On Whiteness: Racial Justice and the American Dream

Jerry Colonna is previous chair of the Naropa Institute in Colorado and CEO and co-founder of Reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm.  He is the author of the ‘Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up’  and the upcoming ‘Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong’. Prior to his career as a coach, he was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP) and co-founded New York City-based Flatiron Partners, one of America’s most successful, early-stage investment programs.

In this episode Jerry and I have an honest conversation about his journey grappling with racism post-George Floyd, and his own relationship to whiteness. You can listen to me go into Brown woman perfectionist mode and then catch this disconnection setting to reshift to move into more real and vulnerable relationship: a micro-reparation in action! Jerry offers his suggestions for other white leaders to start working toward generational justice—how we make room for everyone in the promise of the American Dream.

For more on the theme of whiteness, read the story “Bad Immigrant” in Bones of Belonging — now available for purchase.