The Power Table

California Black Women's Collective Empowerment Institute

The Power Table - Conversations for Black Women, brings powerful Black Women leaders to the table to uplift quality of life issues that impact Black Women and Girls throughout California, nationally and international. The Power Table is sponsored by CA Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute.

  1. 5d ago

    Shaylyn Cochran: Leading With Vulnerability in Unprecedented Times

    Civil rights attorney Shaylyn Cochran, Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, joins The Power Table to discuss her path from journalism to law and what it takes to lead through today's rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion. She reflects on the mentors, family, and history that keep her grounded, and shares hard-won lessons on vulnerability, imposter syndrome, and building a bench of talent behind her. Cochran's path from journalism to civil rights law, and how skills like open-ended interviewing and questioning authority now shape her legal strategy and messaging work at the Lawyers' CommitteeThe current landscape: the rollback of demographic data collection, the mass exit of Black women from the federal workforce, and the litigation pushing back on executive orders framing DEI as illegalWhy she believes reclaiming lost ground will take "a generation," drawing lessons from Constance Baker Motley and Civil Rights Movement leaders who acted boldly without a blueprintHer leadership style — democratic and rooted in vulnerability — including telling her team when she's running on limited capacity and trusting them to step upWrestling with imposter syndrome as one of the "only" or "first" in the room, and what she'd tell her younger self: "You got it"The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Shaylyn Cochran: Instagram

  2. Oct 27

    Tiffany Murphy: Cultural Intelligence — Leading With What People Actually Feel

    Tiffany Murphy, founder of Culture Equity, breaks down "cultural intelligence" — the marketing superpower behind campaigns for PlayStation, LinkedIn, the WNBA, and more. She traces her confidence back to advice from her grandmother and shares why real leadership is about how you treat people, not the title you hold. What "cultural intelligence" means and why understanding how people feel, not just what they say or buy, drives successful brand work across industries from gaming to sports to B2BThe distinction she draws between position and power — building trust and treating people as human first, rather than leveraging a title, as the true source of lasting influenceHer advice for being seen in a crowded, uncertain job market: trust your instincts, speak up, and consider the "intrapreneur" mindset even inside a corporate roleA personal reveal — becoming a teen mother at 17 and not finishing college — and the advice from her grandmother that shaped her career: master every position so no one can take advantage of youPractical leadership habits she credits for her success: staying humble enough to learn first, always knowing your numbers and KPIs, and identifying organizational gaps as your vantage pointThe Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Tiffany Murphy: Instagram

  3. Oct 20

    Teri Ijeoma: The Risk Worth Taking — Building Wealth, Freedom, and a Bench That Can Handle It

    Teri Ijeoma, founder of Trade and Travel and New York Times bestselling author of The Risk Worth Taking, shares how she left a stressful career in education to build a $60 million investing education company. She talks candidly about leadership, risk, and why courage has to come before you have a plan. Ijeoma's turning point as an assistant principal — grieving a friend's death while feeling unable to take a break — and how she used trading stocks as a side hustle to eventually quit her job and build Trade and TravelHer "4 Cs" framework from The Risk Worth Taking (courage, clarity, caution, confidence) for taking smart risks in both investing and leadershipHow teaching to different learning styles as an educator shaped her approach to leading a 42-person team without burning them outThe link between money, mental health, and identity — how tying self-worth to a job title (like "principal") can keep people stuck, and the role of Tony Robbins' six core human needs in her decision to leaveWho's on her bench now — a publisher and a team of former CEOs — and her honest reflection that leveling up sometimes means outgrowing the people who got you startedThe Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Teri Ijeoma: Instagram

  4. Oct 13

    DeDe McGuire: Plot, Plan, Strategize, Mobilize — Lessons From the Hardest Working Woman in Radio

    Nationally syndicated radio host DeDe McGuire shares how working two jobs in secret for five years built the leverage that launched her own show, and why she's now trademarking her way toward full ownership and independence. She also opens up about the loneliness of leadership and why she leads with a relaxed, mistake-friendly style. How DeDe secretly worked two radio jobs for five years to build leverage, using lessons from Tom Joyner and Doug Banks to eventually launch her own syndicated show, DeDe in the MorningHer current push toward full ownership of her show — including years of proactively trademarking her name, segments, and brand so her intellectual property stays with her, not the companyThe discipline shift once syndication hit: cutting out late nights, protecting her voice, and treating show prep like a full-time craftThe mission behind the DeDe McGuire Foundation — starting with scholarships for mothers on the theory that "if you want to change a child's trajectory, change their mother's first," then expanding post-COVID to serve the whole familyHer leadership style — relaxed, mistake-tolerant, and rooted in "plot, plan, strategize, organize, mobilize" — plus her closing advice that leadership can be lonely, and to take your seat anywayThe Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow DeDe McGuire: Instagram

  5. Oct 6

    Areva Martin: Being Liked vs. Being Respected — Lessons in Leadership

    Civil rights attorney, advocate, and media personality Areva Martin traces her leadership journey from a young entrepreneur building her own law firm to founding Special Needs Network, now a statewide organization serving Black and brown families affected by autism. She reflects on the difference between being liked and being respected, and why building a bench is both a leadership and financial imperative. The early lesson that reshaped her leadership: realizing not everyone shares her work ethic, and learning the critical difference between being liked and being respected as a leaderHer "no job too big, no job too small" philosophy, rooted in her upbringing in St. Louis, and why leaders should know and value the people they lead regardless of titleHow her son's autism diagnosis led her to co-found Special Needs Network out of a law firm cubicle, growing it into a statewide organization with 7 locations and 600+ employeesNavigating the "why tax" — constantly having to justify why underserved Black and brown communities need dedicated advocacy, from early regional center pushback to current work on neurodivergent hiring for LA's 2028 OlympicsBuilding her bench intentionally through S&N's NextGen initiative, mentoring Gen Z and millennial leaders (including her daughter Morgan), and restructuring the nonprofit's revenue model so it can outlast its founderThe Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Areva Martin: Instagram

  6. Sep 29

    Surviving Without Shame: Put Down The Shame, Pick Up The Truth

    Kellie Todd Griffin and Lynn Richardson close out the season by tackling the money shame so many Black women carry: the belief that struggling financially is a personal failing rather than the result of a system that was never built in their favor. This final episode reframes money as something to master together, in the open, rather than something to hide from. "I'm just bad with money" is a lie worth retiring. Knowing how to earn money doesn't automatically teach you how to grow, invest, or protect it — that's a separate skill set anyone can learn, at any age.Understanding and controlling money is like any relationship: if you don't learn how it works, it ends up controlling you instead of the other way around, and there's no shame in starting that education later in life.Lynn's 8-step money mastery framework: spend less money, get more money, get your money back (via tax strategy), make your money grow, protect your wealth, own where you live, leverage your credit, and give.Protecting wealth means real safeguards: sufficient life insurance, a properly structured estate plan, and choosing an executor deliberately to prevent wealth from being lost through poor planning rather than external circumstances.Talking about money shouldn't be reserved for moments of crisis. Building it into everyday life through book clubs, family conversations, and community gatherings turns financial education into something shared and sustained, not isolated and shameful.The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Lynn Richardson: IG/Threads/X/YouTube: @lynnrichardsonSign up for Lynn’s NewsletterYouTube: www.lynnrichardson.tv Facebook: www.lynnrichardson.info Contact: Management@lynnrichardson.com

    Surviving Without Shame: Put Down The Shame, Pick Up The Truth

  7. Sep 22

    The Money You're Already Owed: Stop Overpaying — Keep More of What You Already Earn

    Kellie Todd Griffin and Lynn Richardson break down how a home-based business can legally unlock hundreds of tax deductions most people never learn about: turning the tax code from an intimidating obstacle into a tool for keeping more of what you already earn. This episode makes the case that the fastest money you'll find this year isn't a raise, it's the money you're already owed. The tax code isn't a fixed burden. It's a system with rules the IRS has made public, and living your life "like a business" unlocks deductions on everyday spending like meals, mileage, and phone use when they're tied to business purposes.Everyone needs a home-based business (a sole proprietorship or LLC filed on Schedule 1) to access deductions that W-2 employees and even traditional storefront businesses can't claim, from Uber driving to consulting to selling products.A legitimate home office lets you write off a proportional share of your rent, mortgage, utilities, and other home costs based on how much space it occupies.Hiring your own children (or grandchildren, nieces, nephews) to work in your home-based business turns money you're already spending into a tax write-off for you and tax-free income for them, echoing Shaquille O'Neal's strategy of paying his mother a salary instead of buying her a house outright.Running a business "like a business" means documenting every expense since without real records and profit intent, an activity is treated as a hobby and the deductions disappear.The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Lynn Richardson: IG/Threads/X/YouTube: @lynnrichardsonSign up for Lynn’s NewsletterYouTube: www.lynnrichardson.tv Facebook: www.lynnrichardson.info Contact: Management@lynnrichardson.com

  8. Sep 15

    The Math Ain't Mathing: The Affordability Episode

    Kellie Todd Griffin and Lynn Richardson dig into the affordability crisis facing Black women in California — where rent, childcare, and the cost of "keeping up" often collide with a paycheck that was never built to cover it all. This episode offers real, actionable strategies for restructuring costs and turning freed-up money into wealth, without waiting on a broken system to catch up. The crisis is systemic, not personal: Black women in California earn about 60 cents to every dollar paid to white men (56 cents for single mothers), over 80% of Black households are led by women breadwinners, and Black women in LA County are evicted at nearly double the rate of any other group.Reevaluating "sacrifice" is key: Lynn shares her own turning point during the 2008 recession when she had to tell her kids there was no money for Christmas toys, and how that honesty gave them a financial education more valuable than presents.Rethinking what "the best" costs: private school tuition, elite daycare, and expensive extracurriculars (like $1,400 cheerleading fees) often reflect price, not actual value, and there are strategic alternatives, including hiring your own children in a home-based business as a tax-advantaged way to cover costs.Community and communal living is a practical, historically-rooted strategy for closing the affordability gap right now.Facing a layoff or income loss requires immediate action, not business as usual: treat potential unemployment like a state of emergency, preserve reserves as a last resort, and consider strategic moves like refinancing before a crisis hits rather than after.The Power Table is brought to you by the California Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute. Learn more here. Follow CBWCEI: InstagramFacebookConnect with usDonateJoin The MovementFollow Lynn Richardson: IG/Threads/X/YouTube: @lynnrichardsonSign up for Lynn’s NewsletterYouTube: www.lynnrichardson.tv Facebook: www.lynnrichardson.info Contact: Management@lynnrichardson.com

    The Math Ain't Mathing: The Affordability Episode
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About

The Power Table - Conversations for Black Women, brings powerful Black Women leaders to the table to uplift quality of life issues that impact Black Women and Girls throughout California, nationally and international. The Power Table is sponsored by CA Black Women Collective Empowerment Institute.

Information

  • Creator
    California Black Women's Collective Empowerment Institute
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Power Table
  • Show Website
    The Power Table