Parent Roundtable: How To Support The Leadership of Black and Latinx Girls

Parent Roundtable: How to Support the Leadership of Black and Latinx Girls
Thursday, April 29
1 PM PT/4 PM ET

Watch Recording

Join us on Thursday, April 29, as we discuss what the Ready to Lead report means for parents and caretakers of Black and Latinx girls. The report shows what Black and Latinx families have always known — Black and Latinx girls have the highest leadership skills and identity out of all ethnic groups, but teachers’ perceived barriers to leadership for these girls prevents them from seeing and supporting them. How can parents of Black and Latinx girls use the report findings to help advocate for their girls and push for change in schools so their girls can reach their full potential? How can other parents use this data as allies supporting change? Allies are welcome. Panelists include Sam Lalanne, the Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Group (ISG); education and youth development expert Jenjii Faith Hysten, CEO and Co-founder of Blaze Consulting Group; and Olivia Araiza, Program Director for UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute’s Network for Transformative Change. Dr. Kendra Carr, Girls Leadership’s Chief Program Officer, will moderate.

Moderator:

• Dr. Kendra Carr, Chief Program Officer, Girls Leadership

Panelists:

• Sam Lalanne, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Institutional Securities Group (ISG), Morgan Stanley
• Jenjii Faith Hysten, Co-Founder and CEO, Blaze Consulting Group
• Olivia Araiza Program Director, Network for Transformative Change, Civic Engagement Narrative Change, Blueprint for Belonging, UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute

Sponsored by

MODERATOR

Dr. Kendra Carr, Chief Program Officer, Girls Leadership

Kendra joins the Girls Leadership team after almost a decade of work as an administrator at an all-girls school in Oakland, CA. She is deeply committed to girls programming that addresses the needs of all girls, especially those at the margins of society. Love, community, humility, equity, and a commitment to liberating action are the values that guide her work with youth. For the last 15 years, Kendra has served in various roles within the field of education and youth development, and has worked with elementary, middle, high school, and community college students and their families.

Kendra received a B.S. in Political Science with a minor in Ethnic Studies from Santa Clara University and a M.A. in Education with a concentration in Equity and Social Justice from San Francisco State University. She received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Saint Mary’s College of CA.

PANELISTS

Olivia Araiza, Program Director, Network for Transformative Change, Civic Engagement Narrative Change, Blueprint for Belonging; UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute.

Olivia Araiza is the Program Director for the Institute’s Network for Transformative Change where she supports a new paradigm-shifting platform comprised of individuals and institutions dedicated to aligning a new movement to transform and penetrate our most pressing societal issues.

Previously Olivia was the executive director at Justice Matters, a racial justice organization based in Oakland, CA. Olivia’s twelve years at Justice Matters brought together her background as a daughter/sister of immigrants, mother, community organizer, and policy analyst. She dedicated herself to changing the conditions communities of color experience at public schools by combining critical public policy analysis with powerful community organizing for educational justice. While at Justice Matters, Olivia developed organizing, research, and policy methodologies that view communities of color as assets to schools. As part of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California, Olivia worked as the Campaign Coordinator for the Driving While Black and Brown Campaign. Before this, she organized for police accountability in Oakland, CA for People United for a Better Oakland (PUEBLO).

Olivia relocated to the Bay Area from her home in Santa Ana, CA, to go to UC Berkeley where she completed her B.A. in Latin American Studies and Spanish and Latin American Literature. She is a first-generation college graduate that benefited from Head Start and Affirmative Action programs and policies. In 2002, she completed her M.P.A. with a focus on public policy at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

Jenjii Faith Hysten, Co-founder and CEO, Blaze Consulting Group

Jenjii Faith Hysten is a mother, entrepreneur, innovator, servant leader, and author with over 25 years experience in the education and human services arenas. As Co-founder and CEO of Blaze Consulting Group, LLC she provides coaching and technical assistance to build the capacity of public and nonprofit organizations. She was the founding Executive Director of Saving Our Sisters, Saving Our Selves, a youth development program that was invited to school districts throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and served hundreds of girls. As Dean of Students at a charter high school, Jenjii was responsible for designing and supervising a Care Management program to support the holistic needs of the whole child. Jenjii’s passion for community has pushed her to contribute to many efforts that aim to make communities more equitable, loving, and just.

She was recognized as a “community Pastor” in one respected leader’s writing. As a consultant, she can quickly assess complex organizational issues and develop creative solutions for problems. She is gifted in utilizing the power of metaphors and storytelling to connect program challenges to theoretical frameworks. Jenjii enjoys exploring new places with her husband and two sons. Her sons, nieces, and nephews inspire her to work tirelessly on dismantling systems and structures that would threaten their well-being.

Jenjii is an ordained minister and the author of Beyond The Hashtag; The Heart, Mind and Spirit of Black Men. She also has a coaching certification in Transformative Coaching. She received her Bachelor of Art in Interdisciplinary Studies (Urban Economic Development) at UC Berkeley.

Sam Lalanne, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Institutional Securities Group (ISG), Morgan Stanley

Sam Lalanne is the Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Group (ISG). In this role, Sam is a strategic partner to colleagues across ISG and Human Resources to help drive diversity and inclusion initiatives, including a focus on improving diversity representation, advancement, and retention. Sam is a member of the ISG Diversity Council as well as additional divisional diversity committees across the firm. Sam joined Morgan Stanley from Citi where he had a distinguished career spanning 19 years. During his tenure at Citi, he held various leadership roles within the Institutional Clients Group, including Head of Fraud Management, Head of Group Information Security, and Head of Vendor Management for the North America Private Banking Division. Most recently, Sam served as Senior Vice President in the Global Diversity and Talent Organization, where he was focused on building enterprise-wide, data-driven diversity efforts for the firm.

Sam holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

Sam lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two daughters.