Converge for Change: The Business of Social Justice

This episode of Converge for Change the Business of Social Justice Podcast includes a special guest segment with Lauren Maddox, Co-founder of Due East Partners. Takema and Lauren discuss some of the major pain points experienced today in non-profit and social justice work including one of the most salient, language barriers.

The conversation continues live with Nia Davis (Converge College Dean) and Dr. Jennifer Sandoval (Language Expert & Assoc. Professor at the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida.) for a deep dive into the power of language and communication from colonial practices, resistance & the culture of fear, to education & understanding.

Find out how practitioners are challenging themselves to evolve in our current environment in order to continue moving the needle forward.

Converge for Change: The Business of Social Justice returns for Season 3, LIVE with Sevetri Wilson, Founder & CEO of Resilia and Wall Street Journal Best-selling author of Resilient. Tune in for a great conversation about the historical context of the non-profit sector, how companies like Resilia have used technology to help organizations scale-up, and the role non-profits play in racial equity. 

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson is a 35-year-old Affrilachian (Black Appalachian), woman from the working class, born and raised in Southeast Tennessee. She is the first Black woman to serve as Co-Executive Director of the Highlander Research & Education Center in New Market, TN. As a member of multiple leadership teams in the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), Ash-Lee has thrown down on the Vision for Black Lives and the BREATHE Act. Ash-Lee has served on the governance council of the Southern Movement Assembly, the advisory committee of the National Bailout Collective, and is an active leader of The Frontline. She is a long-time activist who has done work in movements fighting for workers, for reproductive justice, for LGBTQUIA+ folks, for environmental justice, and more.

Less than two months in and New Orleans’s new district attorney is making waves. Takema sits down with her dear friend, Flozell Daniels Jr., Transition Co-Chair for the new New Orleans District Attorney's office (and President of Foundation for Louisiana )to talk about the history of the criminal legal system in nola and how this new administration plans to impact real and necessary change for our community.

Host Takema Robinson, Founder & CEO of Converge, is joined by LaTosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter for a real and personal account of her life, her progression, and lessons learned as a leader and organizer. Hear first-hand stories of what life on the road looks like as a grassroots organization committed to flipping Senate seats and turning Red states Blue, and what philanthropy should understand as they enter new communities. 

Converge Facebook for full LIVE video

In this show Takema formally introduces Converge, the social-justice consulting firm she founded in 2014, that is committed to creating a radically just new world through its values: Radical Imagination, Agency, & Collective Action.

Tune in as Takema sets the scene for the next few months on the podcast and premieres Converge’s newest initiatives to address racism and systemic oppression including Converge College a 12-week course and its monthly introductory workshop, R.I.S.E.

TIME JUMP

1. (2:45) George Floyd, Soho Karen, US Capitol
   
2. (5:25) Let Us Re-Introduce Ourselves
   
3. (9:30) As the South Goes, So Goes the Nation
   
4. (11:12) We’re Bringing It All To the Table
   
5. (12:27) Beyond the Consulting
   

Takema Robinson sits down for a LIVE conversation about the criminal legal system ahead of the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Run-Off Election and what a new D.A. means for the city of New Orleans. She is joined by Derwyn Bunton, Chief Public Defender of Orleans Parish (OPDLA), Sarah Omojola Associate Director at The Vera Institute- New Orleans, and Nziki Wiltz of Voice of the Experienced (V.O.T.E)

Takema interviews Kelli King-Jackson (The Simmons Foundation). and Katrina Mitchell (United Way of Greater Atlanta). The conversation explores the hardships of being Black and a women in the industry, the lessons learned in Hurricane Harvey that applied to 2020 -COVID & Hurricane Laura-  and asks how real is the profession of philanthropy?

Converge, Founded by Takema M. Robinson, in 2016, is a Black woman-owned social-justice consulting firm whose purpose is to accelerate the creation of a radically just new world, where communities of color thrive. The firm uses an organizing framework to shift power so communities of color are self-defined and self-determined. To do this, Converge organizes people and resources to build a robust social justice infrastructure to enable strong leaders, organizations, and movements to grow.

In the first episode of Season 2, Takema interviews Toya Randall, the phenomenal woman behind Voice.Vision.Value. live on the Converge IG. The conversation explores the importance of the role Black women hold in philanthropy along with the hardships of navigating that very system, the need for Black people in hiring positions to step-up and explores the question, does America deserve Black women?

Voice. Vision. Value. Black Women Leading Philanthropy is a digital narrative project housed at Foundation for Louisiana. The project celebrates the leadership impact of Black women in professional philanthropy today. It also honors the iconic trailblazers that paved the way for the historic professional community of Black women CEOs, trustees, senior executives, administrative assistants, program officers, grants managers, and program associates across the current talent and leadership pipeline.

Converge, Founded by Takema M. Robinson, in 2016, is a Black woman-owned social-justice consulting firm whose purpose is to accelerate the creation of a radically just new world, where communities of color thrive. The firm uses an organizing framework to shift power so communities of color are self-defined and self-determined. To do this, Converge organizes people and resources to build a robust social justice infrastructure to enable strong leaders, organizations, and movements to grow.

Takema begins a new series and taps Stephanie McKee-Anderson, Executive Artistic Director of Junebug Productions (birthed from Free Southern Theater) in New Orleans, La about The Future of Black Arts & Culture in the US. The conversation takes a look at cultural traditions and art forms that connect communities that have been passed down and still allow for performing arts to survive amid a pandemic. 

Converge for Change: The Business of Social Justice podcast takes a weekly deep-dive into social, racial and economic justice issues and what is really happening behind the scenes as the US struggles through a global health pandemic, COVID-19, and amidst the uprisings across the nation.

Be sure to stay connected with #CFCTBoSJ on Instagram, Facebook, and the Converge for Change website. Follow host Takema Robinson on Instagram at @IAmTakema. Don't forget to hit that SUBSCRIBE button on all your favorite podcast platforms!

In this episode, Takema sits down with Edgar Villanueva, social philanthropist, award-winning author of Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance and Vice President of Programs and Advocacy at The Schott Foundation for Public Education about the Future of Philanthropy.

Converge for Change: The Business of Social Justice podcast takes a weekly deep-dive into social, racial and economic justice issues and what is really happening behind the scenes as the US struggles through a global health pandemic, COVID-19, and amidst the uprisings across the nation.

Be sure to stay connected with #CFCTBoSJ on Instagram, Facebook, and the Converge for Change website. Follow host Takema Robinson on Instagram at @IAmTakema. Don't forget to hit that SUBSCRIBE button on all your favorite podcast platforms!