Human Chapters

It was an absolute honour to engage in conversation with Jackson Owour about his Chapter, Transformers Mathare. Jack generously shares about the following: - His childhood and the drive to pursue a career in becoming a priest. - His passion for reducing the stigma against people living with HIV - His Foundation, Transformers Mathare - the journey, his vision, current programs, their model, and fut...

It was an incredible honour to engage in a wonderful discussion with Faith Borkowsky at High Five Literacy and Academic Coaching about her Chapter, Cutting Illiteracy. Faith briefly explains what led her to become an Educator; however, the majority of our conversation highlights the following points: - She was approached by a Guidance Counsellor, Tre (@MrLitEdu) whose son presented with reading di...

TW - suicide It was an absolute honour to have engaged in a conversation with @Julie Scali about her Chapter, The Interconnected Thread and Journey between Learning Difficulties and Mental Health. Julie openly shares about: - her journey as an Educator, - the student that provided her with an opportunity to learn how to teach reading, and find a true purpose - the different roles and hats she has...

It was an absolute honour to engage in a conversation with Greg Clement about his Chapter, School. Greg openly shares his journey from being a classroom teacher to being a Principal, and now, the Director of Instructional Improvement at Decodable Readers Australia. During this conversation, Greg explains his comfort zone, how this was stretched, his passion for ensuring students' success in litera...

It was an absolute honour to engage in a conversation with Libby about her Chapter, My Creative Stroke Chapter. Libby's humour, description of her journey, and moments of insight are worth listening to. During this conversation, we talked about Libby's stroke, the days following the stroke, her rehabilitation (offered by the hospital and one she curated personally) journeys, and the importance of...

It was an absolute pleasure to have a conversation with Jobelle Erika about her Chapter, Unapologetically Me - Sorry Not Sorry. During this conversation, Jobelle discusses several thought-provoking and important points about her names. Jobelle migrated to Shepparton from the Philippines at the age of 16. She has 2 first names, Jobelle Erika; however, she decided to go with Erika while her heart pr...

It was a true honour to engage in a beautiful conversation with Nathaniel Swain about his Chapter, The Back Story of Nathaniel. Nathaniel's work as a Speech and Language Pathologist in Youth Justice, his current role as a classroom teacher, and the founder of a thriving community of Educators, Thinking Forward Educators are a few of the points discussed in our conversation. Nathaniel generously ta...

It was an incredible privilege to engage in a beautiful conversation with Melissa Hostetter about her Chapter, The Journey of my TEDx Talk. Melissa generously and clearly articulates her passion for teaching and social justice, the reason she applied to participate in a TEDx Talk, the deep preparation it entailed, her actual experience of delivering the message, the final outcome, feedback, and mu...

Sawabona - A South African greeting that means, 'I see you. I respect and acknowledge you for who you are'. It was an absolute honour to have a conversation with Stephanie Stollar about her Chapter, My Current Professional Journey. Stephanie generously shares her Chapter with details about her role/s in Education, her professional journey, her experiences in elementary school, some pivotal life-ch...

It was an absolute honour and pleasure engaging in a conversation with Jeremy Tyndall about his Chapter, My Wheelchair Basketball Journey. Jeremy generously shares his journey (after the motorcycle accident in 2018), experiences in the rehab program and beyond, his global travels for basketball games, the most recent Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, and life learnings. Engaging in this conversation inspire...

TW - suicide ideology It was an incredible honour to have an important conversation with Shane A Vandort about his Chapter, The Understanding and Acceptance of Me. Shane A Vandort generously shares about his COVID lockdown experiences, his relationship, mental health awareness, the unfolding of events during COVID, his deep insights & discoveries, his disability support work, his art, and so o...

It was an honour to have a conversation with Natasha Khawaja about her Chapter, The Journey Towards Your Dreams. Natasha openly shares her experiences in the pursuit of becoming an actress, a myriad of obstacles (cultural and within the industry) she has and continues to face, the deeper insights and learnings she has gained, and leveraging various social media platforms to deliver her messages th...

It was an incredible honour and privilege to have a conversation with Stephen Fleischer about his Chapter, From Finance To Social Impact - Off The Beaten Path. During this conversation, Stephen generously shared about his journey from graduating in Finance (in New York), to spending a year in Kenya (at the age of 21), returning to New York to study Law, and ultimately migrating to Kenya to begin h...

It was a sheer delight and privilege to have this conversation with Rachel Platt about her Chapter, From Social-Emotional Learning to Social Justice in Literacy. Rachel Platt generously shares a part of her childhood (relating to her student experience), her passion for teaching, her journey as a 2nd-year teacher through this pandemic, struggling readers, social justice, and much more. Rachel can...

It was an absolute honour and privilege to have this conversation with Sheena Shah about her Chapter, Harvesting for Good, East Africa. Sheena openly talks about her background, initial career, PermaCulture, engaging with a range of communities using a bottom-up approach in a variety of PermaCulture projects, her current business, Harvesting for Good, East Africa, and much more. Having this import...

It was an absolute honour and privilege to engage in a conversation with Tanila DS about his Chapter, Grow Your Resilience. Tanila generously shares his experiences and journey around mental health. Our conversation travels through a range of timelines, cultural stigma, pivotal moments that led to Tanila publicly talking about Mental Health, and much more. Tanila De Silva also talks about his musi...

It was an absolute honour to have the conversation with Josh Alegre about his Chapter, Hereditary Spastic Paraparesis (HSP). Josh generously shares about his journey from the moment he was unable to get off his knees (during a photoshoot) to his diagnosis and beyond. Josh's Chapter is filled with a range of emotions, insights, experiences, and new learnings. I was unaware of this condition prior t...

It was an absolute honour to have a conversation with Brittany about her Chapter, Language and Literacy Connections. Brittany generously shares her journey and work in Speech and Language Pathology. We discussed her entry into the profession, what it entails in the specific setting she works in, and her love/passion/joy for her work. An enormous thank you to Brittany for participating in this conv...

Engaging with Joseph and Robert about their Chapter, A Journey in Education was a deep honour. They are the founders of a wonderful Podcast, Pedagogy Non Grata and we discussed a number of topics within this detailed conversation. Some of the elements of this conversation included - Joseph's and Robert's journey into becoming teachers, their personal experiences, their journey with evidence-aligne...

TW - trauma, sexual assault It was a wonderful honour to have this open conversation with Zoe Suratman about her Chapter, Happiness Through Change. Zoe generously talks about pivotal moments in her life that have led her to reflect deeply on her 40th birthday. Zoe articulated about being content and happy during this reflection; however, while she experienced these beautiful emotions and deep grat...

TW - bomb blast, trauma, grief It was an absolute honour to have this conversation with @Neha Samar about her Chapter, A New Life. Neha openly shares the defining moment in her life where 8 precious minutes initiated this Chapter. Neha has shared a part of her childhood, her parents' aspirations for her, the journey she has experienced since this moment, and her current life. Neha has recently lau...

It was an incredible privilege to engage in this conversation with Dr. Quintin Bostic about his Chapter, The Start Of It All. Quintin generously shared his deep-seated passion for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Antiracism and where it all began. Quintin articulates the defining point that was the start of his calling to work in the field of Education. He takes us through a journey of his deep l...

I had the honour of having a beautiful conversation with Noureen Akber about her Chapter, Feminism. Noureen lives in Karachi, Pakistan and she generously shared a number of thought-provoking insights, connection points, and more about her experiences. Noureen shared a brief account of her childhood, why she is deeply connected with Feminism, the books she has resonated with, insights from some exp...

TW - rape, sexual abuse (mentioned on a couple of occasions during the conversation) It was an incredible honour to have an open conversation with Amirah Zaky about her Chapter, Vaginismus. Amirah is a Sex Educator and a Vaginismus Coach. Amirah generously shares her personal experience of this condition (which was identified approximately 11-12 years ago), the treatment, implications, and impact...

I was honoured to have a conversation with Jim O'Connor about his Chapter, Shepparton Foodshare. Jim takes us through his involvement with this incredible organisation, its aim, and its model, the impact of Covid-19, and the role of Shepparton Foodshare during the current crisis. Shepparton Foodshare amongst other organisations has been integral to the fabric of this community during this crisis s...