Activist art can have a revolutionary impact on our culture, inspiring social change. This type of work can provide important conversations that have the power to bring awareness to injustices in our society. The types of artwork created can be done in a variety of media including painting, poetry, music, dance and even animation and film. Some artists that might come to mind are the musician Nina Simone who wrote and performed the song, “strange fruit” (shining a light on the horrors of racism in the American South) or the Guerilla Girls (a group of anonymous artists) who created the poster art that poses the question, “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum.” and lists the statistics from 1989 that say, “less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.” But, there are also a number of contemporary artists that are following in these footsteps and using their work as a platform to raise awareness, provoke discussion, and support healing. This week, it just so happens that I get to interview a contemporary, empathetic, insightful, and talented artist on I Am My Passion Project. Nitya Mehrotra is an activist artist whose work is helping to make the world a better place.     

Nitya is a passionate Documentary filmmaker, Community leader, and Animator. Born and raised in India, she has been determined to create safe spaces to acknowledge trauma through her work and strives to execute a long-lasting vision of communal support. This ideology is the core of a growing community of survivors she founded called Stories by Strangers which aims to facilitate educational conversations.

Nitya is the recipient of the Best Cinematographer award at the Shawna Shea Festival, three Best Photojournalism awards from the Illinois College Press Association in Chicago, the Women in Media full scholarship at the Met Film School in Berlin, and the New Artists Full Scholarship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also received the Award of Excellence at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her short films have gone to Oscar-qualifying festivals like Flicker’s Rhode Island International Film Festival, along with the Shawna Shea Film Festival, and the Pune Short Film Festival. Her directorial work includes companies like the Indian Premier League, Jouska Films, and Vatika Dabur.​

Nitya is currently working on getting her Master's in Film and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

You can connect with Nitya on IG:

https://www.instagram.com/stories.by.strangers/

Welcome to week 3 of Dream Building with Brenda!

Use the worksheets Brenda created for you as you build your dreams in this 3-week mini-workshop: thewomanhouse.com/dreambuildingwithbrenda

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Finding your passion in life and planning a strategy for seeing your new dream to fruition— especially when, like all of us, you come across obstacles and setbacks— is hard work. That’s why for this season of I Am My Passion Project I worked some of my magic to bring back into the studio the Diviner of Human Potential, Brenda Bryan. 

As some of you might recall, I had Brenda on as a guest for episode 6 of season 1. And folks, we are now going to be co-hosting a new segment called, “Dream Building with Brenda.” This is a 3 week mini-workshop for you to learn how to identify and build your dreams. It’s actually a sampling of a larger course that Brenda offers to folks who want to figure out how to discover and live in their true passion. 

Brenda’s holistic view of business has grown out of decades of experience as a political activist, community organizer, and practitioner of the healing arts. Brenda truly believes and embodies the idea that through empowering women in their own lives, business, and economy, we will infinitely change this world for the better. And through this experience and in her work with hundreds of women business owners, Brenda knows that a business can truly thrive only after one has committed herself to the inner work of unmasking limiting beliefs, discovering your worth, and practicing self-love and nurturing of the soul. 

That is the reason Brenda became a certified Dream Builders Coach. This proven, reliable and repeatable program will show you how to live from your passion and build a vision for your life.

For more information on all of Brenda’s offerings, check out her website at www.brendarbryan.com and Book a free 60 -minute Strategy Session at http://calendly.com/brendarbryan

Until next time, notice what you’re noticing. Your dreams are calling to you.

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

Welcome to week 2 of Dream Building with Brenda!

Use the worksheets Brenda created for you as you build your dreams in this 3-week mini-workshop: thewomanhouse.com/dreambuildingwithbrenda

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Finding your passion in life and planning a strategy for seeing your new dream to fruition— especially when, like all of us, you come across obstacles and setbacks— is hard work. That’s why for this season of I Am My Passion Project I worked some of my magic to bring back into the studio the Diviner of Human Potential, Brenda Bryan. 

As some of you might recall, I had Brenda on as a guest for episode 6 of season 1. And folks, we are now going to be co-hosting a new segment called, “Dream Building with Brenda.” This is a 3 week mini-workshop for you to learn how to identify and build your dreams. It’s actually a sampling of a larger course that Brenda offers to folks who want to figure out how to discover and live in their true passion. 

Brenda’s holistic view of business has grown out of decades of experience as a political activist, community organizer, and practitioner of the healing arts. Brenda truly believes and embodies the idea that through empowering women in their own lives, business, and economy, we will infinitely change this world for the better. And through this experience and in her work with hundreds of women business owners, Brenda knows that a business can truly thrive only after one has committed herself to the inner work of unmasking limiting beliefs, discovering your worth, and practicing self-love and nurturing of the soul. 

That is the reason Brenda became a certified Dream Builders Coach. This proven, reliable and repeatable program will show you how to live from your passion and build a vision for your life.

For more information on all of Brenda’s offerings, check out her website at www.brendarbryan.com and Book a free 60 -minute Strategy Session at http://calendly.com/brendarbryan

Until next time, notice what you’re noticing. Your dreams are calling to you.

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

Welcome to week 1 of Dream Building with Brenda!

Use the worksheets Brenda created for you as you build your dreams in this 3-week mini-workshop: thewomanhouse.com/dreambuildingwithbrenda

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Finding your passion in life and planning a strategy for seeing your new dream to fruition— especially when, like all of us, you come across obstacles and setbacks— is hard work. That’s why for this season of I Am My Passion Project I worked some of my magic to bring back into the studio the Diviner of Human Potential, Brenda Bryan. 

As some of you might recall, I had Brenda on as a guest for episode 6 of season 1. And folks, we are now going to be co-hosting a new segment called, “Dream Building with Brenda.” This is a 3 week mini-workshop for you to learn how to identify and build your dreams. It’s actually a sampling of a larger course that Brenda offers to folks who want to figure out how to discover and live in their true passion. 

Brenda’s holistic view of business has grown out of decades of experience as a political activist, community organizer, and practitioner of the healing arts. Brenda truly believes and embodies the idea that through empowering women in their own lives, business, and economy, we will infinitely change this world for the better. And through this experience and in her work with hundreds of women business owners, Brenda knows that a business can truly thrive only after one has committed herself to the inner work of unmasking limiting beliefs, discovering your worth, and practicing self-love and nurturing of the soul. 

That is the reason Brenda became a certified Dream Builders Coach. This proven, reliable and repeatable program will show you how to live from your passion and build a vision for your life.

For more information on all of Brenda’s offerings, check out her website at www.brendarbryan.com and Book a free 60 -minute Strategy Session at http://calendly.com/brendarbryan

Until next time, notice what you’re noticing. Your dreams are calling to you.

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

Every year the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) puts out their Dirty Dozen List. Just this past April they put out their 2024 list. This is a list of mainstream entities that facilitate, enable, and even profit from sexual abuse and exploitation.

“Sexual exploitation and abuse thrives across tech platforms and entities we use daily; they continue to flourish due to lack of or poor enforcement of policies; and they are enabled by a lack of sufficient laws to hold companies accountable. The Dirty Dozen List exposes exploitation happening to us and to our children and calls for those enabling and profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation to change.” — Lina Nealon, Vice President & Director of Corporate Advocacy, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

Over the past decade, the Dirty Dozen List Campaign has instigated major policy changes at Google, TikTok, Comcast, Delta Airlines, Amazon, the Department of Defense, and many other influential institutions. The list reveals practices and products that endanger and harm people and galvanizes the public to press on the named entities to act ethically and promote human dignity. The 2024 Dirty Dozen List puts companies on notice regarding the harmful business practices and policies leaving them with no more excuses for ignorance or inaction.

For episode 11 of I Am My Passion Project I interviewed Lily Moric, the Communications & Content Strategist with NCOSE. Her interest in combating sexual exploitation issues began in college when she discovered the vast body of research on pornography's harmful effects on individuals and society. She proceeded to dedicate herself to raising public awareness of these harms. In addition to working towards this goal with NCOSE, Lily also presents regularly in high schools on the harms of pornography, and has run a podcast, webinars, discussion groups, and awareness campaigns on university campuses.

Learn more about the NCOSE by listening to my interview with Haley McNamera on season 1, episode 10 of IAMPP.

Visit NCOSE to learn more about their mission, to become part of the solution by taking action, or to donate to their cause.

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If you're relationship has been affected by porn addiction you might want to check out my recent book, I Am Reclaiming Me: A Betrayed Partner's Daily Practice Journal for Women.

Note: I may earn a commission from sponsored links

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

I Am My Passion Project has a new segment called, 50 Shades of Sexism! This new episode is a platform for co-hosts Darina Neyret and Lorna Nakell to apply a feminist lense to classic American Movies. You can have your favorite movies and think that they're non-threatening, charming, or "fun for the whole family" (as the trailer voice over would suggest). Or maybe you like more challenging psychological movies, dramas, or horror films. But, what we don't often think about when we're enjoying our favorite genres is that most of them have some element of sexism. That's because, unfortunately, sexism is so pervasive in our society. And, sexism and objectification, when it's so entwined in the media (either overtly or covertly), can cause a type of normalization which is harmful to all humans because of the way women become dehumanized and devalued.

So, in the service of helping make the world a better place for women (this season's theme), in this segment, Darina and Lorna point out the feminist pain-points in American films and offer creative suggestions for scripts, dialogue, etc., that they think would provide one of our favorite pastimes (movie watching) with more gender equality.

The movie that's up for some scrutinizing in this episode: Casablanca.

You can check out Darina's photography here : https://darinaphoto.com/

(TRIGGER WARNINGS: Please note that Darina's homepage contains boudoir images. Also, when I give my rating about triggers in Casablanca I, stupidly [it's easy to overlook the most obvious things sometimes], forget the whole discussion we have about the movie content that includes the suggestion of prostitution and infidelity. So, if these topics might cause you emotional discomfort, you might consider avoiding this movie.)

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

Belinda Clemmensen is the author of the book, Women, Leadership, and Saving the World: Why Everything Gets Better when Women Lead, and the founder and CEO of Women’s Leadership Intensive, an organization that inspires, empowers, supports, and equips women to lead the change the world needs. She received the gold Canada Award for Excellence in training and is a certified professional coach, training provider, and member of the International Coaching Federation. With over 25 years of leadership development experience she helps women leaders step into their potential and connect to a place of purpose where their unique strengths can serve to make organizations and communities better.

I asked Belinda to be a guest on this season of I Am My Passion Project because I admire the work she’s doing to make the world a better place for women. She is not only educating on the topic of gender inequality through valuable research and insights into these issues, but she is also doing the work to help train the next generation of women leaders.

______

Connect with Belinda:

www.womensleadershipintensive.ca/

Sources:

Distribution of Google employees worldwide in 2023, by gender and department

"Explicit Deepfake Images of Taylor Swift Elude Safeguards and Swamp Social Media"

"Women leaders make work better. Here’s the science behind how to promote them"

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

In the rich man's world

Ah, all the things I could do

If I had a little money

It's a rich man's world

—Abba

Ah, money... We all need it to support our daily lives and lifestyle dreams. Women don't make as much of it, and therefore aren't able to save as much of it. You might have an excellent relationship to it, or avoid talking about because it's a triggering topic. But, today, in the privacy of whatever space you are listening to this episode, we're going unfold part of the story of money in women's lives and see if we can get to know our relationship to it a little bit better.

Today we're diving into the world of finance with someone who's been making waves in Portland Oregon’s financial scene since 1997.  Lisa Brumm is a trailblazer recognized by US News and Money for 9 consecutive years as one of Portland’s Top 100 Financial Professionals.

She is a prominent figure on KOIN TV's Women Crush Wednesday segment and a regular contributor on Channel 2 AM NW, she's known for her candid discussions about women and money; making finance accessible in real-life terms.

Lisa's journey began in banking before transitioning into financial planning fueled by her passion for education and empowerment, particularly for women. In a society where money conversations often evoke discomfort and shame, Lisa took a deliberate stance to create a judgment-free zone within her company. She's on a mission to ignite financial curiosity and alleviate the stress that might be keeping you up at night.

I wanted Lisa on this season because she is helping make the world a better place for women by empowering them financially. Without financial wellness it’s almost impossible for women to live their life to the fullest potential. So, now we get to have a warm money chat with the woman behind Your Financial Girlfriend.

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Learn more or reach out to Lisa Brumm at https://myfinancialgirlfriend.com/

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

I Am My Passion Project has a new segment called, 50 Shades of Sexism! This new episode is a platform for co-hosts Darina Neyret and Lorna Nakell to apply a feminist lense to classic American Movies. You can have your favorite movies and think that they're non-threatening, charming, or "fun for the whole family" (as the trailer voice over would suggest). Or maybe you like more challenging psychological movies, dramas, or horror films. But, what we don't often think about when we're enjoying our favorite genres is that most of them have some element of sexism. That's because, unfortunately, sexism is so pervasive in our society. And, sexism and objectification, when it's so entwined in the media (either overtly or covertly), can cause a type of normalization which is harmful to all humans because of the way women become dehumanized and devalued.

So, in the service of helping make the world a better place for women (this season's theme), in this segment, Darina and Lorna point out the feminist pain-points in American films and offer creative suggestions for scripts, dialogue, etc., that they think would provide one of our favorite pastimes (movie watching) with more gender equality.

The movie that's up for some scrutinizing in this episode: Barbie.

You can check out Darina's photography here : https://darinaphoto.com/

(TRIGGER WARNING: please note that Darina's homepage contains a video of a boudoir photoshoot)

Stay connected:

• Keep up with I AM MY Passion Project’s latest episodes and related content by signing up for the newsletter at Womanhouse
• Follow @womanhouseprojects on IG for inspiration and updates

Are you a woman looking for a confidence boost that doesn't involve being hit on by a stranger in a bar? Have you been through some hardships and need a way to look at yourself in a more loving light? Are you already feelin' yourself and just wishing you could find the right talent to capture it on film. Well, I've got just the person who can help you with any and all of that! In this episode I have the privilege of taking a deep dive into women's portrait photography with Darina Neyret.

Darina is a professional photographer whose lens captures more than just portraits. Her work serves as a conduit for body acceptance while fostering the uniqueness of every individual. She is making the world a better place for women by burning the book on toxic beauty stereotypes and extending her artform to a broader mission aimed at catalyzing a global paradigm shift. A shift where each snapshot potentially reshapes her clients’ mindsets, elevating their confidence, and promoting self-love. This transformation seeks to reshape cultural perspectives in order to promote a profound respect for and recognition of women's invaluable contributions to the world. 

With neuroscience as a grounding methodology, Darina also coaches other professional photographers on how to reveal the genuine essence of each woman they frame through their own lenses.

Connect with Darina:

darinaphoto.com

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