Changing the Trajectory

Why are market failures an optimal use of capitalism to inspire innovation? Priya Parrish, partner and CIO of Impact Engine, a women-owned venture capital and private equity firm, joins James and Maci to discuss the importance of impact investing and the significance of the rewards society gains when solving for critical needs. Carlos Orantes, CEO of Alcanza Clinical Research, discusses his company's focus on one such solve: divers...

Sometimes it is rocket science. In 2018, decades into his 33-year career at NASA, Gregory Robinson was asked to lead the James Webb Space Telescope Program to get it over the goal line. Gregory's rise from sharecropper parents in Virginia to segregated schooling in the 1960s to becoming the Webb Space Telescope's program director and the 2022 Time Innovator of the Year is an achievement—one whose impact rivals the scientific marvel...

Natalie Madeira Cofield is a Fortune 500 Small Business Advisor, an award-winning entrepreneur, a women’s empowerment advocate, a philanthropist, and a national changemaker. In 2021, Natalie was appointed Assistant Administrator for the Office of Women’s Business Ownership, making history as the highest-ranking Black woman in the Biden-Harris Administration. Today, Natalie continues her mission to support women entrepreneurs by imp...

“What are you really moving and shaking if you can’t move and shake for your own home?” Waikinya Clanton, Executive Director of Mississippi’s Southern Poverty Law Center, poses this as she discusses her move away from a national rise in politics in DC to her choice to return home to Mississippi and put her skillset to use there. Waikinya’s inspiring leadership in handling Jackson’s water crisis has elevated and advanced the SPLC’s ...

Kezia Williams is an author, entrepreneur, and the CEO of The Black upStart—an organization that has trained nearly 500 Black entrepreneurs to become job creators and asset owners. How can we establish patterns of profit generation and wealth acquisition? Kezia’s culturally relevant Black wealth blueprint teaches how to break counterproductive financial generational patterns to develop a wealth-creating mindset. https://plnk.to/CT?...

Today we're featuring our best of 2022 highlight reel! Listen for passionate takeaways and calls to action from the legendary "Olivia Pope of Silicon Valley," Jotaka Eaddy, and acclaimed CNN anchor Zain Asher. Brandon Andrews—entrepreneur and leader of a nationwide casting tour for Shark Tank—shares invaluable knowledge. And prepare for a Master (P) Class with none other than Percy Miller himself. Get the full episode of #Changingt...

“There’s nothing passive about it,” says trailblazing entrepreneur Lanny Smith of his premium athleisure brand, Actively Black. Since its inception in 2020, this mission-based brand has operated with the clear intention of reinvesting back into the Black community by advocating for social justice, health, and wellness from within. With the Obamas, Daymond John, and Marvel Studios all in Actively Black’s corner, is it time to join t...

Media mogul Anu Bhardwaj is reaching millions of women in emerging markets with her new app, Sheqonomi. Will digital wallets put 2 billion women on the board? Sheqonomi centers women in emerging markets as a platform designed for women globally to listen, learn and earn. A fierce founder and a global influencer, Anu is ensuring that women worldwide take more control of their money and destinies. https://plnk.to/CT?to=page

“Who runs the world? Girls!” Beyonce knows it, and so does the Lower East Side Girls Club. Today James and Maci speak with co-executive director Ebonie Simpson about her disruptive non-profit connecting young women of color in New York City to bright futures. How? Through free, year-round, innovative programming and mentoring. The LESGC’s 40,000-square-foot facility boasts a shop for coding and robotics; an Environmental Studies la...

How can we create a Shark Tank effect within our local communities? Entrepreneur, investor, and leader of a nationwide casting tour for ABC's Shark Tank, Brandon Andrews, joins us with concrete answers. Brandon inspires people of color to believe in their ability to start and grow a business, have the capital and resources necessary to take their ideas forward, change their communities, and create generational wealth. Listen for de...

How do we democratize who can support BIPOC plays and creatives? Venture capitalist and founder of Wocstar Fund and the Wocstar Foundation, Gayle Jennings O’Byrne, joins acclaimed producer and CEO of SimonSays Entertainment, Ron Simons, to discuss key answers. Learn how the Wocstar Foundation empowers everyday people to participate in and support the amplification of diverse voices. Rather than being a mere consumer of product, joi...

This week on Changing the Trajectory we're sharing a conversation between our colleague, Adam Sansiveri, and the legendary Percy "Master P" Miller. Listen in as Percy Miller shares his incredible journey from the inception of No Limit Records, his rise to the top of the hip-hop scene in the '90s, playing for the NBA, and his current focus: promoting economic empowerment through creating brands and products.

Popular CNN Anchor Zain Asher pays tribute to her mother’s incredible strength and determination to raise four successful children in the shadow of tragedy. From cutting the power cord of the TV to installing a payphone in the house, this Nigerian mother went to great lengths to ensure a better life for her children. Learn how it all paid off.

How did a bath bomb profoundly inspire Sashee Chandran? As founder and CEO of Tea Drops, Sashee's organic, bagless, dissolvable, loose-leaf tea company has disrupted an age-old industry with its creativity, quality, and convenience. Listen as Sashee talks candidly about her experience of turning her passion into profit, starting and funding a venture-backed business, and why there is no better time to be a female founder than now.

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Arlan Hamilton is unapologetic and known for forging her own path. In 2015, puzzling over the fact that 90% of venture deals go to white men, Arlan built Backstage Capital from the ground up. Her drive was simple: to create opportunities for those, like her, with real entrepreneurial ambitions, who are underrepresented. To date, Backstage Capital has raised $20 million and invested in nearly 200 startups led by underrepresented fou...

Advocate. Connector. CEO. Talk show host. These words all describe Jotaka Eaddy, whose accomplishments include helping abolish the juvenile death penalty in America and a career with the NAACP before her bold and successful move into the tech industry. This Black History Month, we celebrate Jotaka and the many lessons she has to offer. For how Jotaka honors her "original investors,” the Black community's need to redefine and restru...

James Seth Thompson leverages his platform to help advance communities of color. Today, we’ll hear the whys behind this truth. Tune in as Maci Philitas, Changing the Trajectory’s new co-host, flips the script inviting James to dish about his passions, the evolution of the podcast, and what fuels James’s drive to have an impact in under-resourced communities. Reflecting on his personal life and 23 years in the financial services ind...

As 2021 comes to a close, we are sharing our best of—a roundup of inspiring conversations and practical advice from the great minds we’ve featured this year. Thought-provoking segments with activist and survivor of police brutality Leon Ford, angel investor Lorine Pendelton, and Tanya Van Court, founder and CEO of Goalsetter, among others, include takeaways and calls to action to help us change the trajectory of our wealth, impact,...

How do we protect and multiply the transformative strides occurring in Black wealth creation today? Kwame Anku has a clear vision. Today, the CEO and Chairman of the Black Star Fund—a $12 million early-stage innovation fund—joins James and his new co-host Maci Philitas for a robust discussion. Get in-depth analysis on vision, execution, and manifestation in the Black venture capital and wealth creation ecosystems and discover the e...