Aug 11, 2020
This week I have Dawn Kelly on the show. I'm excited for this episode, not only because we cover her career journey but also because we delve into a truly important conversation related to today's social climate. Dawn spent decades climbing the corporate ladder to become the department Vice President at Prudential Financial. She is a proven public relations and strategic communications executive.
A major theme of this episode touches on is that oftentimes we
believe we have security in corporate America. We believe that
businesses have an equal investment in us, but we regularly see
individuals with the rug pulled out from under them. Dawn worked
for Prudential for 16 years but was blindsided by a layoff in
2015.
It left her with an immense amount of grief. Although this
tragedy touched many of us, Dawn's experience as a black woman
in corporate America is vital to understand. She realized that her
race played an immense part in her treatment as well as her
abrupt layoff. It's important to listen to and highlight these
stories of discrimination and microaggressions to move forward in a
positive way. Understanding the gravity of these demeaning actions
will help us show up in the world in a highly impactful
way.
Today Dawn is serving and feeding her community with The
Nourish Spot in Jamaica, Queens. She is committed to serving
healthy, balanced meals to underserved communities and works to
create programs to help build children up. Dawn really is the
epitome of a go-getter and true inspiration to us all.