The Perkins Platform

Vice President of Equity and Innovation at the Institute for Child Success (ICS), Mary C. Garvey, joins us for an important conversation discussing the adultification of black girls. Mary is a native New Yorker who is passionate about building equitable systems and fostering social justice through policy. At ICS, an early childhood research and applied policy organization, Mary leads the organizat...

Join us on Wednesday, February 9 @ 6pm EST for an exciting conversation on open-mindedness with Yonason Goldson, director of Ethical Imperatives, LLC.  Yonason works with professionals to create a culture of ethics that builds trust, sparks initiative, and drives productivity.  He is a keynote and TEDx speaker, trainer, coach, and community rabbi, as well as a podcast host, columnist and author, r...

Join us on Wednesday, February 2 @ 7pm EST for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Nadia Lopez, who opened a school to close a prison. She is pioneering a path of inspired leadership to show the world how underprivileged communities can beat the odds and create positive institutions that have a global impact. As the founder of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a New York City public school located in Broo...

Consumer researcher and marketing professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Lan Nguyen Chaplin joins us for a conversation discussing how to disrupt a system that was designed to hold you back. Lan is the youngest of 14 from a Vietnamese refugee family and is a first-generation college graduate. She has 2 decades of experience in higher education and was featured as one of Poets & Qu...

Join us on Tuesday, January 18 @ 6pm EST for an insightful conversation with Amanda Muhammad to discuss her work helping leaders cope and manage stress. Amanda is an International Mindfulness Based Stress Management & Psychological Safety Consultant in Dallas, TX. She is a certified Mindfulness trainer, Compassion Fatigue Trainer and yoga instructor. She teaches individuals how to build resili...

LIVE from London, join me for my conversation with Giulio Boccaletti, Ph. D., discussing his book, Water: A Biography, published by Pantheon Books.  Water: A Biography is in the process of being translated in seven languages. Giulio is an author, entrepreneur, senior executive, and a globally recognized expert on natural resource security and environmental sustainability. He writes on environmenta...

Chamberlain Fellow at Hamilton College and author, Ty Seidule, joins us to discuss his latest book, Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause. Ty is the author or editor of six other books of military history, three of which won distinguished writing prizes, including The West Point History of the Civil War.  Ty served in the U.S. Army for more than three decad...

Join us on Monday, December 20 @ 5pm EST for an exciting conversation with Elizabeth Grace Saunders and her advice on how to carve out "Me-Time" with a demanding work schedule. Elizabeth is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, a time management coaching company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished. She was name...

Join us on Wednesday, December 15 @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with Klaus Heesch, discussing his work articulating how leaders might navigate an uncertain future. Klaus is a Brand and Experience Design leader with a successful career in helping brands and businesses thrive. He leverages human-centered design thinking, personal connection, and powerful storytelling to connect the dots...

Founder of The American Dream School and Head of School, Melissa Melkonian, joins us to talk about her work in education and incredible success story. Melissa has been a New York City educator for nearly 20 years. She began her career as a bilingual special education teacher in Inwood with the New York City Department of Education and later taught in the Bronx where she became the middle school&ap...

Join us on Wednesday, December 1 @ 6pm EST for a discussion on the sociology of race with Daniel Hirschman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brown University. He studies the political power of experts and their tools, and the relationship between organizational practices, knowledge production and racial inequality. His book project, Unequal Knowledge: The Stylized Facts of Inequality, traces th...

Join us on Wednesday, November 17 @ 6pm EST for a discussion on the importance of empathy in today's leader with Tara Van Bommel, PhD.  She is an expert in stereotyping and prejudice, with a focus on the role of nonconscious bias and nonverbal behaviors in intergroup interactions. As Director and Statistician in the research department of Catalyst, Tara provides statistical expertise across a...

Join us on Wednesday, November 3 @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with educator, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, discussing the teaching of democracy in schools and about rethinking schools. Ursula has taught high school social studies since 2000 in a public school in a suburb of Portland, Oregon. On the editorial board of Rethinking Schools magazine, she has written articles and lessons on voting ri...

Join us on Wednesday, October 27 @ 6pm EST for a conversation with Dr. Calvin Mackie, award winning mentor, inventor, author, former engineering professor, internationally renowned speaker and successful entrepreneur. Dr. Mackie is the founder of STEM NOLA, a non-profit organization founded to expose, inspire and engage communities about the opportunities in STEM. In 7 years, STEM NOLA has engaged...

Lisa Feldman Barrett is University Distinguished Professor of psychology at Northeastern University with appointments at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School. Discussing how our world goes beyond our five senses, Dr. Barrett joins us for an exciting conversation on Wednesday, October 20 @ 6pm EST.  She is among the top 1% most-cited scientists for her revolutionary r...

Award-winning journalist at CNN, John Blake, joins us for an informative conversation discussing his recent article, “White Supremacy, With A Tan.” John has been honored by the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the American Academy of Religion, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Religion Communicators Council and with the GLAAD Media Award. He was most rece...

Associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, Meredith Broussard, joins us for an exciting conversation on Artificial Intelligence and her recent book, Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World. Her research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting, with a particular interest in using data analysis for social go...

Join us on Wednesday, September 29nd @ 6pm EST for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Jamel Adkins-Sharif, discussing his article “Beginning Again with Marginalized Parents” and the work he is doing nationally to highlight issues that have been frequently put on a back burner.  Dr. Sharif is the Director of Eskolta Boston, a high school research and redesign nonprofit committed to culturally susta...

Join us on Wednesday, September 22nd @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with Ahtza Dawn Chavez, member of the Diné Nation and born in Kewa Pueblo, to discuss her work as Executive Director of the NAVA Education Project and New Mexico Native Vote.  In her role, she oversees partner organizations tasked with educating and creating an indigenous voting bloc in New Mexico working with key organ...

Join us on September 15 at Noon EST to chat with Principal Mauri Chantel Melander Friestleben, the proud principal of Minneapolis' North High School. Mauri, the former leader of Lucy Craft Community school in Minneapolis was the subject of a featured documentary a the Minneapolis - St. Paul International Film Festival.  She is a member of coalition of local principals united around the purpos...

Join us for our BACK TO SCHOOL BROADCAST on Wednesday, September 1st @ 6pm EST for an informative conversation with noted scholar, lecturer and author, Dr. Na’im Akbar, discussing his work in Black Psychology. Dr. Akbar’s scholarship in this area has led to numerous honors including the Distinguished Psychologist Award from the National Association of Black Psychologists; Honorary Doctorates of Hu...

Gabrielle Apollon co-supervises the Global Justice Clinic’s project on Human Rights in Haiti’s Emerging Mining Sector and certain components* of the Clinic’s project on Torture, Rendition, and Detention. Gabrielle previously served as Managing Attorney at The Door: A Center for Alternatives, where she represented young people in immigration and family law matters. While at The Door, Gabrielle expa...

Founder and CEO of the Center for Black Educator Development, Sharif El-Mekki, joins us for an informative discussion on the expectations held by educators for young black people. The Center for Black Educator Development exists to ensure there will be equity in the recruiting, training, hiring, and retention of quality educators that reflect the cultural backgrounds and share common socio-politic...

Join us on Wednesday, August 11th @ 6pm EST for an enlightening conversation about the "voices in our head" with Dr. Ethan Kross, one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. An award-winning professor in the University of Michigan’s top ranked Psychology Department and its Ross School of Business, he is the director of the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory....

Join us on Wednesday, August 4 at 6pm EST for what promises to be an important and deeply informative conversation with Dr. Rafael Pelayo. Pelayo currently serves as the president of the California Sleep Society and the chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s Political Action Committee as well as on the boards of the National Sleep Foundation and Start School Later. His undergraduate deg...