Welcome to Dreaming in Color, a show hosted by Darren Isom, a partner with The Bridgespan Group, that provides a space for social change leaders of color to reflect on how their life experiences, personal and professional, have prepared them to lead and drive the impact we all seek.

In this episode, Nithin Iyengar, Partner at Bridgespan and head of the San Francisco office, sits down with longtime friend, Liz Thompson, the President, Co-founder, and CEO of The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education Group (The CAFE Group), which supports leaders of color through financial and programmatic aid. The CAFE Group aims to create a pathway from college intern to established leader, leveraging community genius to drive systemic change.

Liz's nonprofit career began in 1993 as the founding Executive Director of City Year Chicago, influencing the AmeriCorps Program's development. She later expanded the Early Head Start program at Family Star Montessori School in Denver as its Executive Director. Before her nonprofit work, Liz had a successful decade-long career with Ameritech Corporation.

In this intimate conversation, Liz Thompson discusses her journey from growing up in Cabrini Green to becoming a transformative figure in philanthropy. Liz and Nithin explore themes of radical love, leadership, and service. Liz shares her experiences with challenging philanthropic relationships, her dedication to supporting Black educational visionaries who she likes to call Luminaries, and the founding of the CAFE Group. She guides us through the significance of authentic relationships, collective action, and the joy of giving. Liz reflects on her mentors, the future of education, and the emotional weight of her work before giving insights on self-care, the essence of freedom, and the power of love in her life and work.

This is Dreaming In Color.

Jump Straight Into:

(1:14:3) Introduction of Liz Thompson, CEO of CAFE Group

(4:52:2) Liz reflects on growing up in her beloved Cabrini Green community in Chicago.

(11:28:9) Liz shares the origin story of how she Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education with her husband.

(12:58:7) We explore the inspiration behind the origins of the 1954 Project.

(16:59:5) Liz and Nithin discuss creating strategy that changes the philanthropic landscape.

(27:30:6) Liz paints a picture of how she imagines the future of education.

Episode Resources

• Connect with Liz on LinkedIn here
• Learn more about CAFE Group here.
• Learn more about the 1954 Project here and read Bridgespan’s case study about it here.

Listen to the Dreaming In Color Spotify Playlist here.

Welcome to Dreaming in Color, a show hosted by Darren Isom, a partner with The Bridgespan Group, that provides a space for social change leaders of color to reflect on how their life experiences, personal and professional, have prepared them to lead and drive the impact we all seek.

In this episode, we welcome Erika Alexander, an actress known for iconic roles like Maxine Shaw in Living Single, Detective Latoya in Get Out, Cousin Pam in The Cosby Show and many others. Outside of acting, Erika wears many hats including activist, entrepreneur, creator, producer, and director.

In 2017 Erika founded Color Farm Media, a media company dedicated to building an ecosystem that fosters greater equity, inclusion, and diversity in media and that empowers and elevates voices who are underrepresented, overlooked, and undervalued. Some of Color Farm’s social impact films include John Lewis: Good Trouble and The Big Payback, about the reparations movement.

Join this conversation as Darren and Erika discuss the significance of her iconic character Maxine Shaw from Living Single and how that led to the so-called “Maxine Shaw Effect” which inspired many young women to pursue careers in leadership and law.

Listen as we explore the intersection of storytelling and electoral politics and examine how narratives shape public perception and policy reinforcing the need for philanthropy and the social sector to support storytellers and create spaces for diverse narratives to thrive.

This is Dreaming In Color.

Jump straight into:

(00:25.7) Introducing Erika Alexander: Actress, Producer, Director, and Founder of Color Farm Media.

(03:36.4) Erika’s early beginnings in the Southwest.

(05:25.9) We explore the early ideas of futurism spreading through the words of pastors, clergy & teachers.

(06:08.5) The Maxine Shaw Effect - how Erika’s portrayal of Maxine Shaw inspired leaders like Stacey Abrams, Ayanna Pressley, and Mayor de Blasio

(9:58.1) American Fiction and creating complex narratives for Black characters in media.

(12:14.6) Erika delves into the work of ColorFarm Media.

(13:48.8) We dive into the influence of storytelling in politics and Erika’s work on Capitol Hill.

(18:33.5) Architecting the third reconstruction: building new narratives and shedding old ones.

(20:46.4) Building a society around the sustainability of storytellers.

(22:27.6) Fusion politics, people being oppressed simultaneously and how we have the power to retell stories of the past through a different lens.

(23:16.5) Erika references the dark underbelly of the silent investors in media.

(25:36.7) Going within, how coping mechanisms turned darkness into light, into Black Futurism.

Episode Resources

• Keep up with Erika on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook
• Learn more about Erika through her website
• Learn more about Color Farm Media at their website
• Listen to Erika’s podcast “Reparations: The Big Payback” on Apple Podcasts

 Y'all, I'm back! Welcome to Dreaming in Color, where we sit down with social change leaders of color to learn how their unique life experiences have prepared them to lead and drive the impact we all seek.

I'm your host, Darren Isom, and this season I'm lucky to have a few of my Bridgespan colleagues dropping in to join me as guest hosts.

Join us for Dreaming in Color, available every Thursday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.