In our final episode of season 1, we welcome Dr. Joanna Shoffner Scott.

Joanna is an experienced Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant with expertise in racial equity and she is the founder of Stamey Street Consulting Group.

Her specialty is getting organizations “unstuck” in their equity journey. In my experience working with Joanna, this means well meaning organizations turn to her when they are trying to get started or they are having trouble turning the corner to get to real change.

With her organizational focus, we’ll talk quite a bit on this episode about race in the workplace. Fittingly enough Joanna has podcast by the same name, which you can find at raceintheworkplacepod.com.

That podcast is focused on DEI practitioners. It’s full of tactical, practical, and actionable advice, as well as insights from other practitioners, and a good helping of emotional support for navigating equity work.

If you have ever heard the trailer for the White People Make Everything About Race podcast, you’ve heard me say that everyone faces challenges, but not everyone’s challenges are the same. That phrase is one that I learned directly from Joanna.

It’s one of the reasons I enjoy working with her: her ability to go deep into the structures and constructs that perpetuate racial inequity, but then to also make things very concrete and relatable to people’s everyday experiences, and to do it with empathy and understanding.

Just like the edge where personal meets professional, the edge where systems meet self is a difficult and sticky place to be.

Hopefully this interview will help get you a little unstuck.

See show notes and more at whitepeoplemakeeverythingaboutrace.com/podcast

On this episode we are joined by Tema Okun.

If you’ve been involved in anti-racism, racial justice, or DEI circles, you’re probably familiar with some of her work, even if you don’t know her name. In our conversations we’ll touch on some of these.

When we speak about “The Article” we’re talking about The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture” article that she first wrote in 1999, and has since reinterpreted as a website that you can find at whitesupremacyculture.info.

When we speak about her book, we’re discussing “The Emperor Has No Clothes: Teaching about Race and Racism to People Who Don't Want to Know”.

When we speak about “the Ladder”, we’re referencing the ladder of empowerment from white people, which she describes in her 2006 article “From White Racist to White Anti-Racist the life-long journey.” She’ll also mention the corollary piece developed with her colleagues at DismantlingRacism (or drWorks) for people of color.

However, Tema’s humility is both apparent and telling. As she speaks to her own growth and ongoing development, the underlying context of what really matters and what should be important through the lens of her values continues to shine through.

See show notes and more at whitepeoplemakeeverythingaboutrace.com/podcast

On this episode, we welcome Annie McKay.

As Principal Consultant at Adaptive Equity Solutions, Annie advises organizations and national policy networks on centering equity and inclusion in their organizational practices as they work to strengthen their commitment to racial justice.

Before becoming an organizational consultant, Annie served as the President and CEO of Kansas Action for Children (KAC), the executive director of the Kansas Center for Economic Growth and a former Rockwood Leadership Fellow, Sunflower Foundation Advocacy Fellow, and was appointed to the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and the Governor’s Education Council.

Throughout our conversation, Annie will touch on many turning points in approaching their work, and how not even racial equity, but just racial awareness can be a struggle for both individuals and organizations.

We’ll talk about breaking through or moving beyond the shame and guilt that this can surface, and instead working toward a place of productive and supportive action.

See show notes and more at whitepeoplemakeeverythingaboutrace.com/podcast