This week we continue to reflect on GlocalCitizens@5 and we’re flashing back to our Womens' Herstory series in March 202. Ghana-based, London-born international award-winning journalist, playwright, global public speaker and entrepreneur, Esther Armah – a self-described ‘global black chick’ – has lived, worked, loved, and created across three cities in three countries on three continents – London, New York, and Accra. She is the Executive Director of the Esther Armah Institute of Emotional Justice and she leads a global team in Ghana, Chicago and London. Her most applauded work, which she describes as “more of a purpose than a profession” is centred on the concept of EMOTIONAL JUSTICE.

Pubilshed in 2022, her groundbreaking book Emotional Justice: A Roadmap for Racial Healing argues that the crucial missing piece to racial healing and sustainable equity is emotional justice—a new racial healing language to help us do our emotional work. She continues to build on this apparatus with complementary storytelling expressed via her breadth of creative media expertise. As part of EAIEJ’s third annual September event HEALING HARM | HEEDING HISTORY, themed WELLNESS in the face of WARFARE she’ll be hosting a screening and dialogue for her short film '...goodbye to the EMOTIONAL MAMMY' later this week.
Saturday, 20th September @ 6pm
African Film Society
East Legon, ACCRA
Tickets are SOLD OUT but be sure to follow and sign up for a screening near you!

Where to find Esther?
www.theaiej.com
On LinkedIn
On Facebook
On Instagram
On YouTube

Other topics of interest:
Million Women March
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Steve Beko
Oliver Tambo
Women in the ANC
Truth and Reconciliation Commission South Africa
New Heritage Theatre Group
Danceworks London
www.iamadinkra.com
ICYMI - Nana Amoako-Anin's episodes - Part 1 and Part 2

Special Guest: Esther Armah.

I met this week’s guest in Accra at a Women Wellness Africa breakfast early this year and was happy to be able sync our travel schedules to reconnect in one of the places she calls home, London. Marielle Legair is a speaker, certified NLP and hypnotherapy Coach, LinkedIn Top Voice, and LinkedIn Learning Instructor. She's leading career empowerment through cutting-edge neurological research and behavioural science. Her expertise goes beyond coaching, focusing on arming audiences with the tools to break barriers, overcome limiting beliefs, and thrive in their careers. With a background in corporate storytelling, executive visibility, and entrepreneurship, Marielle offers unmatched guidance to individuals and companies seeking to excel and leave a lasting impact. Global giants like Amazon, BP, Diageo, EY, LinkedIn, Macquarie, Microsoft, and Yale University have sought her for inspiring talks and workshops that drive transformative change.

Before founding her company, Marielle honed her skills on both sides of the Atlantic, spearheading impactful C-suite publicity campaigns in London and New York for corporate giants such as Deloitte Global, Grant Thornton, Experian, and Golin. Her strategic acumen in elevating CEOs and senior leaders has earned acclaim in top-tier media outlets like the BBC, CNBC, Forbes, Financial Times, and Glamour.

As you’ll hear, Marielle’s roots are in St. Vincent and the Grenadines which was hard hit by Hurricane Beryl last summer. Follow the links below to connect with Marielle about continuing efforts to support those impacted.

Where to fine Marielle?
marielelegair.com
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On YouTube

What’s Marielle reading?
Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life by Micheal Port

Other topics of interest:
About Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
About Nottingham, home of Robin Hood
Historic Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
30 Rock aka 30 Rockerfeller Plaza
Toastmasters
About Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejidé

Special Guest: Marielle Legair.

If it’s March then it’s all about herstories here on the podcast and first up we’re in London by way of Hopkinsville, Kentucky with mental health futurist, Sara Reed. She is an empathic leader, mental health futurist, and practitioner in psychedelic-assisted therapy. I came across Sara’s work when listening to a session the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Global Summit last year, and my curiosity was piqued hearing Sara describe her work and it’s impact. She has spent her early career examining the ways culture informs how we diagnose and treat mental illnesses. As an advocate for health equity in psychedelic medicine, Sara hopes to make treatments more safe, affordable, and effective to those in need.

Before joining the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College in London as a the lead Psychedelic Research Therapist in Psychopharmacology, she participated as a study therapist with the MDMA therapy for PTSD clinical trials sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). While working with MAPS, she advocated for health equity in psychedelic therapy and co-led the first ever MAPS MDMA-assisted psychotherapy training for clinicians of color.
In addition to her appointment at Imperial College, she is Co-founder and Curriculum Development Specialist with the Women’s Global Empowerment Initiative. As well as founder and creative executive at Minds iHealth Solutions, where she co-facilitates psilocybin truffle retreats in the Netherlands and works in private practice with patients with mood and anxiety disorders using ketamine as an adjunct to psychotherapy. She lectures on topics fusing culturally sensitive practices with psychedelic-assisted therapy and advises organizations on anti-oppressive and inclusive practices.

Where to find Sara?
www.sarajreed.info
On LinkedIn

What’s Sara singing to?
Jennifer Hudson
Whitney Houston

Other topics of interest:
About Hopkinsville, Kentucky
South Croydon
Tabitha Brown
What is a Skilled Workers visa?
Hinge
Dr. Monica Williams
On Ketamine
On MDMA and Sassafras
Plant origins of LSD
On Australia’s Psychedelics Policy
On Oregon’s Decriminalization of Psychedelics
Dr. Gabor Maté
On 12-Step Programs for mental health
Breathwork techniques
About The Peach Cobbler Factory

Correction Note: In our conversation about plant derivatives of some synthetic medicines Sara mentioned that DMT is present in Ibogaine. She wanted to be sure that listeners are aware that it is not. While they are close relatives, DMT is not in Ibogaine. Read more about it here.

Special Guest: Sara Reed.

I’m back in Accra and it’s HOT and HUMID, but thankfully not so dusty--I’ve successfully evaded the Harmattan! A significant contrast to the environs for my guest this week who dials in from her hometown of London, England. Raised between London and Brooklyn with roots in Jamaica, Aruba and Donimica, Marlea Edwards was drawn to the creative arts from theatre to photography, storytelling, mythology and anthropology from an early age. She is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary creative artist and creative consultant with a key focus on visual storytelling and connecting to audiences. She is CEO and founder of Me + You Films, a boutique production company. As a global, independent professional creative director, producer, director, writer, filmmaker, and edit producer, her early career and work includes working on award-winning BBC shows like Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing and Eastenders 25 Live, to the London 2012 Olympic Games, London and New York Fashion week and Lenny Kravitz’s Strut Tour. Other Brands and Clients include Endemol, BBC, Tom Ford and Tom Ford Beauty, Gucci, DVF, Kohl’s, FarFetch, Lush Cosmetics, Preen and ITN Productions. Her latest project, Garms: Black Culture's Influence on British Fashion, a one-off documentary deep dive into the world of Black British fashion and culture premiers this week on Wednesday, February 21st.
Currently writing and freelancing for award-winning brands and production companies, her own and others, when she’s not working with commercial clients she creates artwork with an African spiritualist theme focused on the female form.

Where to find Marlea?
marleaedwards.com
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Vimeo
On Twitter
On [IMDb](= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4237999/?ref_=nmbio_ov )

What’s Marlea listening to?
André 3000
Cleo Sol
Sampha

What’s Marlea watching?
One Day on Netflix
Champion on Netflix
Dreaming Whilst Black

Other topics of interest:
About Queens Park, London
About Wembley, UK
About Prospect Park, Brooklyn
About Miss Lou, Jamaican poet laureate
the london stage school
Who are Key Workers in the UK?
BET UK’s Cicela Deane
London Fashion Week
About Bianca Saunders
About Martine Rose
About Tolu Coker
About Labrum
About Althea McNish
Liberty London
About Nicholas Daley
Priya Ahluwalia
Cortez Streetwear
Windrush then and now
4 -7 - 8 Breathing

Special Guest: Marlea Edwards.

For this week’s episode I found myself in a hidden gem of a community in East London with a not so hidden gem in the European investment space, Eric Collins. Eric, born an raised in the southern United States, has called London home for the nearly 10 years. He is a serial entrepreneur, investor, technology executive and host of Channel 4 business show, The Money Maker, which is based on the highly successful US show The Profit on CNBC.

Eric has spent much of his career building the value of digital companies through innovative strategies at public and private companies including AOL, TimeWarner, Tegic/Nuance Communications, MobilePosse, SwiftKey/Microsoft and most recently, Touch Surgery, where he was COO. He sits on the boards of companies in San Francisco and London, including Tech Nation.

In 2011, President Obama, a fellow Harvard Law School classmate, appointed him to the Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities.

Eric is also a brand ambassador for luxury car manufacturer, Audi, and the youth charity The Prince’s Trust.

In 2018, The Financial Times named him among the UK’s top 100 BAME leaders in technology. Since 2019, he has been voted one of the most influential Black people in Britain on The Powerlist.

In his award-winning book, We Don’t Need Permission: How Black Business Can Change Our World (Penguin), Eric argues investing in Black and underrepresented entrepreneurs is the surest, fastest socio-economic game changer there is. And with his work as a Founder and CEO of Impact X Capital we believe him!

Where to find Eric?
www.impactxcapital.com
On LinkedIn
On X
On Instagram

What’s Eric reading?
J. Califoria Cooper

What’s Eric watching?
Purlie Victorious
The Lehman Trilogy

Other topics of interest:
Revisit fellow Glocal Citizen Natasha Moore
Greensboro, North Carolina
Tuskegee University
Bennett College
North Carolina A&T State University
On Charles Blow’s The Devil You Know
Roger Fisher’s Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving
On the Black Power Movement
About the inaugural SBA Council on Underserved Communities and Chair, Cathy Hughes
Audra McDonald & Brian Stokes Mitchell Perform 'Wheels of a Dream' From RAGTIME
First Black Mayor of Charlotte Harvey Gantt
Former Governor of Virgina Douglas Wilder
GiveBLACK
About Ric Lewis
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
About Marshmallow

Special Guest: Eric Collins.

Esther, a Ghanaian Brit also has acclaimed experience as a multi media journalist, documentary maker and playwright with productions appearing on stages in New York, Chicago and Accra. She's a radio show host, a fellow podcaster as creator of 'THE SPIN', and has beed a television political commentator on MSNBC, CNN, GRITtv, BET and MSNBC. As a writer, her work has been published in The Guardian, West Africa magazine, Gawker, AlterNet.org, Salon.com, and The Huffington Post. Esther is truly a women on a change maker's mission addressing the systematic challenges that are pervasive throughout ALL cultures, and hers is a story you'll not want to miss.

She is currently living, working and playing mostly in Ghana; Esther still calls NYC and London "home" too.

Where to find Esther?
www.theaiej.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
On Facebook
On Instagram
On YouTube

Other topics of interest:
Million Women March
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Steve Beko
Oliver Tambo
Women in the ANC
Truth and Reconciliation Commission South Africa
New Heritage Theatre Group
Danceworks London
www.iamadinkra.com

ICYMI - Nana Amoako-Anin's episodes - Part 1 and Part 2

Special Guest: Esther Armah.