This month, Mary had the chance to meet up with Cyreena BostonAshby, CEO of Girls' Inc of the Pacific Northwest, an organization that serves girls and gender nonconforming and trnas youth in Portland, SW Washington and Seattle.

Cyreena grew up in Portland, raised in a family focused on social justice and business leadership. She's an alumna of Spelman College, the Historical Black College for Women in Atlanta, Georgia.

For 19 years, Cyreena has been a leader for high-profile public affairs campaigns focused on health care access, youth development and non-profit leadership. She was the first director of the Portland African American Leadership Forum, Imagine Black, and led the Oregon Public Health Institute as that organization's CEO. More recently, she's co-directed the Oregon office of D.C.-based Hilltop Public Solutions as a Partner in providing strategic solutions for non-profit and private sector clientele. Cyreena is also an International Women's Forum Global Leadership Fellow.

In our conversation, Cyreena and Mary take a close and loving look at the climate interests and concerns of girls, young women, and gender nonconforming, gender non-binary and trans youth. You'll also hear Cyreena's insights at the intersection of Black Feminism and environmental thought.

You can learn more about Cyreena BostonAshby by taking a look at the Girls Inc. PNW website. Also, check out her OpEd on STEAM in eschool news and her recent interview on the podcast, At the Core entitled, “Unapologetic Leadership.” Cyreena is so worth learning from and with. Keep your eye on this radiant and generous leader for inspiration and sisterhood into the future. 

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Sensual Jazz Medium 2

Music by Grand_Project from Pixabay

Background Acoustic Calm

Music by Yevhen Onoychenko from Pixabay

Jazz Lounge Street Food

Music by Alex Cristoforetti from Pixabay