make healing possible.    Leeja’s work and reach are phenomenal. As her friend, I have been so proud of how she has crafted the current iteration of her career. Realizing the breakdown of the social contract between the food service and restaurant industries and the food insecure at the start of the pandemic, Leeja developed what would become The Hunger Project of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity (https://www.coalitionequity.org/), a not-for-profit organization linking the food insecure on the NJ side of the Hudson Valley with the perishable food and empty restaurants in the area. The Coalition has raised significant public and private funding and was named a model program that continues to provide for a critical need during this desperate time in our nation.    Leeja’s expertise at the intersection of Black feminism and sport has also been sought after in the wake of Naomi Osaka’s and Simone Biles’s refusal to perform their athleticism in the midst of their mental health challenges at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been featured on various news and podcast outlets discussing the topic, and her edited book, Feminist Applied Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice (See link: https://bookshop.org/books/feminist-applied-sport-psychology-from-theory-to-practice/9781138483071) was the best resource for the moment.    Learn more about Leeja at her website https://www.leejacarter.com/ and follow her on Instagram at @drleeja and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LeejaCarterPhD.  Also, learn more about and donate to support the works of the Coalition for Food and Health Equity at https://www.coalitionequity.org/ and follow their work on Instagram @coalition_equity and on Facebook @CoalitionforFoodandHealthEquity.     To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865    Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah   Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Dr. Nadia Lopez, who is been lovingly called Ms. Lopez by innumerable young people and their families who attended Mott Hall Bridges Academy, the school she founded in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. In her TedTalk (https://www.ted.com/talks/nadia_lopez_why_open_a_school_to_close_a_prison?language=en), she says she opened a school to close a prison.    In this episode, we discuss her path and experience as an educational leader and her decision to leave the profession to heal mentally and physically.  Nadia’s good work was made very public when one of her students named her as one of the most important people in his life in a Human’s of New York feature (see link: https://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/108838763416/a-couple-days-back-i-posted-the-portrait-of-a). Nadia’s impact on the lives of her students and the staff at her school was huge and unfortunately, it came at a cost to her health. In our conversation, she shares her experience and the alchemy she’s performed turning the professional pain she’s endured into powerful lessons learned that she now shares with educational leaders through her consultation.  Whether it is her Sunday support series, “Tea With Me”; organizational, individual, and group coaching consultation, or the development of her curriculum, The Blueprint (https://www.elevatedblk.com/the-blueprint), Nadia walks alongside her clients and community to find wholeness and wellness as they engage critical work for youth, schools, and communities. And most recently, Nadia launched a podcast, Detention (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/detention-with-dr-nadia-lopezpodcast-episode-1/id1614518774?i=1000554139618)  in which she invites disruptors and rebels in conversation about how to change the field of education for the better.  Learn more about Nadia at her website http://www.thelopezeffect.com/tle/ and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @TheLopezEffect.    To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865    Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah   Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Dr. Wendi is in conversation with Mutale Nkonde.  Mutale is the founder and CEO of AI For the People (AFP; https://www.aiforpeople.org/). AFP is a non-profit communications agency that aims to eliminate the underrepresentation of Black professionals in the American technology sector by 2030.  In this episode, we discuss her decision to launch AI for the People and the work she’s done to address race-based dis-and misinformation which was featured in an article, “Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weaponization of breaking news” in the Misinformation Review published by the Harvard Kennedy School (see link:  https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/nkonde_disinformation_creep_ados_20210118_retracted.pdf. The article was later retracted. She has also discussed her work on several podcasts and media outlets including on Farai Chideya’s Our Body Politic which we mention during this episode (see link: https://our-body-politic.simplecast.com/episodes/our-body-politic-january-1-2021-BDZUuAIq_)  In this episode, we also discuss her foray into film-making and the inclusion of her film, Blackness Unbound: Afrofuturism and the Revolutionary Imagination (see link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqXIR6BPxlk&list=PL6RlkQnoCx_XI6uS8ZuR_fvx8ZrCaWPan&index=22), which was included in the Smithsonian Afrofuturism Series, a collaboration between the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (@NMAAHC ), and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.    Mutale is a fascinating artist and human. Follow her and the work of AI For the People on Twitter at @mutalenkonde and @AI4thePPL, respectively.    To learn more about what Dr. Wendi is doing and thinking about, follow her at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865    Music Credit: She Been Ready - Arranged, produced, and mixed by Shawn Nealy-Oparah Website: www.drwendiwilliams.com

Introducing She Been Ready! The Podcast. A conversation about Black women’s leadership praxis.  Follow Dr. Wendi at @drwendiwilliams on Instagram and Twitter and stay up with the latest on She Been Ready! The Podcast on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/She_Been_Ready-The-Podcast-105193828770865