We're glad you're here. New and ongoing members, please take a moment to introduce yourself below! ➡️ Preferred name, pronouns + Location/Region of the world (if you’re comfortable) ➡️ Social Media Links and/or website (as many as you’d like to share) ➡️ Your top three personal/professional areas of impact and expertise ➡️ How you're leveling up your change work game in 2026 I'll start us off below! Once you're done, check out the calendar tab for upcoming events. Thanks again for being here and we look forward to building with you!

Today, I am grieving the version of me that innocently and innocuously celebrated the 4th of July for the first 25 years of my life. That attended fireworks displays, staring up at the sky with wonder and awe at the explosive spectacle of light, sound and color. The United States of America was always painted to us as the pinnacle of freedom and democracy. A picture of progress and the embodiment of limitless opportunity. I grieve the little girl that thought slavery was a moment in time. A complicated history that was corrected and as such, justice was served. It was not corrected. It was covered. Buried. Hidden. Attempted to be rewritten. But there can be no reconciliation without repair. So as memories of rose-colored flag glasses, Old Navy t-shirts and firecrackers on the front porch fade into the distance of my memory, I come into consciousness. We are living in a world where suffering is so normalized, where partisan politics are so weaponized and white supremacy is so violent that dozens of white men can now, in broad daylight, unhooded and undeterred, vote against basic human dignity in at least seven different variatiants including but not limited to revoking healthcare, ending SNAP benefits, and violently detaining citizens and parents of citizens on the basis of race. And because we have normalized it, we can no longer control it. So if today you need to just let the tears fall, do that. If you need to write and write and scream and write until your fingers fall off, do that. If you need to cancel everything and sit in a dark room, do that. But if you feel the need to take up space today, do that too. You can start here. Write how you’re feeling below. Tell me what comes up for you. You don’t have to have a solution. You don’t have to find a bright side. It’s okay if it feels like there isn’t one. This is your community, and it is protected to the best of my ability so that you can say whatever is on your mind. Please use it if you need it.

“DEI isn’t dead; it is being reborn—outside corporations, beyond catchphrases, and in the hands of the community, who’ve never needed permission to do the work in the first place.” —Janice Gassam Asare, Forbes Senior Contributor Read the whole article featuring the words of several of our distinguished guests, including our very own Arlene & @Louis Byrd, @Desirée Bela-Lobedde Boleche, and BLAIR IMANI (!!!) here. If you haven’t yet purchased your pass, please remember that we’ve made it easier than ever to join us from $5 USD—just visit TheFutureOfDEI.com/passes and select the pay-what-you-can option or enter the code AAMEMBERSONLY for 30% off the general access or legacy pass options. All I have to say to this feature, this opportunity, this effort is… Wow. I feel both humbled and empowered to make this summit everything we all need it to be in order to keep going. For all of you that have entrusted me with whatever leg of your learning journey you’re on, know that you are NOT alone in this fight. We are stronger together. No one of us can move the needle alone. To all of my aspiring change makers and impact leaders putting foot to pavement every single day, working in big, medium and small ways towards the equity, justice and liberation we ALL deserve… Keep. F@&%ing. RESISTING. 3 days to go!!! ✊🏾💫

It’s hard to describe the level of warmth and safety this group is starting to emit… But I want to check in and see if it’s just me. Our next webinar specials are aptly titled: “Every Woman.” I’m looking forward to sharing more and announcing our topics and guests. You can get a head start on reserving your spot at our new $30 USD member drop-in rate (or $25/month subscription). All info in the classroom tab. But in the meantime: How is everyone doing this week? How did your February go? What current issues are on your mind? What are your accomplice level-up goals for the rest of this quarter? Most importantly, how can I support you? I’m listening. 🫶🏾

Want to show the people around you that change is possible? That when people learn better, they do better? That in order to lead, they must learn to follow? Model it. And I don’t just mean the deep, intricate inner-workings of applying your learnings, growing in allyship and writing dissertations on social media. I mean modeling adaptability and self-care on an individual level. I mean taking long breaks from consuming danger and doom on the news. I mean hitting the RESET button (like we’re doing right now in The Identity & Belonging Lab between webinar specials) and taking a moment to remind yourself why you care about the issues you care about at all. I mean taking your mental health seriously, because you can’t pour from an empty cup or hold space that you yourself don’t have access to. Embody teachable behaviors that keep you learning and adjusting when new information is presented to you. Embody reachable behaviors by listening to your body (and the people around you) when you are being called in or called up to pivot or adjust. Want to see the people around you change? You go first. And if they don't, well… They aren’t your people. Period.