Dreaming in Color
Jun 6, 2022
Dreaming in Color - Trailer
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Welcome to Dreaming In Color, a show that provides a platform for BIPOC social change leaders to candidly share how their lived experiences (personal and professional) have prepared them to lead their work and drive the impact we all seek.
More episodes from Dreaming in Color
Aug 3, 2023
LIVE in New Orleans at Essence Fest!
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 journey down to New Orleans during Essence Fest for Bridgespan’s very first live episode recording, a panel highlighting Black women in philanthropy moderated by Tonyel Edwards, a partner at The Bridgespan Group.
Join us as Tonyel hosts a kitchen table conversation with a panel of Black women leading some of the most innovative thinking on equitable philanthropy: Morgan Dawson, co-CEO of Threshold Philanthropy, Tynesha McHarris, co-Founder of Black Feminist Fund, Carmen James Randolph, founding President / CEO at Women’s Foundation of the South, and Susan K. Thomas, president of Melville Charitable Trust.
Listen as these remarkable women discuss their pathway into philanthropy, the unique assets that come from being a Black woman leading in the space, and all of the ways they have navigated and changed the landscape of giving in support of a more just, equitable and colorful future.
This is Dreaming in Color.
Jump straight into:
(1:02) Starting things off with a James Baldwin Invocation
(3:55) Darren brings the words of Donald L. Hollowell into the space
(8:36) Introducing panel moderator Tonyel Edwards
(10:03) Learn about all the different hats our panelists are wearing as Black women
(19:14) Carmen references writer Toni Morrison - "As you enter positions of power and influence, dream before you think."
(34:40) Tynesha emphasizes the philosophy of being a “principled” leader.
(47:47) Power sharing, wealth redistribution and giving something up knowing that it’s not yours.
(51:45) “Hold your North,” and other thoughts on navigating the terrain of the philanthropic sector
(53:18) Best practices for building and leading in philanthropy.
(1:09:51) Rest as revolution
Episode Resources
* Connect with our panelists through LinkedIn: Tonyel Edwards, Morgan Dawson, Tynesha McHarris, Carmen James Randolph, Susan K. Thomas.
* Learn more about the organizations these panelists lead: Threshold Philanthropy (Morgan Dawson), The Black Feminist Fund (Tynesha McHarris), Women’s Foundation of the South (Carmen James Randolph), Melville Charitable Trust (Susan K. Thomas)
* Discover the historical contributions of civil rights attorney Donald L. Hollowell
* Learn more about the work and contributions of the Black women in philanthropy named throughout the segment: Black Feminist Fund co-founders, Hakima Abbas and
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May 11, 2023
Takema Robinson-Llewellyn: Dreaming of a Self-Love Revolution
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.
Takema Robinson is a mother, entrepreneur, social justice strategist, and avid advocate for Black women and radical self-care. With more than two decades of experience in strategic philanthropy, policy, advocacy, and fundraising, she is the CEO and co-founder of Converge, a social justice consulting firm whose purpose is to accelerate the creation of a radically just new world where communities of color thrive. In addition, after the near-death experience of delivering a son at just 24 weeks, she also helped to form the National Birth Equity Collaborative, which works to decrease birth inequity for Black women across the US by raising awareness of Black infant prematurity and mortality and the growing Black maternal mortality crisis.
Join this conversation as Takema explores her family’s distinguished legacy and talks about how that, coupled with her experiences at Howard and The Hill, has shaped her and the work she does through Converge. Listen as she discusses leadership, radical-self care as an act of revolution, and dreams of what a radically just new world looks like.
Jump straight into:
(0:28) Introducing Takema Robinson, CEO and Founder of Converge.
(1:40) Takema offers up words from Toni Cade Bambara’s The Salt Eaters.
(3:36) Takema and Darren reminisce about their time together at Howard and how her experiences there paved the way to building Converge.
(5:09) Takema dives into her family’s legacy of activism and how the footsteps they’ve left behind have guided her activism.
(10:18) Radical self-care as a revolutionary act.
(13:01) How taking a sabbatical and moving out of the states were necessary in Takema’s self-care journey.
(19:14) Lessons in leadership.
(21:44) Motherhood, legacy, and maintaining optimism for the future.
(25:14) Dreaming of a radically just new world.
Episode Resources
* Connect with Takema through LinkedIn
* Explore Takema’s work and background though her website
* Learn more about Takema’s work with Converge for Change
* Check out Takema’s article for Inside Philanthropy on the Greater New Orleans Funders Network “Radically Reimaging Philanthropy Through a Restorative Justice Lens”
* Read Toni Cade Bambara’s The Salt Eaters
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May 4, 2023
Bridgit Antoinette Evans: Dreaming of Positive Obsessions
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 Bridgit Antoinette Evans, a decorated artist, philanthropic executive, and thought leader in the field of narrative change. Through her ingenious use of pop culture techniques and narrative systems methodology, Bridgit has been at the forefront of promoting social justice. Since 2017, Bridgit has served as CEO of the Pop Culture Collaborative, the philanthropic resource and funder learning community working to transform the narrative landscape around people of color, immigrants, refugees, Muslims, and Indigenous peoples in America, especially those who are women, queer, trans, and disabled.
She has dedicated her career to the relentless investigation of the potential of artists and stories to drive change in society through Fuel We Power Change, the creative and strategic consultancy she founded in 2008, Bridgit's design and tested long-term culture change strategies in partnership with many of the nation's leading movement organizations, including the Save Darfur Coalition, Girls Are Not For Sale campaign, National Domestic Workers Alliance came across generation, ACLU and the Make It Work campaign.
Join this conversation as Bridgit takes us on a journey of how starting in theater at a young age helped to ignite her passion for storytelling and how it has enabled her to become a trailblazer in driving narrative change.
Jump straight into:
(0:28) Introducing Bridgit Antoinette Evans: CEO of the Pop Culture Collaborative.
(1:34) Bridgit shares an invocation from her imaginary mentor, Octavia Butler.
(4:23) Bridgit tells us of her family’s impressive legacy and contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
(7:37) Bridigit explains how participating in theater at a young age helped her develop her voice and spark a curiosity for storytelling.
(11:56) Bridgit remembers her first role in New York, Lady in Red in For Colored Girls.
(18:57) Surviving American Culture
Episode Resources
* Connect with Bridgit through LinkedIn
* Learn more about Bridgit’s work at the Pop Culture Collaborative
* Read Octavia Butler’s “Positive Obsession”
* Check out Bridgit’s article with the Nonprofit Quarterly on BIPOC-led narrative change, “The Vital Connection: BIPOC-Led Narrative Change and Pluralist Democracy”
* Listen to Bridgit’s conversation with the Ford Foundation’s Hilary Pennington on empowering communities and connecting people from diverse backgrounds
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