Immigrant Conversations Mehran Sorourian

As an immigrant or a person of color, have you ever felt that a comment was triggering? You couldn’t necessarily point out what it was about it, but it certainly didn’t feel right. In this episode of immigrant conversations, we will talk about what microaggressions are. How to identify them and what to do about them? We also talk about different forms of bias that immigrants and people of color experience and so much more.

Biography:
Samara Hakim, JD, is an international culture and inclusion thought leader, data strategist, speaker, writer, coach, and facilitator. For over a decade, Samara has equipped leaders with the mindset and skills to work with those who are different, by mitigating bias and integrating culture into business practices and metrics. She has extensive experience in communication, conflict transformation, diversity, equity, inclusion, implicit bias mitigation, and culture transformation.
Samara is a dynamic speaker who engages people to think beyond their comfort zone and to work across differences. She draws on a range of experiences including her work across cultures, her legal career, and her personal background.
Samara has worked on projects across many ecosystems, in multiple languages, at various levels in an organization, for multiple industries, in for-profits and non-profits, start-ups, and educational institutions. She has worked with Fortune 500 and 100 companies, including culture transformation, DEI integration, inclusive leadership, global marketing/sales, antiracism, leading courageous conversations, team building, and inclusive procurement. Among others, clients have included American Honda, Qualcomm, BD (previously Carefusion), San Diego Gas & Electric Co., San Diego County District Attorney's Office, RNDC Anheuser Busch, Irvine Co., Thales USA, Constellation Brands, GSD&M, UCSD, ASU, SDSU, MAAC, Stanford University, Spectrum Health, American University of Beirut, Rady School of Management, Asylum Access, KPBS, ResMed, Toyota, and iRobot.
Samara thrives on working with people from all walks of life. She has coached leaders across all levels of an organization, in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, to exceed their goals and to thrive in their career journey and impact. Samara has been a member of Forbes Coaches Council for 3 years.
Samara is the DEIB Director for NAWBO San Diego Board. She is a mentor in the SDSU Mentor Program, USD Kroc School Mentorship Program, and in Rising Women Leaders of San Diego. She sits on the Emerging Leaders Board and is a member of the Economic Development and Advocacy Advisory Council of the North San Diego Business Chamber.
Samara was a consultant/instructor for Stella Labs, an accelerator for women entrepreneurs. She trains on Bias/Cultural Humility through the Academy of Professional Excellence at SDSU. She was a lead consultant/trainer for the National Conflict Resolution Center. Prior to founding CulturGrit, she was Director of Operations/Senior Advisor at a firm later acquired by Ernst & Young.
Samara was honored with the 2019 American Honda Premier Partner Award, the 2018 Women of Excellence Award by Diversity Professional Magazine and the NAWBO San Diego 2021 Women’s Advocate BRAVA Award.
Samara’s work has been copyrighted; she has been featured in books and in several media outlets and podcasts.
Among her certifications, Samara holds an Advanced Certificate in Intercultural Management from the University of Notre Dame. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon School of Law and a BA in History and a BA in Political Science from the University of Portland.
You can learn more or reach her through https://www.linkedin.com/in/samarahakim/.

Some conversations are hard to have for immigrants especially when it comes to racism and sexism. They could be easily misunderstood for lack of communication skills or cultural differences. They might be unaware of ways to respond when racist comments are made. That’s why I invited Maame Afon Yelbert-Sai who is an internationally recognized thought leader, passionate activist on anti-racism and anti-sexism work. As an immigrant, she is sharing with us
-Ways to educate ourselves and increase our awareness.
-How to define the boundaries between ignorance and racism/sexism.
-How to have race-related conversations in our personal and professional lives.

her bio: Exuberantly embracing her calling as a consummate connector and networker, Maame Afon enjoys her work as an activist, facilitator, executive/life coach, and mentor, supporting leaders internationally. She is an internationally recognized thought leader, passionate advocate for women and girls and a leadership development enthusiast. She is also a recording artist who uses music to promote social change and philanthropy.
Maame Afon currently serves as the board chair of African Women’s Development Fund, USA and We Care Solar, and sits on the board and advisory council of other international organizations including Cocoa360, Ghana Bamboo Bikes, Days for Girls-Ghana, Moremi Initiative, Street Business School, Women Leaders for the World, and Nurturing Minds/SEGA among others.
She holds a B.A. in French and Spanish and an M.A. in human rights, gender, and international development. She was named among 100 African Women in Development by Donors for Africa (2020) and has been recognized as one of the 18 African Feminists to know by For Harriet (2015). She has also been featured in AfroElle Magazine (2015) and the #Pretty-Period Campaign that celebrates black women. In 2019 she was featured in Leading Ladies Africa (LLA) as part of the release of her #RightNowAfrica single.
Maame Afon is the recipient of several fellowships namely, 2020 Perennial Fellow, 2019 Rise Up Leader, 2017 Hive Global Leader, 2016 Cordes Fellow, and 2009 Woman Leader for the World. Furthermore, Maame Afon contributed her story to We Will Lead Africa - Volume Two: Women (African Everyday Leadership Stories) – 32 stories by 36 contributors, available now on Amazon. She is currently working on a full chapter titled “Steward Transformation” as part of her contribution to “The Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation.” As a Whole Woman, she brings all of who she is to her work as Chief Steward of MILT (Management for Impact Leadership and Transformation), the organization she founded in 2017. She also enjoys her calling as mother and wife, raising her three children with her husband.
Social Media Handles
Website: www.themiltedge.com | www.maameafon.com
FB: Maame Alice Yelbert-Sai; @themiltedge
IG: @MaameAfon @themiltedge
T: @Maameafon @themiltedge

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In this episode Mehran, the Immigrant Conversations host, talks about her two-and-a-half-year break, five losses she experienced, her debilitating depression, and her healing journey. Listen to this highly personal episode where you learn about the grief process for an immigrant and what you can do next time your friend or loved one is grieving.

Learn more about Mehran: https://www.mehrans.com/about
Complex Grief: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/complicated-grief/symptoms-causes/syc-20360374

Grief books I enjoyed reading:
-Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
-The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
-I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One by Brook Noel and Pamela Blair PhD
-Finding Me by Viola Davis

How to make difficult changes, especially regarding your culture, beliefs, and assumptions? Learn to negotiate. Both with yourself and with others. Listen to this episode and learn from Reut Schwartz-Hebron, an immigrant from Israel who initially worked as an HR director and was blindsided by the non-verbal cues she received at work and more. She is currently the author of two books: Outswim the sharks and The art and science of changing people who don’t want to change and the certifying Partner with KCI.
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List of episodes: https://www.mehrans.com/empowering-conversationz
Contact Mehran: Mehran@MehranS.com

Reut Schwartz-Hebron Bio:
In her role as Certifying Partner with KCI, Reut has trained and certified hundreds of HR leaders, coaches, consultants, and other change professionals to use powerful Neuroscience-based models for guiding people through difficult change.
She started her career at the rank of a Lieutenant Commander working with elite training teams in the Israeli military, and was the first woman consultant to be offered a prestigious field position with a combat unit. She has a BA in Psychology, an MBA in Business and Organizational Development, and has been collaborating with Neuroscientists for the last 17 years to develop a neuroscience-based Unlearning Model. While she supports coaches and change leaders to use a wide range of Neuroscience-based models, she is internationally renowned as one of the top experts in this specific field of guiding people to unlearn and relearn as part of making transitions and transformations. 
For the past 25 years Reut coached and consulted in organizations that range from Fortune 500s such as NIKE, Avaya, GSK, Comcast, and Philips Medical to medium sized companies in a large variety of industries including financial, high-tech, telecom, universities, hospitals and other health organizations, retail, manufacturing, and government agencies. She is a published author of books and numerous articles, but perhaps most importantly, she is a mother, a wife, a sister, and an avid supporter of human rights.
 To learn more about Reut’s work and the Certification in Applied Neuroscience, please visit: www.KCIcertification.com

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Pavna Sodhi about the challenges of the LGBTQ community, the process of Coming out, the role of family, community, and the host culture in the process. Common issues LGBTQ and their families face especially as an immigrant in BIPOC communities, the Role of host culture in the process, how to educate our children, and a lot more…
https://positivespacenetwork.ca/
https://egale.ca/
https://www.rainbowrefugee.com/
https://lgbtq.wvu.edu/state-and-national-resources/-resources-for-queer-and-transgender-black-indigenous-people-of-color
https://www.samhsa.gov/behavioral-health-equity/lgbt
https://www.strongfamilyalliance.org/parent-guide/

Dr.Sodhi’s last episode: https://www.mehrans.com/empowering-conversationz/episode/c2a4e1fa/ez28-managing-covid-trauma-for-immigrants
List of books for children: https://www.readbrightly.com/9-great-lgbtq-books-kids/ & https://www.familyequality.org/family-support/lgbtq-books/early-elementary/
Dr. Pavna Sodhi Bio:
With over 20 years of psychotherapeutic and research experience, Dr. Pavna Sodhi (she/her) has interacted with a multitude of populations in both clinical and academic spaces. Her professional background and personal narrative offer a unique research perspective regarding culturally responsive trauma work, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) communities, and immigrant mental health. Her research has been featured in national and international scholarly journals and books. In 2017, she wrote, Exploring Immigrant and Sexual Minority Mental Health: Reconsidering Multiculturalism (Routledge). Content from her book is supported by first- and second-generation immigrant narratives, who share their experiences of migration, trauma, overt/covert racism, identity formation, and mental health concerns. She is currently authoring a book regarding decolonizing mental health and trauma-informed practices.
Insta : @sunotherapy
Website: www.pavnaksodhi.com
Twitter: @DrPavnaKSodhi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavna-k-sodhi-67b81615/?originalSubdomain=ca
Book: https://www.routledge.com/Exploring-Immigrant-and-Sexual-Minority-Mental-Health-Reconsidering-Multiculturalism/Sodhi/p/book/9780415841870

Immigrants face many aggressions in society especially professionally, one is around their language and their accents. In this episode, our guest is Meenakshi Iyer and we talk about
Why it's important to celebrate our culture
What is language inclusion
Examples of microaggressions around language and accent
And much more…
Here are the TED talk links:
Taiye Selasi: Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYCKzpXEW6E
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
Sir Ken Robinson - Do schools kill creativity? - https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en
EZ33: Immigrants guide to racist comments: https://www.mehrans.com/empowering-conversationz/episode/8e97f693/ez33-immigrants-guide-to-racist-comments
EZ44 How to deal with imposter syndrome with Kim Meninger: https://www.mehrans.com/empowering-conversationz/episode/916ec209/ez44-how-to-deal-with-imposter-syndrome-with-kim-meninger
EZ 45 tips to speak with confidence when starting from scratch: https://www.mehrans.com/empowering-conversationz/episode/905031b9/ez45-tips-to-speak-with-confidence-with-mehran-sorourian
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Apple podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/empowering-conversationz/id1502034147
Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/mehrans.com

Her bio:
Meenakshi Iyer thrives at the intersection of People, Process, and Technology. She is a T-shaped servant leader with an international and interdisciplinary career in IT, Agile/Business Process Transformation, international healthcare, HR, and Training, in India and the USA, spanning more than two decades. “Stop, breathe, think, act.” is her motto.

Meenakshi is the Founder and Principal of NorthStar Solutions and Services - a future-of-work oriented, virtual coaching, training and consulting practice serving clients globally. She is an ICF-certified Personal Agility and Self-Leadership Coach. She specializes in supporting People and Technology leaders in co-creating their personal transformation and leadership development journeys. Meenakshi is fluent in four languages, and has lived and worked in 10+ cities in India and the US.
Connect with her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/meenakshi-iyer-northstar/
More about her and her work - https://www.northstaratwork.com/