I first realized what it means to be black in America my freshman year of college. I’d escaped reality up until that point because I grew up overseas and attended a school as diverse as the United Nations, a microcosm of the future.

A few soccer team players walked me back to my dorm at UVA after a party. We hung out in the hall for awhile.

Are these guys bothering you?!

asked a guy from a neighboring old dorm. Old dorms were considered “cooler” - more elite/whiter - than new dorms. There was no explicit discussion of race that I was privy to but somehow I and everyone around me knew.

I didn’t understand why he was so concerned about our visitors.

Everything’s fine, thanks!
It’s cool, we’ll leave.

said one of the guys. Then I understood. I don’t remember what happened next but I called my mom who, bless her, picked up at 5 or 6 am her time to console me through tears. My mom who attended UT Austin when .5% of the student population was black, just 15 years after integrating dorms.

In high school, differences were uniting. In college, differences were divisive. Fearing being different, 18 year old me gave my power away to a random white dude in a backwards cap that night. I got quieter throughout college, constantly conscious of being the only black woman in too many rooms.

The work of raising a tiny human, leading a growing global company, coaching others in fitness and reflecting here with you weekly has brought me back to myself and the drive I had as many of us do stepping out into the world after high school to create a better future. Most importantly, the events of the last 9 months have shown me, us, what the power dynamic is in our country and that to change, we have to get loud.

Lisa Ross, the COO of Edelman shared that “businesses are the most trusted institution (56%),” trusted more than government and even NGOs. I believe that a more united, inclusive future starts in the board room, with the people we hire, the companies whose products and services we use and the space we create for conversations and learning outside of our closed networks.

This week I started talking to people with experience building DEI programs at some of the world’s best companies. To do something big for every person who has walked in a room and been afraid to take up space, I need to be a beginner. Start again. If you are interested in talking about DEI at your org or know someone who might be, shoot me an email.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. - Martin Luther King Jr.

I see you, I love you, let’s get loud!