Finding Fertile Ground: Communicate for Change

Racist whiners are losing their minds, melting down and accusing Kendrick Lamar's halftime show of being "DEI" because of the powerful symbolism and no white performers onstage. Seriously? Contrary to popular belief, DEI is not actually dead...but it's become a bad word thanks to this administration and followers. And they also cancelled Black History Month while they were at it. So how do we celebrate Black history in the midst of this chaos? I have some ideas! #InclusiveCommun...

My mother-in-law died in early October, two days before my 60th birthday. We ended up spending almost three weeks in the UK, preparing for her funeral and grieving with family. And now, just after we were beginning to emerge from the worst of the grief cycle, our family and friends are plunged right back into deep grief after the election. I feel numb. My husband and I went to the Japanese Garden yesterday. It was a beautiful day in Portland. We were not alone in seeking solace in the b...

I’m rebooting my podcast to focus on communicating for change. This week we’re going to talk about how to uplift people of Hispanic descent. I share statistics about the prevalence of people of Hispanic descent in the U.S. workforce and why it's important to uplift them. In the U.S., National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed from September 15 to October 15. It’s a time to celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbe...

Dr. Ronnie Taylor was born to extremely young parents who divorced after a few years of marriage. His mom converted to Mormonism and moved the family to Salt Lake City to start a new life. Unfortunately, the missionary who converted and recruited her failed to tell the church Ronnie’s family was Black. They weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. His mom worked and went to college full time, and eventually she remarried. Growing up in Utah as a Black Mormon was tough. Ronnie moved out when h...

Dr. Melissa Jenkins Mangili is a neuropsychologist and medical school faculty member who has reinvented herself as a fashion and fitness model. Her life began with grit and resilience. She and her three siblings were was raised in poverty in rural Maine by a single quadriplegic mother. “The nice thing about being from a small town is that everybody knows each other…and rallied to help us. (My mother) couldn't drive at first. She had to relearn how to drive and get an adapted...