Lead Me On: A People's Leadership Podcast

Making this podcast has been an act of resistance. Independent media is shrinking. And in that context, putting five conversations into the world, proof that empathy, justice, and joy are not alternatives to leadership but leadership itself, feels more important than ever. In this season finale, Lead Me On host Alexandra Lopoukhine reflects on a season of extraordinary conversations with Shaka Sen...

What does it look like when someone leads with pure joy? Meet Claudia Balladeli, the co- founder of Axé World Fest in Ottawa , Canada. They curate music, artistic events, shows, concert series, and conferences dedicated to getting local and international artists in front of the audiences they deserve. Claudia represents Canada's music scene at global stages from Senegal to Korea, and describes her...

Julisa Tambunan grew up singing banned songs in the back of her father's car under a military dictatorship in Indonesia. Today, she's a Global Obama Fellow and is working at the intersection of data and justice, fighting for a world where the numbers we collect reflect the full humanity of the people they represent. In this episode, Julisa and Alexandra explore what feminist movement building real...

The Wound Behind the War: Victor Ochen on Trauma, Power, and What Peace Really Means In this episode of Lead Me On , Alexandra Lopoukhine sits down with Victor Ochen, peace activist, Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and founder of the African Youth Initiative Network (AYINET), for a conversation that reframes what leadership, peace, and healing actually mean. Victor grew up in a refugee camp in Northern...

The Moral Architect: Love, Community & Leading Without a Title with Mihoko Kashiwakura What does leadership look like when it's rooted in love, not authority? Mihoko Kashiwakura has founded four nonprofits in Japan tackling child hunger, food waste, and elderly loneliness, and she calls it all one thing: rebuilding family, not defined by blood, but by care. In this episode of Lead Me On, host Alex...

The Leadership of Liberation with Shaka Senghor From 19 years of incarceration to guiding thousands toward emotional freedom: what it truly means to lead. In this deeply moving conversation, host Alexandra Lopoukhine sits down with bestselling author and speaker Shaka Senghor , a man whose 19 years in prison, including seven in solitary confinement, forged one of the most compelling voices in heal...

What does it mean to lead well? Not effectively, not efficiently, but well. In a way that leaves people more whole than you found them. In a way that builds something that outlasts your tenure, your title, your ego. That question is what LEAD ME ON is built around. This is a show about the daily, radical practice of leading with justice, empathy, and care. Not as an alternative. As the most powerf...