“ I wanted the classroom to be based on the fact that first and foremost, bring everything you got. Bring all aspects of who you feel and think and believe yourself to be, because we're all constantly forming that idea, all trying to figure out who our authentic self is. So through that, I started to focus more on creating an actual pledge for each of my class periods. So instead of saying these are the rules, I had my students help create community in that particular class period and what that meant to them. So that's something that I've presented nationally on creating a pledge, a classroom pledge for each individual classroom.”-Matthew Reynolds

In this episode of Control the Room, I had the pleasure of speaking with Matthew Reynolds about building a Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy, what inspired their strong point of view within the industry, and finding a sense of belonging growing up as a multiethnic, same gender, peaceful warrior in rural America.  We explore strategies for creating environments of humanity and shifting the consciousness of humanity.  We then discuss the distinction between acquaintance, friend, and close friend.  Listen in to question how much of your thinking is your own thinking.