NEW YORK—March 7, 2024—The Bridgespan Group today launched the third season of its Dreaming in Color podcast, which celebrates the next generation of leaders building a better world. Established in 2022, the podcast creates space for leaders of color to share how they have leveraged their unique assets, abilities, and rich experiences to demonstrate excellence, drive impact, and develop a definition of success in the social sector that is sincere, inclusive, and community grounded.
For the third season, Bridgespan partner Darren Isom, host of previous seasons, passes the mic to the next generation of Bridgespan leadership: Christian Celeste Tate and Anum Qadir, manager and senior manager at Bridgespan, respectively. Across five episodes, Celeste Tate and Qadir candidly discuss with guests the work they are doing to build a better world for us all by pushing the thinking of what is possible.
“This generation is entering the conversation from a different place than I did,” said Isom. “They have internalized and normalized conversations that were once thought of radical, and that’s really exciting.”
Added Celeste Tate: “This season’s guests are truly reimagining our world. Across fields including poverty eradication, public safety for all, reparations, and civil engagement, they are doing incredible work to create a better world for us all. Our guests remind us that a better world is possible—but it’s up to us to build it.”
Available across multiple podcast platforms, Dreaming in Color’s third season opened today with Michael Tubbs, founder of End Poverty in California and former mayor of Stockton, California. Episodes will be released each Thursday for five consecutive weeks.
This season’s guests, in order of appearance, are:
- March 7: Michael Tubbs, founder of End Poverty in California, which aims to end poverty in the state by elevating the voices of people experiencing it, creating and implementing bold policies rooted in their needs, and advancing a state agenda focused on equal opportunity for all. He also founded Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a network of mayors advocating for a guaranteed income to ensure that all Americans have an income floor. As mayor of Stockton, Tubbs was elected the youngest mayor ever of a large American city.
- March 14: Arlan Hamilton, founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBTQ. In 2018 she co-founded Backstage Studio, which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London.
- March 21: Brea Baker, a freedom fighter and writer who has been working on the frontlines for almost a decade, first as a student activist and now as a national and global strategist. She was the youngest national organizer of the 2017 Women’s March. Her upcoming book, Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership, will be published by Penguin Random House this June.
- March 28: Rebecca Dixon, president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project, a leading advocacy organization with the mission to build a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs. She is a respected national leader in federal workers’ rights advocacy and is in great demand for her thought leadership on issues of labor and racial, gender, and economic justice.
- April 4: Robert Rooks, CEO of REFORM Alliance, a nonprofit that aims to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems, and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing. The organization is co-chaired by Grammy-nominated rap artist Meek Mill, whose incarceration spurred the international #FreeMeekMill movement, eventually leading to his original conviction being overturned.
“We hope listeners learn from these guests’ fresh perspectives on their work, how we think about and engage one another, and how we think about ourselves,” Qadir said. “None of us will achieve racial equity or social justice on our own. Dialogue and reflection are key for us to be in this work together.”
Watch the Season 3 trailer:
Learn more: https://www.bridgespan.org/dreaming-in-color
About The Bridgespan Group
The Bridgespan Group (www.bridgespan.org) is a global nonprofit that collaborates with social change organizations, philanthropists, and impact investors to make the world more equitable and just. Bridgespan’s services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. We take what we learn from this work and build on it with original research, identifying best practices and innovative ideas to share with the social sector. We work from locations in Boston, Johannesburg, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, and Washington, DC.