“[When I started ‘Nourish’], I was thinking about what are the essential moments that we share that help us acknowledge the humanity in other people. And it’s food.” –Michaela Ayers
Michaela Ayers loves food. She is also a tireless advocate for inclusive cultures inside organizations. So she brought her two passions together with her social impact company ‘Nourish,’ where she brings people together at the dinner table for brave conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Michaela shares her journey as a social justice facilitator, entrepreneur, and woman waking up to the importance of self-care in her work and life.
More About Michaela:
Michaela Ayers, a social justice facilitator turned entrepreneur, is revolutionizing the way individuals, organizations and communities think about diversity, equity and inclusion. Michaela is the founder of Nourish, a social impact organization that is driving cultural change through experiential learning and human connection. Bringing people together to form a community over a meal, she moves people out of their comfort zones into candid conversations and nourishing experiences that cultivate inclusive cultures. With a background in corporate training, Michaela brings a fresh and creative lens to events, professional learning & development, and strategic diversity initiatives that help businesses improve the way people work together.
Highlights
- How the 2016 presidential election prompted Michaela to start Nourish – how Nourish evolved from a community activism project into a business
- Why Michaela uses connecting over a meal to give people the language to discuss difficult issues around race and inclusion
- The value of storytelling in building meaningful connections between strangers
- Why Michaela believes that the dinner table is the perfect place to challenge people to be brave about difficult topics
- Michaela’s simple definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion – and why conversations about those concepts are “in the ether” right now
- How creating a culture of belonging and having uncomfortable conversations is like building a muscle
- How Michaela’s journey of personal growth and research into racial inequity highlighted the importance of self-care in her life and prompted her to begin a self-care practice
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Connect with Michaela: Instagram | LinkedIn
Thank You for Listening!
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