Rachelle Zola is a storyteller and advocate for racial equity, known for her 40-day hunger strike in 2021, urging Congress to pass H.R. 40 to create a commission to study reparations for African Americans. Recently, she completed an 825-mile pilgrimage from Chicago to Montgomery, performing her one-woman show, LATE: A Love Story, which explores personal and collective stories about racism in America.
After walking 825 miles from Chicago to Montgomery, hear Rachelle’s stories:
What surprised you?
What did you learn?
What’s next for you?
Takeaways:
Rachelle invites you to reimagine our shared world as one that celebrates our diversity and freedom to be our authentic selves. Begin by asking just one person today: “What do you want me to know about you?” – if it’s someone you know well, you may want to add “today” – “What do you want me to know about you today?”
Delaney Norvor is a pioneering technology expert and advocate for underrepresented professionals, currently serving as the Director of Product Management at the National Apartment Association. Despite facing selective mutism due to dystonia, she excels in managing over $30 million in product assets and leading diverse teams. Passionate about mentorship, Delaney empowers marginalized and disabled individuals to navigate their careers, championing inclusivity and systemic change within the tech industry.
Hear Delaney discuss …
1. Her journey as a technology expert while living with selective mutism and how her experiences shaped her leadership style and approach to managing a diverse team in the tech industry.
2. Her career challenges and triumphs related to both personal and systemic discrimination and her strategies for overcoming these obstacles that can inspire others facing similar barriers.
3. Her lessons learned as a mentor and how organizations can implement these lessons to create a more supportive environment for all employees.
Takeaways:
The Importance of Inclusivity in Leadership:
Delaney’s journey highlights how diverse perspectives enhance team dynamics and drive innovation. Audiences can explore ways organizations can actively promote inclusivity and support underrepresented professionals, particularly in tech.
Strategies for Overcoming Barriers:
Delaney’s experiences with selective mutism and systemic challenges offer valuable lessons on resilience and determination. Discussions can focus on practical strategies for individuals and organizations to address discrimination and improve accessibility and support for disabled employees.
Yuriy Bova is Mayor of Trostyanets, a Ukrainian city just 20 miles from the Russian border that endured occupation for a month. Badly damaged in fighting with Russian forces almost two years ago, Trostyanets is one of six settlements being rebuilt in a pilot program to develop the skills and experience needed for a far broader reconstruction drive.
Trostyanets is now in partnership with the City of Chattanooga whose Mayor Tim Kelly formalized a cooperative agreement with the war-torn Ukrainian city. I met Mayor Bova at a recent reception celebrating the collaboration with many city leaders and organizations like Sister Cities.
Hear Mayor Bova discuss through his translator:
The history and significance of Trostyanets and the remaining historical monuments
Trostyanets’ response to Russia’s large-scale invasion in 2022 and what the Russians did in the city
The process of rebuilding: how it began and its current status
The city’s development strategy including sports and tourism industries and attracting new investors to the community
Takeaways:
What are current threats from Russia?
What are the most important problems requiring solutions now?
What will be the benefits of this partnership with Chattanooga and how does your visit benefit your people?
Avi Hoffman is a globally renowned award-winning actor, director and producer, and Co-Founder & CEO of Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc. (YILoveJewish.org)
This is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting Antisemitism through the Arts : Yiddish Saves The World.
Avi was recently awarded Congressional recognition. He was invited to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis and was inducted into the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame for his lifetime work advancing Jewish culture, Yiddish language and Holocaust awareness.
Technically, Arwen Lewis inhabits our blue planet, but so much about her belongs in the celestial realm. First and foremost, her earthily angelic voice (just listen and you’ll know that’s not a contradiction in terms). Then there’s her lineage: The granddaughter of Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young and Tom Lewis who created the Armed Forces Radio Network during World War II. She is the daughter of Peter Lewis, a founding member of ‘60s psychedelic cult heroes Moby Grape, she’s been part of the creative cosmos all her life. So it’s no surprise that Arwen’s new OMAD EP is called Under the Stars—or that a slice of sonic heaven is poised to enter your heart, mind and soul.
Arwen creates music in the professional realm for the pure love of creating art, and because of the community that she has found in the world of music and performance. She not only performs but also works with other musicians. including organizes concerts. She is also the host of a music podcast on Pantheon Podcasts called The Arwen Lewis Show. Arwen looks forward to creating new music in the future and exploring the realm of alternative music with nuances of classical and jazz.
Robert LaRoche has been a musician since his teens in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He toured long and hard with The Sighs in support of their Nineties’ albums What Goes On and Different, and when their frontman elected to step out of the spotlight, he found a satisfying role, writing, recording, and performing with Patricia Vonne, whose pop-rock sound has Latin/country flavors. Ultimately, LaRoche’s own muse stirred anew and he released the aptly titled Patient Man in 2015 and its follow-up, A Thousand Shades, four years later.
Now, on Forevermore, he’s come full circle. There are sparkling, giddy moments and somber, poignant pieces. LaRoche explains: “Loss and gain, dark and light—it’s the basic human experience of redemption that I hope rings true to the listener.”
George Eshleman is a veteran who inspired the upcoming film THE KEEPER which is based on his real-life experience hiking the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes from military members who committed suicide to raise awareness.
Hear George discuss:
What inspired him to hike the Appalachian Trail to promote veteran mental health awareness…
How he dealt with his own depression…
What it was like working with Co-Directors Angus Benfield and Kendall Bryant Jr. and the cast…
What we can do to address the rising rate of suicide among veterans.
Janet Rutkowski is a Brooklyn-based artist with a studio in Barryville, NY. She’s a self-taught artist whose work spans over 35 years and primarily works in steel, although during the pandemic, she created hundreds of works on paper entitled Quarantine Compositions. Janet is also a curator and currently has a large show in celebration of Women’s History Month entitled: Behind The Mask. The Art of Women Welders. It features 29 women welders and over 50 works of powerful art, as well as one of her large scale pieces.
Here Rutkowski discuss:
The inspiration for her work
The role of women in the current art world today
The current show that she co-curated featuring women welders for Women’s History Month.
Her numerous projects and events (CLICK to visit her WEBSITE )
Gloria Feldt is Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a nonprofit organization providing training, coaching and cohort building, inspiring role models, and thought leadership to individuals and organizations, with the mission of intersectional gender parity in leadership. Gloria is the author of 5 books and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is a Forbes 50 over 50, angling for 80 over 80.
Hear Gloria discuss:
Why she started Take The Lead?
What will it take for women to reach parity in leadership positions, power, and pay?
What is the necessary, fundamental mindset shift about power.
How are women engaging that shift towards gender parity in leadership?
Jerry Colonna is a leading executive coach who uses the skills he learned as a venture capitalist to help entrepreneurs. He is a co-founder and CEO of Reboot, the executive coaching and leadership development company, host of the Reboot Podcast, and author of Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong and Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up .
He draws on his wide variety of experiences to help clients design a more conscious life and make needed changes to their career to improve their performance and satisfaction. He was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase and earlier, he’d launched Flatiron Partners, which became one of the most successful, early-stage investment programs in the New York City area. He currently lives on a farm in Colorado.
Hear Jerry discuss:
1. What is the ‘Reunion’ process and its intended outcome?
2. How can acknowledging our ancestral history make us better leaders?
3. What is the best practice for dealing with shame or guilt surrounding our family lineage?
Discussion questions for you:
1. Why is it now critical to question traditional definitions of leadership? While it’s always essential to investigate various forms of leadership, it’s clear that the ways leaders have been leading have failed. We see this in the dissatisfaction among employees. We see this in the double-binds business leaders face when social disruption hits home. When companies are boycotted for the slightest expressions of a celebration and welcome for those who might otherwise face discrimination, then it’s clear that new forms of leadership are required.
2. How is systemic othering impacting today’s work environment? How is it not? When we place people in separate categories from ourselves, we automatically think of them differently and treat them differently. We are less likely to value their creative processes, input, and presence. Wildflowers make a garden beautiful and are the key to an accepting culture.
Rachelle Zola is a storyteller and advocate for racial equity, known for her 40-day hunger strike in 2021, urging Congress to pass H.R. 40 to create a commission to study reparations for African Americans. Recently, she completed an 825-mile pilgrimage from Chicago to Montgomery, performing her one-woman show, LATE: A Love Story, which explores personal and collective stories about racism in America.
Delaney Norvor is a pioneering technology expert and advocate for underrepresented professionals, currently serving as the Director of Product Management at the National Apartment Association. Despite facing selective mutism due to dystonia, she excels in managing over $30 million in product assets and leading diverse teams. Passionate about mentorship, Delaney empowers marginalized and disabled individuals to navigate their careers, championing inclusivity and systemic change within the tech industry.
Yuriy Bova is Mayor of Trostyanets, a Ukrainian city just 20 miles from the Russian border that endured occupation for a month. Badly damaged in fighting with Russian forces almost two years ago, Trostyanets is one of six settlements being rebuilt in a pilot program to develop the skills and experience needed for a far broader reconstruction drive.
Avi Hoffman is a globally renowned award-winning actor, director and producer, and Co-Founder & CEO of Yiddishkayt Initiative, Inc. (YILoveJewish.org)
Technically, Arwen Lewis inhabits our blue planet, but so much about her belongs in the celestial realm. First and foremost, her earthily angelic voice (just listen and you’ll know that’s not a contradiction in terms). Then there’s her lineage: The granddaughter of Oscar-winning actress Loretta Young and Tom Lewis who created the Armed Forces Radio Network during World War II. She is the daughter of Peter Lewis, a founding member of ‘60s psychedelic cult heroes Moby Grape, she’s been part of the creative cosmos all her life. So it’s no surprise that Arwen’s new OMAD EP is called Under the Stars—or that a slice of sonic heaven is poised to enter your heart, mind and soul.
Robert LaRoche has been a musician since his teens in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He toured long and hard with The Sighs in support of their Nineties’ albums What Goes On and Different, and when their frontman elected to step out of the spotlight, he found a satisfying role, writing, recording, and performing with Patricia Vonne, whose pop-rock sound has Latin/country flavors. Ultimately, LaRoche’s own muse stirred anew and he released the aptly titled Patient Man in 2015 and its follow-up, A Thousand Shades, four years later.
George Eshleman is a veteran who inspired the upcoming film THE KEEPER which is based on his real-life experience hiking the Appalachian Trail while carrying 363 military name tapes from military members who committed suicide to raise awareness.
CLICK for podcast
Janet Rutkowski is a Brooklyn-based artist with a studio in Barryville, NY. She’s a self-taught artist whose work spans over 35 years and primarily works in steel, although during the pandemic, she created hundreds of works on paper entitled Quarantine Compositions. Janet is also a curator and currently has a large show in celebration of Women’s History Month entitled: Behind The Mask. The Art of Women Welders. It features 29 women welders and over 50 works of powerful art, as well as one of her large scale pieces.
Gloria Feldt is Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a nonprofit organization providing training, coaching and cohort building, inspiring role models, and thought leadership to individuals and organizations, with the mission of intersectional gender parity in leadership. Gloria is the author of 5 books and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is a Forbes 50 over 50, angling for 80 over 80.
Jerry Colonna is a leading executive coach who uses the skills he learned as a venture capitalist to help entrepreneurs. He is a co-founder and CEO of Reboot, the executive coaching and leadership development company, host of the Reboot Podcast, and author of Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong and Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up .