 Hi there, thank you for having me. My name is Amada Marcus Simala and I'm the mayor of Columbia Heights, Minnesota I just want to take a moment to say thank you to SoCAP and Spectrum for inviting me to this I'm so glad they're making space and time for a gathering of this kind and just think it's very important So thank you all for being here and and listening So as I said, my name is Amada Marcus Simala. I was born in Madison, Wisconsin I moved to I went to eight different schools and I grew up eventually at a hobby farm in a small town Our graduating class was 90 people. It was pretty small And during all those moves I was almost all the time the only brown skin person in our school I was the only person with the name Amada and I had to reintroduce myself or introduce myself Every time we moved People didn't understand why my name was pronounced the way it was pronounced and Just had to go through a lot of that for those of you who have a different spelling name or Our pronunciation from what people are expecting. You know what I'm talking about So that was that was a difficult journey, let me say but also as a kid I was a girl scout and in a really great troop and That's where I really learned to give back to my community and I learned to learn about civic civic service One of the things in girl scouts is being a sister to every girl scout So being a sister to all women you always should support women no matter what and then Making the world a better place that's the Main goal of girl scouts and it really has set with me until this day every day that is a goal of mine is Am I making the world a better place? Is this conversation helping make the world a better place? I'm not saying it happens all the time, but it is my goal every day is to make the world a better place One of the things I've done in that is being a neighborhood block captain So as an adult everywhere I've lived and I've lived in I think five different states now I've always become a neighborhood block captain. This is something that anyone can do You um in our city at least in most cities it is coordinated through the police department and um You just sign up and you're the neighborhood watch captain or I'm a block captain but the great thing about this is is that you have a chance to organize a block party and um, Of course, this is pre-pandemic But the neighbors get to know each other and in my own neighborhood. I've lived here for seven years I have neighbors that had lived next door to each other for 23 years and they've never met They had waved to each other. They had shoveled each other's driveways and helped, you know, push their car out of the snow This is minnesota. It does happen in the winter, but um They had actually never met until this block party 23 years after they moved next door to each other So really getting together with your neighbors is a great way to be involved in the community um As as I've lived here in columbia heights. I have been working to um get to know the neighbors as I said and As mayor my goal is to make our city government and our staff Representative of our community and really making the time to see people as leaders So seeing women seeing people of color women of color as leaders and asking them to step up I worked on um a pride festival that we had here in town our very first pride festival in 2019 It was a great event. It was a time of many people who came to the event saying to me. I didn't know There were other people in town who were Who were lgbtq. I thought I was the only gay person in town And now I have many friends who are friends with each other because they met and found out what a diverse city We are and in a place that is becoming more and more representative of the whole world And so I'm really pushing as mayor to make sure that our um staffing searches are we're looking for more spaces to um To reach out to for hiring We're also looking to our community more to to make sure our our commissions and boards are being more representative So one of the things is is seeing people like I said as leaders and asking them and as I campaigned last summer I got to know a lot of people and I would and I and I could see this in them You know, you're you are you are a leader in your community. We have a very large Somali community here I met a coach who's very involved very involved with um kids families with his with his coaching and asked him Please would you step up and and um join one of our our pork boards? And I'm hoping that can happen. We have um You know women who are doing so much with the schools and asking them. Can you step up and be on the school board? Um, you know just really making sure that that people know that they are seen this way um statistically when um Men specifically more white men run for government is statistic. I mean I just say statistically because I don't want it to sound like I'm just saying this but They usually run because they thought they would just run Whereas women women of color people of color and people in the lgbtq community Our leaders and people have asked them. Please run for office. Please represent us and uh this happened for me I had thought of running before but after I worked in the pride festival Many people said please run. Please be our mayor. I want to see someone like you Be our mayor and um Thankfully when I ran last year, I had a great campaign team um lots of people in the community wanted to work on the campaign and get me in that seat and um, I would say if you ever had a chance If someone just speaks to you and they are working for the goals you want in your community and your You know state your country Volunteer for them do phone banking. It's not that hard. It's a lot of fun as well and you get to be a part of You know how these things work and how we can create change um So definitely get involved in that way but Before I end our time here. I want to make sure that I give you guys a couple calls to action So I actually have three three calls to action for you to go off in the rest of your day and um and take up the time to To um make the world a better place. So first one is get to know your neighbors You live in an apartment You know condos house houseboat Treehouse, you know get to know your neighbors. Um, if you can't go visit them with the pandemic You can write them a card just give him your phone number your email and say I just want to know if I can ever Help you out. Let me know um, you know, if I leave the outside faucet on You know, maybe we can turn each other's faucet off or let me know if a garage door is locked open. Um So get to know your neighbors the second thing as I said before is see women see women of color see people of color see people with disabilities See the lgbtq community and people as leaders and ask them to run and then support them Be there to support them women who are running tell them You know, I'll pick up the kids from soccer. I'll drop off a meal Um, if you know, I'll mow your lawn you get out there and campaign So if you can't donate you can help out in that way and then the last thing I'll say is and as I said at the beginning My name is amada amada market simula Learn to say people's names correctly your colleagues your friends Learn to say their name do the work for yourself Go on youtube and look up how to pronounce this name. Most names are there Um and learn it you need to make yourself learn how to say their names correctly people deserve that respect And you can do it You can do it. There's a few a few names maybe that you'll have a hard time, but you know what keep trying and um And if you make a mistake just say i'm sorry. I got that wrong. I'll try again You do not need to say things like oh, I'll never get it or I'll butcher it so Try to say people's names correctly and keep trying but thank you so much for listening And I hope you have a great rest of your gathering Have a great day Hi I'm ube scribner and i'm an investor and head of operations at impact america fund An impact venture capital firm whose mission is to increase economic agency for communities of color in the u.s When carrey emailed me about this session She asked if I had a provocation that I would like to share and I thought about this Especially in the context of the theme of this session to ensure Collective gains are sustained among women To me that's about structural change and that's a big bold goal And whenever i'm faced with a big task. I try to narrow my focus down to the day-to-day work of getting it done That often boils down to the boring process questions that no one gets terribly excited about Because change is supposed to be about big vision and blue skies But I think the unsexy in the weeds question of how does something get done? That's the killer question It's how we get from here to there It's the key to turning intention and effort into lasting change So let me tell you a little bit about how I came to anchoring my time and work around this central question I came to impact investing in vc. Just a few years ago prior to this my career had been in the federal government and the law corporate america in media and entertainment and silicon valley and product development and data analytics While different in many ways, there was a common thread among these experiences and that's that they were filled with a strong sense of mission Vision statements were everywhere you looked leaders would recite company values at all hands meetings They were plastered on every presentation and piece of marketing material The mission was always big and bold And it was also often about change People were moved and motivated by it. It felt good to be bound together by a common purpose But at times these statements could also feel like empty slogans Things that we reflexively stamped onto documents Or worse work that was already being done or choices that we otherwise wanted to make That were then shoehorned into Something that looked and sounded like they were born out of the big picture mission As the company grows and expands. I think it's natural for leadership to reach for first principles Even if they've become watered down with time But the places where I saw the strongest expression of the mission Were in places where people and teams work more focused on how that mission Translates to the work at hand And I learned how a lack of attention to how things get done can lead to good intentions that go awry in practice I carry these lessons with me into my work today. So let me tell you a little bit about that As I said at the beginning impact America fund is an impact VC firm Our vision is for a future where people of color Experience true agency and participation in the American economy That's important and it's absolutely our north star. But how do we get there? Well, first we ask ourselves how we want to express that vision into the actions and tasks that we do every day From the mundane like how we take and share notes To how we run our entire diligence process And you won't be surprised to hear we look for founders who are also really caring about how they're building their businesses Not just what they're building or how big These founders are challenging the status quo that says that a gig worker can't be paid a living wage Or a janitor isn't right for a tech sector job Or an undocumented small business owner isn't investable And they're hyper focused on how to turn that insight into a series of many many more house How to tackle this challenge and the one after that and the next one after that in very complex entrenched industries Without focus these founders wouldn't have much more than a without that focus these founders wouldn't have much more than a vision statement or a great idea And allow me to say this great ideas and a big vision are terrific They're absolutely the spark and center of gravity needed to make big things happen I work for a visionary named keisha cash And without her and all the other visionaries in the audience And the dreams that they're courageous enough to dream we wouldn't be here So thank you for your courage and foresight and brilliant But how do we make that vision a reality? How do we do it in a way that stays true to the original intent? Because of course, we've all seen cases in the business world and in the tech world where big ideas and large scale visions Can lead to unintended consequences that disproportionately affect marginalized communities In our recent history and emphasis on vision and disruption without enough focus on how we get there Have led to bad outcomes for workers for our privacy and even for our public safety When these platforms were being built, what if someone had asked how would this impact our workers? How do we scale this in a way that still protects user privacy? How do we connect shared interests without amplifying or activating hate? people inside those companies probably did ask those questions, but maybe not enough And not enough of us investors did either And the same for users and customers Setting ambitious goals without regard for how we achieve them has turned into a failed playbook And we all have to start inquiring as to how things are made and done if we're to uphold our values and our common interests But avoiding these outcomes isn't the only reason to ask ourselves how a thing should get done There are many good affirmative reasons why I try to anchor myself on this question every day Asking how takes us out of the past and into the future Faced with a problem it orients us toward the opportunities and the solutions rather than the challenges and barriers Asking how also assumes you're in this effort with me Whereas why is about convincing people to join it? And as I said before, I think focusing on how things work is the only way we get to real structural change That's scalable and that's lasting Maybe that's hyperbolic or more likely that's boring But in the political arena, you see it all the time Strip away the rhetoric and headlines and you'll see examples like gerrymandering or the filibuster Of ways that the process of how things get done How they're counted or how votes are cast Translates into tremendous and enduring political power We may want our systems to work better But without examining how the work gets done We can only hope for incremental and isolated incidents of progress So my challenge to you is this Center your day to day work around how you carry out your mission Spend as much time leading discussions on how as you do on why Why is an important and foundational question? But it can be limiting There's a reason why psychologists are discouraged from asking their patients why questions because why did something happen? Tends to take us backwards and closed off to learning or it leads to over intellectualized or abstract answers Rather than ones that are grounded in concrete examples and actions I've seen the same effect in our line of work and that leads to distance from our communities That we serve and consensus around edicts that have little or no So pivot from why to how quickly And lean into a string of how's how will we do this might lead to how will we know it's working Might lead to how will stakeholders react? Opportunities often lie in those lines of inquiry So do important flags or risks or misalignment on your team? And consider including the how when defining what success looks like A year ago. I heard a veteran esg investor talk about this idea in the context of how she evaluates a company for investment She made the point that while the same choice to let go of a certain number of staff taken by two CEOs Might appear the same on their PNL Asking how those cuts were carried out were they done by the CEO or by a consultant would reveal much more about The business fundamentals resilience and long-term value of that company And finally, I hope this is something you can begin to try right away And that is incorporate small house into your daily work If your company says they care about equity and inclusion They're likely starting with hiring to get better representation among their ranks That's super important, but you may not be a hiring manager or your team may be fully staffed at the moment If you and your team care about these values, how might you embody them as you move through your day and week? What about in your next meeting asking yourself whose voice is missing from this conversation? How do I get that perspective into the room? And how do I support that person when they're on the inside? In closing, let me leave you with one final thought As women, I think we're really adept at homing in on this question of how Because at its core caring about how something is done is exactly that an act of caring And I believe deeply that women, especially when working together are force multipliers in their communities So let's come together point ourselves at the big thorny problems And keep asking ourselves how Thank you Thank you to you both for those powerful words and we're going to engage in a little bit of q&a at this time So if we can bring back Madam mayor and yui to the stage, we're going to get started I know that uh, madam mayor is in the audience And so perhaps we can work on getting her in but in the meantime, I'll start with a question for you yui And then when the mayor joins us, she can respond as well. So we know Good and well that whenever there's movement towards progress and justice, there is a backlash And not only a backlash sometimes there's retrenchment. Sometimes there's reverting to the mean Sometimes people are an outright attack Historical record has proven that So when we think about these gains that we're making and these shifts that you're talking about that We need to make how do we ensure that they are durable and how do we also come prepared to fight To keep our gains and defend these goals that um, you know that we're sharing today Do you have some thoughts on that too particularly in in your domain of around investing practice? Thank you, uh phonique and uh, thank you everyone for for organizing this event and and for being here Um, you know, that's a hard question And I think something that we had impact america fund ask ourselves every day And and I know, you know elsewhere in the field as well um I know I my whole talk was focused on the question how but I think it's important to stress That the foundational question really starts with why um And and really setting that intent uh and coming back to it over and over again um How is this working in the context of the intent that we set out? I think is really important and really important to keeping ourselves durable and resilient In the long fight I'd also say, you know, when I think about the big problems and the big challenges Um, I really try to focus on how do I pivot that into a how And the two ways that I really think about doing this Is starting small and getting proximate Uh, so what do I mean by that starting small? I think Um, really means breaking down these big Problems into bite-side steps, right and by breaking it down into those steps You're orienting yourselves already to how are we going to get it done and how we're going to keep That endurance that durability that resilience that sustaining momentum Which is part of the why that you're pointing out monique You know, they say I think uh when they say, you know Come up with a list of things you need to do They say don't write write a book don't write the big thing Write the smallest possible thing, right, right Uh, write an outline for my book or even better write a paragraph on anything at all Um, and I try to hold that in my mind so that I don't get paralyzed by the big challenge So that I keep moving with intention and so that I can keep checking in with myself With ourselves on the progress as we do these incremental house I think also, you know, this idea of getting proximate Obviously, this is something that brian stevensson the civil rights leader talks about a lot And he says get proximate to those who are suffering because we can't create justice Without getting close to the places wherein justices prevail And I think that's really important. Um as an anchor as we move through this work But I'd humbly add to mr. Stevenson Um that you also can't see the solutions Uh the durability the resilience Um if you're not proximate if you're not proximate to community if you're not proximate to the women You're trying to serve to the women of color who are doing amazing things on the ground within their communities within their fields Um people and communities have their own solutions Uh, you know, we don't have to make them up in an every tower or in a library, you know Surrounded by books and research. That's important But really starting inside of community on the ground and getting proximate to the challenges and the opportunities I think is the way that we build a really strong foundation from the ground up um We can learn a lot from how a single mother manages her day And her work and balances it against uh her parenting duties We can learn a lot from how a small business owner plans inventory for the week or the month There are real innovations and solutions inside of those lived experiences and we really try to anchor that In our everyday work at impact america fund and I think that's that's the bedrock That's the thing that's really hard to to change and and and the strength that we'll draw Against any future backlash Thank you for that and madam mayor. Thank you for hopping on with us here again um I don't know if you heard earlier part of the question, you know the part the point is Related to the backlash and potentially attack on the gains that we have made and of course in democracy There's been quite a lot of movement and quite a lot of attention to all these things that are happening now I'd love to hear your take on how we make these how we fight The voter suppression that we're seeing and all these other attacks that we have on these gains that are certainly going to Disproportionately affect people of color and women and other marginalized people And we'd love to hear your take on what we can do to be thoughtful around How do we create these terrible changes and and protect them as we make them? Yes, uh, great question. Um, you know, one of the things that I'm really working through I'm in columbia heights, which is Right next to minneapolis. And so we have the Derek Chauvin trial happening right now. And so it's It's not my neighborhood, but it's literally like, you know blocks Blocks away and and of course, and this is impacting the whole world. It's not minneapolis. It's not minnesota United States. It's everywhere. Um, so we're having, you know, everyone is is working through these feelings of anger and hurt and disappointment and Resentment and fear and so I'm really leaning into into kindness and compassion for myself and I I don't have the quote off the top of my head, but but self-care, you know, isn't isn't is an act of It's an active resistance. Yes. And um yesterday I took a mental health day. I just I needed it and This weekend we have a big Town hall on healing and they have a lot of different pastors speaking and people from the community Very diverse group of people. It's outdoors and and the idea is is that we can come together and This not feel alone, especially during this pandemic, but I think Knowing we need to heal we need to take time for ourselves have compassion with ourselves so we can come back and fight because because the um The system is not going to give this to us easily and we all know this already people have known this for hundreds of years and um And it is tiring, you know, it is it is un Unrelenting and so I think acknowledging that Having people that you can rely on that you can be honest with and talk about your fears But then knowing that we can do hard things We can keep going but but it is just going to be hard. I think just acknowledging How difficult it is and how tired people are And then and then of course when people are tired and hurting, you know, people um can lash out and um understanding that sometimes when our friends or our community members lash out that we can um We can almost be thankful that they're sharing those raw feelings with us that they trust us Enough to be what they needed to be in that moment even though it's hard on our end I think trying to to give that grace um That if that's what happens that Trying to look past that too so we can extend grace to each other Particularly in the pandemic my line has been grace and space because you don't know what folks are going through um and just to pivot a little bit to your how question Ui that you theme for your talk and actually Madam mayor your call to action are essentially about accountability too. So when we think about accountability we often Hold ourselves as women More closely and to higher bars And we fail often to look at the system and to look up How do we hold those in power and the systems accountable? the one thing that i'm Often think about is how do we make the invisible systems visible in ways that we can actually point to them? We can name them we can then do something about them when we do so and um really accountability for me is my My word for 2021 There's so many levels to what needs to be held accountable What who needs to be held accountable what needs to be held accountable and how Measuring and managing even our small minor actions is one aspect of it, but then there's so many levels to the Civic institutions that we hold dear and to those big powerful ones um organizations small and big the ones we work for and those who run things um You can take it in any way you'd like to go with that question around just accountability for the self But also ensuring we are looking up and outwards Maybe madam mayor will go to you first and then we'll turn to you Ui Sure one of the ways that i'm in the in the position elected official that i am right now is um Bringing more information about how our council meetings happen in our work sessions Um to throw light on it. Um these things, you know, yes, they're all open meetings Yes, you know, there's a link on a website, but for everyone to find that, you know, people are living their lives they're not they're not wondering about these things and generally You know until until there's a problem people don't don't really pay attention to what's happening And that's that's just the norm Um, which then means things go under the radar and then pigs people all of a sudden say how did this even happen? so Really trying to shed a light on how the system works because the more people who can see how it is working That how a question Then they can start just to push just to shine a light on it and say well Maybe why is it this way? Do we have to continue it this way? um And especially when we're trying to create create systems where we're being more inclusive and welcoming to people who are Not the the cultural norm that's been in elected office In order to be ready for that we're going to have to rethink things. Um I think of people with disabilities that come into it people who don't speak english as a second language you know our our interview questions are Are difficult these are people who are greatly You know greatly bringing richness to our communities But if we set up these parameters of you know interviews questions and such and it makes it more difficult We're losing out on having them join us So I think really shining a light on things How did this happen and then why is it still this way? Is there a way we can change things? Thank you for those answers. Really appreciate it in youy Yeah, thank thank you for that mayor amada and and I think just to build off what you said For me, it's you know two things One I try to just keep asking questions Unsurprisingly um, and I try to formulate and really get in the habit of making every question a how question Because I actually think a what or a why or a who When framed as a how Puts you and other people in the driver's seat. It's about accountability and action What should be done is a passive question How can we address this right is is an action and accountability oriented question Who's an expert on this topic? I try to reframe as how can I learn more about this or how can we learn more about this or how can you learn more about this If we're talking about you know holding other folks feet to the fire um And and putting us and I and we and you In the game and in the conversation. I think is really important um And really the kernel of a of the beginning of accountability And that takes me to I think the second thing that I really try to think about and create space for Um and where you know a lot of power lies and that's in collaboration and coalition building I think women in particular I think marginalized communities in particular are really good at community building are really good at finding their collective power And I think that's how we build bulwarks and we build strength To hold both ourselves Accountable to our intent and how we're doing things But also others accountable as they come into the conversation as they bring their capital into the conversation Such wise words from you both we so very much appreciate you having Having joining us today having you here We will take your words and your insight and hopefully hold that with us as we move forward in order to Deliver on those goals that you mentioned and I'll just recap Meramata your calls to action get to know your neighbors see women as leaders and ask them to run and support them Let's double down on that and learn to say people's names correctly. I think that's beautiful. I try to I hope that I pronounced your name correctly today And yui, um, thank you also for your calls to action around reframing words to how I think that will drive action And we are so grateful for both of your insights, and I hope I pronounced your name correctly today too, yui We are grateful for you to join us and look forward to hearing more from you in the years to come Thank you. Thank you Monique, and I will turn it back to Halima