The Heart Of Allyship: A Story About Being Human With Shamia Lodge

 

How can allyship shed light on the true essence of being human? Can it serve as a gateway to a deeper exploration of our shared humanity? Today’s episode follows the allyship story of our host, Darrin Tulley, and his guest, Shamia Lodge, a former Fellow with CEO Action for Racial Equity, and Arizona State Ambassador to the United States of Women (USOW). Prepare to be inspired by the friendship they built that’s beyond allyship and gain a richer appreciation for what allyship can do that makes us uniquely human.

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The Heart Of Allyship: A Story About Being Human With Shamia Lodge

Welcome back, Shamia Lodge, to the show. We’re going to talk about our story, allyship journey, and how we put each other on an equal playing field where we help each other thrive without even asking. We challenge and encourage each other. We’re courageous and vulnerable. It’s an amazing journey to see what could happen when you take genuine, interested care to a whole new level. Enjoy the show.

 

 

Shamia, welcome back to the show.

Thanks for having me, Darrin. How are you doing?

I’m doing amazing, especially here talking with you. The last time we met, we were talking about fair chance hiring, and I know that’s something that’s special. Do you want to give a quick little shout-out about that in April 2024?

April is the second chance month. It’s the month we pause and reflect on the importance of giving opportunities to individuals who are impacted by the criminal legal system. Fair chance hiring is one of those components that we should continue to think about when we support individuals who are reacclimating into society. There are many different avenues and support that we can assist them with, like housing and making sure that they have food. We believe in second chances. We have to make sure individuals have what they need to thrive.

I love the work that you’ve been doing throughout your whole life. You have always influenced me because I had this opportunity to help a company hire someone. I was filling out the form online to see how we would hire this person. There’s a box that says, “Fair chance hiring. Yes or no.” I said, “Check, YES.” You’re always inspiring me.

From Colleagues To Friends

Let’s go back to the beginning of when we met. We were both working at MassMutual. It’s a great company. They took care of us. We took care of them in many ways. I remember some of the early times we connected. You always piqued my interest. You always lit me up based on what you shared and how you shared it. You’ve always been upfront with ideas and suggestions, giving me real-time feedback over these years and even back then. Do you remember when we first started working together?

I do. I was a young, hungry employee trying to make sure that my work was impactful. I made it my point every time I got in the space of a leader, Darrin. Let’s be clear here. You were doing amazing things at MassMutual and leading some huge initiatives. I wanted to make sure you knew who I was. It’s always a goal of mine to delight people whenever I’m in their presence. Thank you for being easy to delight.

I remember we were talking before the pandemic. You were talking on the TV about the work we were doing. You’re in Phoenix. I’m in Connecticut. I remember giving you feedback after that conversation. In the beginning, you were scripted about Lean Six Sigma and all the things we have to do. You were phenomenal. When you stopped talking about the script and talked from your heart about what was happening, you shined.

I do remember that. It’s crazy because I often reflect on that piece of feedback. I don’t know if this is true for you, but I remember throughout my life when I received feedback that changed how I showed up for myself. Sometimes, we get feedback, and you’re like, “Why are you telling me this?” It’s hard, but it’s even hard to apply what was shared with you. The feedback you shared came from a place like you’re watching me. You care about me. The feedback you provided was feedback that was, for all intents and purposes, telling me to get out of my way.

If I want to shine and be great, I have to get out of my way because there’s no amount of scripts or reading that can do what I’m able to do when I am my authentic self. It was such a precious gift for you to share with me. I went on from that moment to speak with so much confidence. I have more sponsors as a part of my own personal board of directors. They shared similar feedback, but not to the place where I was like, “This was deep.” I’m reminded by that piece of feedback, even to this day as I speak, and I’m out and doing great work.

I see that. When you’re out speaking and doing your road tour, it’s only going to pick up over time. Why am I bringing this up? I remember giving you feedback with some words that you were like, “Huh?” I was a White male leader at the time. You gave me feedback that you might want to be careful about how I gave you the feedback.

It was important because it put me back in my chair to say, “I need to be more thoughtful and mindful about how we’re communicating together.” My intentions were the way you said it. Maybe the words I used could have tripped you up. That’s what goes on in the society. The words we’re using when you get tripped up are based on what we’re saying, but my intention was right. I wasn’t clearly communicating what I should have.

It could have stopped there. You could have said, “Who does this person think she is to share this level of feedback with me?” I could have never shared the feedback, and you could have provided similar things. It could have been crazy that we are two people who always have, regardless of our walks of life, sought to understand and assume positive attempts. We were able to have that moment. I have the courage to provide you with the level of feedback that I did, and you have the courage to accept it. We can still do great work. Our relationship has morphed into us being each other’s advisors and friends.

I even take that with me. It’s hard to tell somebody to be like, “Did you mean to say this? Tell me what you meant by those words, and let’s unpack a few other words that could have been better if they had been dependent upon each other.” It’s hard out here because there’s so much happening in the world around us when it’s like, “No, I didn’t mean to say that.” We’re always walking on eggshells.

What happens is we don’t talk to each other. We don’t share what’s going on. I was talking with a leader the other day. She said to me, “I’m afraid to say certain things because I’m afraid I’m going to not say the right thing and trip up.” The most amazing thing is that we need to be able to give ourselves the grace to have these conversations. If we’re showing up with heart and care for each other, we should be able to help each other through anything together. Otherwise it’s divisive. We have trigger words everywhere if we allow it.

It’s horrible that we can’t operate like we want to operate. Sometimes, I get caught off guard by what’s happening in society. I’m like, “Does it have to be that hard? Can we have a conversation?” It stinks because I know that there is so much trauma that people still carry with them to this day.  

It’s not lost on me that it’s much harder for folks in their situations. It’s much more difficult. I’m thankful that MassMutual created a space where we can have the levels of conversations that we had. They provided us with tools, as weird as that may seem. It’s those tools that we carry in life. We use them with us. MassMutual is not paying me to do this commercial, but a lot of people who are working for corporations are not as fortunate to be able to lead from a place of courage, have authentic conversations, and walk away knowing that we’re better as a result of the conversations we are able to have.

One of the tools that I would say one of the greatest gifts I’ve gotten from MassMutual is to authentically step through, look at life differently, and meet people with pure love and light with you and other people I might have pushed away in the past. We had this immersion event that I went to. It was a diversity and inclusion event that I had gone to several years ago. It changed the rest of my life.

I was on a trip with my family to Sedona and some other amazing places. My mind was spinning. Many people have heard my story when I had that awakening. I wasn’t treating people the way I thought I could as an individual and a human being. How do we talk about allyship and “humanship” in real ways? How do we treat each other with genuine care and interest without letting some things get in the way that we were told or things that we might have thought were true in the past?

That’s when I had this awakening to say, “No, I need to look at differences as beauty, as strengths, as opportunities for us to discover what’s right in front of us all the time.” That’s why I’m always lit up when we’re chatting. I remember seeing you in Phoenix. You were not in a great place. We had some down-in-dirty conversations. I don’t know if you recall where that went. I’d love to know what you were thinking at that time. What were you thinking when I came in, and we’re having this conversation, and you’re like, “Who the heck’s this guy thing?” Where were you at?

When we worked together at MassMutual, and you ended up coming out here to visit me, it was at an interesting time in my career. I was selected to lead an amazing project. I was the only one leading it in Arizona. Distance bias is real. It was real back then. It’s still real to this day. One of the things I say and, and I’m cautious when I say it, but for me, it means something different is that COVID was a hard time for all of us, but in the business world, especially when you’re not working in headquarters or with your team every day, COVID was the great equalizer. It leveled the playing field.

For folks like myself, when I came out to Arizona to help stand up the satellite office for the company, it was real how hard it was to navigate and have a voice if you’re not in the room with other folks. That is what I was experiencing when you came to visit me. Not only was I responsible for meeting my goals and my deliverables on this big project we were working on together, but I was experiencing what it was like to be the only one.

I say that again cautiously because we hear that all the time from women, Black women, or Millennials. Depending upon what room we’re in, we are the only ones. In this particular situation, it was clear I was the only one in Arizona, and there were a lot of people in Connecticut and Massachusetts. I was working through that. I was in a hard place when we met. I’m easily triggered by any little thing. What do you mean you’re scheduling a meeting at 6:00 AM? It may be 9:00 AM your time, but it’s 6:00 AM my time. Let’s think about that.

I do remember the time that you came and visited me. We had some hard-life conversations. Not only conversations about the work and how you could assist with making sure I have what I need. What I value the most about those conversations when you came out here is that you let me talk. That allowed you to listen differently. Talk to me about what you got out of those conversations when we had them.

I felt a little uncomfortable, to be honest. I was afraid to say the wrong thing. You’re a great talent. We have these diversity inclusion initiatives. Who cares I thought because I truly valued you. You’re a great person, human being, and employee. 

It’s a great question. I felt a little nervous and uncomfortable when we got together. Not only were you at the time an amazing employee and colleague, but you were also someone that I wanted to listen to because as I was going through this journey, I needed to step in and get uncomfortable to have these conversations. For you to let me listen was powerful in itself. I got to that point when I wanted to listen differently. That’s the big thing here for anybody who cares about allyship or cares about people they work with or wants to make an impact about how they show up and have an impact on people’s lives.

That’s when I started to realize I wasn’t having a direct impact on people’s lives. I wanted to get to know you better as a human being and as a person. What’s going on? Why are you upset? To your point about the voice, I could recognize that my voice was heard all over the place, partially because of who I am, how I look, and where I sat in the company. Part of it is taking out your idea and other people’s ideas and being the voice when it didn’t need to be me at that time.

I didn’t know better until we were talking. I started to hear you give me a lot of feedback and great ideas. You’ve taught me many things about voices, how we think about words, such as using words like articulation and being mindful of that, what it means to be a White savior and if that is good or not, and what that could look like. What does it mean to have Black joy? What does it mean to feel like someone in society several years ago without much of it even changing?

I have such a great level of respect and love for you. I’ve learned so much from you. All I see is this shining soul every time I connect with you. I felt that way when we were connecting. I kept having to push away my discomfort and be intentional about it. It was painful at the time because I was pushing you and others away, but you’ll help me see through that, expand, and get uncomfortable to live out my purpose, which is for you to have a voice at the table and do the things you were meant to do here.

True Inclusion

Darrin, that hit me differently because when I think about the landscape and the polarization of DEI, how many people are saying, “Why is it a thing?” It was an initiative. We’re past that, and we’re onto the next. I heard you sum up our conversation from your point of view and perspective. You heard me talk about it from my perspective.

At the end of the day, I wanted to make sure there was a level of inclusion for me and my voice on the team. You have to make sure for every two White people that spoke, and I need to speak because I’m Black. It wasn’t that. I knew that the team, that you and others have created is based on a variety of different things. If we figured out how to make it work, it was going to be the best harmony, and it ended up being that. The diverse aspect is the outcome of doing the other things well. It’s the outcome of making sure we’re including people in their voices and taking into consideration the time zone or their knowledge gap. That’s where that equity comes in. It’s meeting people where they are.

 

Those are the things without using those words that I was advocating for as an individual, and hopefully, it will show up in other folks. Not because they were of a different race or gender. It was because it made the best sense. It’s interesting because people talk to me all the time, like, “How long have you been doing this DEI work?” It’s since I was on a playground. I never looked at it as such. That’s not my story. I’ve always felt like I was a part of a team, whether the coach decided to see that or not. In this case, I look at you as the coach.

I knew my role was to get my coach to make sure that I was in the game because I was prepared to play the game. I had all of the tools and resources that I needed. Nothing was lacking. We’ve never thought about it this way. Maybe we should. She could be our wild card. I’m like like everyone else. I’ve studied the game, skillset, and methodology. Let’s play the game.

I remember acting as a “mentor.” A sponsor is what Corporate America calls these things. As we’re talking and hearing you refer back as well, I often think about it, that I was as much a mentee as anybody in a relationship. I learned so much from you, as I pointed out moments ago. Part of what I hope people read around this is what we bring into these relationships, what our intention is, and what we hope to get out of it.

If we’re reaching across the room, the table, and the country to try to help each other get the best out of whatever we need, taking care of each other with real intention and care, it’s amazing how we all can thrive and blossom, That’s what I recognized out of our relationship quite a bit. As a mentor, I remember you saying, “you were good about running this down back at corporate and helping to open doors and to get you to be heard.” To me, that’s the job of a sponsor, a mentor, or a person of interest who wants to care for someone. You make it happen without someone asking you. That’s something that you said to me meant a lot to you. I’ll never lose that because I’ll carry that on with me.

One of the things I recall is chapter five of my book, and people should read that chapter because you’re a star. In that chapter, one of my favorite things I’ve learned, which I’ll never stop, is about this journey, ongoing inclusivity, and gaining perspective. I gave you a couple of versions of the chapter to read, and I asked for your feedback. I’m sure you remember some aspects of it. I was saying that my voice made a difference for you. I was giving too much credit to my voice. It wasn’t about my voice. What did you say? Do you want to finish that?

I said, “Darrin, this is giving White savior. Stop.”

You also said, “I don’t need your voice. I have a voice.” That was huge. I had to take the privilege that I had at that point in time. You helped me identify what that looked like. My voice was heard differently because of where I came from and what I looked like. A lot of people don’t like to talk about that word. I had privileges. I needed to do it more honorably.

The visual that I used was because of you around this megaphone. I had this megaphone, and it was invisible. I didn’t even know I had it. I needed to get out of the way and give you the bag of phones so your voice could be heard loudly and clearly, and Look what happened. It’s not because of what I did. It was your voice that made it happen.

I have to do the work in order for you to feel comfortable being that advocate, voice, or opening up the door. I’m like, “Crack it open. I’ll push my way through.” It only took that much, but I had to do the work. I have to do the work. I use this when we’re talking about the community that I support that’s near and dear to my heart, which is the justice-impacted community.

I always say it’s not about a handout. It’s a hand-up. They’ve done the work. They’re ready for people to give them a chance. I’ve done the work. I say, “I’m bringing Shamia with me. We’ve been doing this work together as a group. I’m going to have Shamia present on the work we’ve been doing. I’m here if anyone has any questions. Shamia is going to be able to lead the conversation.” Shamia is up every single night when she’s putting her babies to bed and studying the craft. She could make sure she’s prepared and ready for those moments because they don’t happen often. Still, to this day, it’s gotten much better as a nation and society.

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I need to be clear. That’s not my story. My story is different in Corporate America. Many people have heard me say this before. I have benefited from my work going into rooms before people even know that it was my work. It’s the nature of the beast. Because of that, I’ve gotten opportunities. It’s not because eeny, meeny, miny, moe. There are not any Black people in the room. Let’s bring this one. No, I’m a part of the eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

Those things are not lost on me. I wanted to share with you when we were having our conversation back and forth about the chapter in the book. Darrin, you were only able to feel confident enough to do this because you knew deep down I was prepared for this moment. You knew that I could do this. With that, it’s less about your voice. It’s more about you making sure I get the opportunity.

How could you encourage folks to be prepared to do the work? What are some things that come to mind for you from your perspective?

It’s business as usual. If people want to do a good job, they will do a good job. That’s what you’re hired into a company to do. Personally, I’ve never looked at the work I did as a job from 9:00 to 5:00. I’ve always built my career from early on, entering into the corporate arena. With that mindset, I’ve been able to continuously do what I think, and I hope my kids will one day think it is great work. I encourage people to find what gets them going and go hard at that. If you’re not happy with what you’re doing, you have to figure out what makes you happy. Whatever makes you happy, you’re going to excel at it.

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Building Relationships

How would you suggest aligning with mentors or people who can help enhance allyships, and what makes you happy? What impact do you want to leave in this world or what? What future do we want to create? How would you suggest that happens? Let’s be honest. You were the mentor.

No, it goes back to your interest. I’ll never forget it. Because of where I sat in the organization, it was hard to come in contact with leaders. I was many levels down. What I always tried to make sure I did was listen when we were doing all hands-on and all-employee meetings or when there were special events that we would host and a leader would come and speak at.

There was anything that I was curious about or wanted that leader to elaborate on. I would email the leader and say, “I heard you speak, and you talked about this. This is something that I’ve always been interested in. Do you have fifteen minutes to chat? No, I can’t meet you in the cafeteria. We’re going to have to figure out what Zoom is.”

Distance things were real back then, but I’ve never been told no. Individuals reach out. From that first initial conversation, you’ll decide at that point if you want to continue to talk or if it was a one-and-done. Sometimes, we have to be okay with the one-and-done. Everyone is not for everyone. I mean that respectfully. You have to find your tribe or unit. I’m fortunate enough to have had you and still have you as a part of my tribe.

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I’ll never forget the opportunity to speak at one of the events MassMutual was hosting. It was on allyship and sponsorship. They gave us the opportunity. They said, “If you could tell your sponsor or mentor one thing, what would you say if they were in the room listening?” At that point, I exposed our secret. A lot of my examples are examples that I shared with Darrin and that we worked through.

I was fortunate to have you attend that, and you didn’t even expect to hear that, but I thought it was such a fitting moment to share about our relationship, mentorship, and honest conversations without going too deep and sharing some of the secrets we shared because some of these conversations are personal. We’ve built trust along the way. I was fortunate to be able to highlight you in that space.

I remember being on that call. I was emotionally surprised I was on the call. It was a woman’s leadership call. I was out there to expand my discomfort and advocate and support as part of my journey. For you to share this story, it’s about you. You shared about us. It’s incredible. It stuck with me. You want to do more because you’re sharing how important that was to you.

I always reflect on our relationships. I’m in a different space right now at a different company. I’ve many levels higher than what I was. I have a different level of access to the leaders. When I meet and speak with them, I’m like, “This person is getting his Darrin on.” I think to myself, “No, this is the way the country is moving towards. This is natural. These are people showing up. This is them being their authentic self.” As much as we want to start to persona people, I’m like, “He’s a Darrin.” I’m like, “No, this is who this person is in real life.”

I oftentimes check myself and make sure that I respect people for being genuine. Nothing more, and nothing less. I even have, “Be careful, Shamia. Check yourself on those moments.” We’re polarized by everything that’s happening. It’s hard for us to realize and recognize when relationships are real and take them at face value.

I want to make sure that I also tell that to your readers. Be careful not to judge and be critical. People are people who want to do the right thing. It’s not prescriptive. This is not an initiative. People are waking up trying to do their best. We have to continue to extend grace as we work through our own misconceptions and any trauma that we may still be taking with us into the workplace or social settings.

 

 

Doing The Work

How do you see this coming forward? Some of the politicians and leaders in our country have almost said, “We’re done with DEI.” I believe we’re beginning. It’s the level of “humanship” that we’re talking about here.

I don’t talk politics because that’s another part of my life. I don’t mix church and state. What I will tell you is that it’s a play on words. We can’t get caught up or wrapped up in that wordplay. If we know that we want to continue to treat people with fairness, respect others, and make sure people are included in all things, we are highlighting the importance of diverse perspectives and equity, which is fairness. Inclusion is making sure people are included in everything.

We’re still doing the work. We get caught up on what we call it and the measurements and not meeting the mark. If you wake up with pure hearts every day, wanting to do right by people, we are going to forever meet this moment and crush the metrics if we do what’s right. I would say to those individuals that if we want to shift this nation and culture, we have to continue to think about people first.

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I’ve mentioned with intention that I was a mentee throughout the whole process. When I let my guard down, then recognized the learnings and the beauty that I was getting in return. What you taught me, what you shared with me, and the trusted relationship that we built in this amazing friendship is beyond allyship, but it started at this level. We built trust. We were there for each other. We listened.

The grace that you gave me for not being perfect in the conversations, I want to say that again because I feel like that’s what we’d need for us to have these real conversations and to give ourselves that space to lean in, get uncomfortable, and not worry about being right yet making sure our heart’s on the table for the right reasons.

When we both entered into this relationship, we did our best to seek to understand. That’s what got us to this far right. We didn’t start from a place of judgment. We didn’t go in with ground rules. I want to make sure I’m clear. We didn’t have a check-the-box checklist. These are our ground rules for talking. We showed up to the conversation as we would show up to any conversation. We set our differences aside, and we had genuine conversations. We do that with all people. We do that in our families and friendship circles. The nerve of us to feel like we have to come to work. It gets awkward because there’s an initiative that’s telling us we have. That’s silly.

This is what I mean by making sure that the individuals we elect understand that we’re still going to do this work regardless of what we call it because it is the work we do in our real lives. We have hard conversations. They’re necessary conversations for people to feel better and not to be feeling like they’re stressed at work.

Imagine if we didn’t have those conversations, and I would come in each and every day and feel like I wasn’t included in my work team, not because I was a different color or I was a woman, but because like I was not included. That’s, at the end of the day, what I felt. All of the other stuff aside, that’s what society tells us. Those are the things. It’s probably because of this or that. No, it’s because of distance bias, but that’s a whole concept that people weren’t ready to understand. That’s the level that I think about.

We had other people of color on the team. I don’t think that they were going through the same thing that I was experiencing. We were also in different skillsets. These people were on their second and third terms of this work. This was my first term of work. There were many different factors that came into. It happened to be that I am Black, a woman, a Millennial, and you’re a middle-aged White man. Society will tell us it’s more than what it was.

We were working from different paths, places, and things because of what we were awakening to or what we were trying to strive for. We kept learning along the way. That’s important. We’ve talked about this acronym that you created, S.E.A. As you start these types of conversations and relationships, the S-word is “sympathy” and moves from sympathy to E, which is “empathy,” which is moved to A, which is moving to “action.” I feel like that’s what we did.

We stepped in, learned, inquired, curious with an open mind, cared, helped each other along the way, took action together, and allowed each of us in our own past to thrive. You helped me to embrace listening in a different way and being curious to the level where I started to have a greater purpose. You helped me see that the purpose needs to be where you’re from, not what you look like. When I say from like the light within you, what is it about you that is your light regardless of where you’re from, what you look like, and your gender?

What’s important about doing the work? Now that we have done the work individually and together, we’re now able to say, at that moment, we understood the importance of equity. That was an equitable practice. At the moment, when we were going through that, this was us getting closer to our inclusion journey. We know how to celebrate the differences and how it makes us even that much better. When we were going through it, it wasn’t that we needed to check those boxes, but we can reflect back and say, “If you want to meet this DEI conversation and understand what it means to make sure your employees belong, this is what is required of that work.” We’re living examples.

I hate to keep bringing it back, but it’s because we were in an environment that was welcoming to have those levels of conversations. What’s getting in your way? What’s going on? I’m going to be out in Arizona in two weeks. I’m going to schedule some time. I’m coming. I’m like, “This man is not coming up here.” I get a call from security, “There is at the front door.” Even that, I’m like, “He came.” I didn’t say, “He came because he’s a White male leader.” I’m like, “This man kept his word.” From that, it changed my perspective on many people.

Do you know how many calls I got after we had that leadership meeting when someone said, “I want to be the next Darrin?” Maybe they were joking or playing, but they’re like, “I want to experience what Darrin and you had.” It’s because they were experiencing similar things. They are trying to build a team and understand what that means. They didn’t say, “You’re seen as a Black leader at this company now. I wanna talk to you.” It was like, “No, I want the Darrin-Shamia effect. Let’s do this.” I’m like, “We have to talk to Darrin about that.”

I appreciate you saying the word inclusion again because it’s one of those words people don’t listen to what that could be. Back to the word act or action, inclusion is we’re listening. We’re taking in different perspectives. We’re taking in different learnings. We’re including many amazing things from what we already know, which maybe we can refine, and we’re willing to change our ways and perspectives ourselves. Yet, we’re not replacing what we know and do. We’re advancing it. We’re augmenting our intelligence.

 

 

This is the whole authentic inclusion and allyship. We’re moving away from artificial intelligence to augmented intelligence. That’s what we’re doing. We need to figure out how to be inclusive. How do we be generative and continue to evolve? That’s what we did in a relationship. It’s not about whether you’re a female, male, Black or White. It’s how we can get generative as humans. Before we wrap up, Shamia, I’d love to hear any final words or thoughts from folks who are looking to build this type of relationship and help each other thrive in the workplace or wherever in the community.

I would say be intentional. Give yourself grace. You have to give yourself grace before you give others grace. You have to do the work, whatever the work looks like to you. I can’t prescribe you a prescription for this. I am not a doctor in DEI, and I will never do that, but what I will say is that if you do the work and you are intentional about your relationships and creating spaces for everyone, the rest will truly be history. You’ll feel better, and the team around you will see and feel it.

 

It’s energizing, Shamia. It’s amazing. You’re incredible. Your light always shines. I’m honored. I’m admired for what you do. You know how much I care for you. Thanks for changing my life.

Thanks for changing mine.

You’re welcome. You’re letting me light up other folks around me every day. You’re a big part of that. You’re part of me, of what I’m doing every day.

Thank you, Darrin. Continue to be great. There needs to be more Darrins out there, and I know there are. We need to have them pop up to the surface. Thank you so much for everything. I appreciate you.

 

Important Links

• Shamia Lodge – LinkedIn
• MassMutual
• https://www.ceoaction.com/racial-equity
• www.IgniteHappy.com
• https://IgniteHappy.com/leading-with-love-to-inspire-greatness
• Live Your Possible by Darrin Tulley

 

About Shamia Lodge

Shamia Lodge currently serves as the Director of Community Engagement at Aventiv Technologies. Most recently a Fellow with CEO Action for Racial Equity, serving as the Economic Empowerment Platform Lead overseeing Fair Chance Hiring, Business Diversity, & Community Development Financial Institutions corporate engagement and public policy strategies.

Shamia is passionate about creating fair opportunities for those impacted by the justice system. Shamia is Arizona state ambassador to the United States of Women (USOW). Phoenix Business Journal’s 2021 40 under 40 and is a Flinn Brown 2023 fellow.

Shamia holds a Bachelor in HR management and is currently pursuing her master’s in legal studies at Arizona State University. She enjoys spending time with her husband and their four daughters.