Jenna Pettinicchi, Assistant Director, Leadership Initiative: The Work by Wes Moore

The Work by Wes Moore is his story of finding a life of purpose. He shares lessons he learned and the stories of the change-makers who have  inspired him. His revelation, from his own personal journey and from others he has met along his way, is that our truest work happens at the place where our passions and the world’s needs meet.

Serene Stevens, Institute Coach: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.

Currently, I am reading The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.  I am very interested in understanding the concept of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and this book is helping me to understand the impact of traumatic experiences as it shows up on our bodies. 

Dr. Lorraine Falchi, Institute Coach: We are the Radical Monarchs on PBS

Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Set in Oakland, the film documents the journey of the group as they earn badges for completing units including being an LGBTQ ally, preserving the environment, and disability justice. 

Jeanette Monninger, Institute Coach: The Anatomy of Peace by The Arbinger Institute

The Anatomy of Peace is an insightful book about how our default thinking process leads us to conflict with others and reveals a path towards peace. Our relationship with others forms the foundation of our reality. “No conflicts can be solved so long as parties are convinced they are right.”  

Helen Frazier, Director of Early Childhood: In My Blood It Runs

This documentary film is the story of ten-year-old Dujuan Hoosan, an Aboriginal child-healer who speaks three languages, as he confronts structural and institutional racism in Australia. This film vividly illustrates this importance of culturally and linguistically sustaining education.

Dona Anderson, Deputy Executive Director: The Model Minority Trap by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This article in the July 6/July 13, 2020, issue of Time magazine provided a great number of different perspectives from the Asian American community and how stereotypes continue to create inequality that effects everyone. This issue has a number of articles about America’s identity and challenges when it comes to equality.