I am fortunate enough to have a network of fascinating and funny high achievers who also happen to have a way with words. These leaders and creatives came into my life at various points throughout my 30+ years of working in the education reform, city government and nonprofit sectors.

There already exists a wealth of resources on how to cultivate leaders of color derived from academic or training perspectives. Valuable, but I’m interested in capturing insights along with the wit that my people gift to the world.

This project draws directly from the leaders themselves. I ask them to reflect on what created the conditions for their success. What innate characteristics do they possess that served as their forces of combustion? What obstacles did they have to circumvent to rise to the top?

Follow my series of conversations that explore what makes these super stars tick, how they view performance and what they believe organizations often overlook.

The highlights of these conversations will frame a living document, a guide, that catalogs the project’s reflections and recommendations in one place for organizations to use as they look to cultivate the current and future generations of leaders of color in public service.