Nothing Without Us

In this episode, I’m joined by Leslie Medema, who along with her team, is currently working through the Being Luminary programme. We discuss her reflections on the issues of maternity and paternity, the particular and unusual circumstances of her school, and how she can synthesize the wide range of experiences within her school community to create a more human set of policies.

In November 2011, Leslie Medema joined Green School and was responsible for spearheading the development and implementation of the High School program. Her role involved fusing project-based learning with a global skills and values-based curriculum. Additionally, Leslie was the Guidance Counselor and oversaw the post-graduation preparation programs and accreditation processes. After four years, she was appointed as the Head of Teaching and Learning (principal). In this role, Leslie led the entire Green School community (Pre-K through Grade 12) in the same process to develop specialized learning programs and manage day-to-day operations. She later took time away from Bali to support the establishment of new Green Schools in New Zealand and South Africa. In 2021, Leslie returned to Green School Bali as the Head of Campus.www.greenschool.org

Sign up for our weekly email series, Strategy Sundays. Emails go out every Sunday, offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. 

It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This episode is the first of a regular series of discussions between me and Headteacher Andy Bowman. Andy has bravely volunteered to appear on the podcast every series, to talk through his responses to the issue that we are thinking about, in the context of his own school and the wider community. In this episode, you’ll get some background on Andy’s career and the school that he now leads, before we deep dive into how maternity, paternity, baby loss and other stages of life are handled and could be handled better by his team.

During a career spanning 25 years, Andy has taught in a range of primary schools, writing and leading training as an Advanced Skills Teacher before becoming a deputy head in 2010. He is now enjoying his second headship leading Southville Primary School, a 620-pupil split-site school a stone’s throw from Bristol city centre.

Andy believes strongly in placing human connection and kindness at the heart of teaching, learning and leadership and promotes a values-driven approach to school development. 

Sign up for our weekly email series, Strategy Sundays. Emails go out every Sunday, offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. 

It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Trigger Warning - As with all of our episodes, we are going to be delving into lived experience and in this episode, we will be discussing Katie's experience of baby loss. If this episode brings up anything for you that you would like support with, we encourage you to seek help from appropriate professionals or support groups, and we've listed a few below.

In this episode, I’m talking to Katie Redden, about her experience of baby Matilda’s death before delivery, and returning to work in the aftermath. We talk about the impact of loss, how her school, and her partner’s school handled their return, and what more could be done to help bereaved parents.

Katie studied English Literature and History of Art at Birmingham University. After teaching English abroad for a couple of years, she returned to London to complete her PGCE in English teaching at The Institute of Education. Katie taught English in secondary schools in Cambridge and Bristol. It was while teaching in Bristol that she became pregnant with her first baby. This pregnancy ended in her baby being stillborn at 40 weeks in October 2005. By Christmas, Katie had returned to school to work as a volunteer in the SEN department while technically still on maternity leave, until she felt ready to teach again. She then took a number of years out of teaching to be at home with her subsequent children before retraining as a school counsellor. Katie now works in a secondary school in North Devon counselling young people.

You can find support for dealing with miscarriage and baby loss from www.sands.org.uk and www.tommys.org/baby-loss-support

More about Baby Loss Awareness Week can be found here https://babyloss-awareness.org/support/

Sign up for our weekly email series, Strategy Sundays. Emails go out every Sunday, offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. 
It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Mars is a Certified Life Coach and birth activist. She is the Leading Voice in Black Maternal Health and cultural competency. A multi award-winning doula, mentor, and Educator, she is on the RCOG Race Equality Taskforce and on the Birthrights Legal inquiry into Black Maternal Health panel. 

With 20 years experience, Mars is in high demand, both in the UK and across the world, as a speaker and trainer. Mars created Abuela Doulas, a doula preparation course primarily, but not exclusively, for Black and Brown bodied people

Find out about Mars’ coaching and doula work at www.marslord.co.uk

Sign up for our weekly email series, Strategy Sundays. Emails go out every Sunday, offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

This week in Nothing Without Us, I speak to Laura Nwanya, abuot her experience of having three children, while pursuing her career in primary education.

Passionate about staff wellbeing and retaining incredible teachers in the profession, Laura knows a huge part of that is craeting family friendly schools - which has been vital for her success as a mother and a leader. We hope you love listening to this episode.

She is about to embark on the next stage of her career as deputy head and will be supporting the MTPT project by volunteering to schedule posts on Twitter.

You can find her @being_willow

A full transcript of this episode can be found at https://nothing-without-us.simplecast.com/episodes/lived-experience-laura-nwanya

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. 
It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Sign up for our weekly email series, Strategy Sundays. Emails go out every Sunday, offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here 

https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

In this solo episode, I'm going to be setting the scene for the mini series ahead. So today we are talking about equity and maternity. My starting point for the season was a story I read about the growing number of women on maternity leave who were being forced to use food banks. I started there, and this episode and this season ahead is where we went. 

A full transcript of this episode can be found at https://nothing-without-us.simplecast.com/episodes/the-maternity-crisis

Sign up for our weekly email series, Strategy Sundays. Emails go out every Sunday, offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. 

It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

Hi, I have an announcement, we are changing the name of the Being Luminary podcast, we're actually kind of introducing a brand new podcast. It's still going to be me, Angie Browne, I'm still going to be the host. And we're still going to be talking about diversity, equity and inclusion, of course. And I'm still going to be inviting every day, but by no means ordinary luminaries onto the podcast to have conversations with me. But we have had a change of face. And we have had a change of tune. And we have kind of had a change of structure. We've also changed the name. 

So I'm excited to launch our new podcast, Nothing Without Us. Our first episode will be on Thursday, the 15th of February.  You don't need to do a thing - just continue listening here, and the show will change  for you.

If you are enjoying our podcasts and have been for a while you enjoy any of the other things that we put out in the world on social media or in real life at our workshops, or if you've attended any of our free trainings that are on our website, you might also want to sign up for our weekly email series which is called Strategy Sundays. That goes out every Sunday and it's offering you the chance to get to grips with one tangible piece of change around equity in your organisation. You can sign up here https://beingluminary.myflodesk.com/mnl0u3o8gd

Nothing Without Us is presented by Angie Browne from Being Luminary. 

It is edited by Big Tent Media and produced by Emily Crosby Media.

In this eleventh and final episode of our Reimagining DEI series, you will hear excerpts from my conversation with Mars Lord.

Mars is a doula, birth activist and life coach. We talk about considering the life arc of your colleagues and employees as you consider DEI matters, and staying curious.

You can find out more about Mars here - www.marslord.co.uk

Connect with Angie on her website - www.angelabrowne.co.uk

A full transcript of this episode can be found at https://being-luminary.simplecast.com/episodes/mars-lord-on-reimagining-dei

This podcast was written and presented by Angie Browne. Original music was by Martin Austwick. The series is edited and produced by Big Tent Media and Emily Crosby Media.

In this tenth episode of our Reimagining DEI series, you will hear excerpts from my conversation with Alison Peacock.

Alison is the CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching. We talk about what has changed in Alison's attitude to DEI, and how she thinks schools should approach the work now.

You can find out more about Alison here - https://chartered.college/

Connect with Angie on her website - www.angelabrowne.co.uk

A full transcript of this episode can be found at https://being-luminary.simplecast.com/episodes/alison-peacock-on-reimagining-dei

This podcast was written and presented by Angie Browne. Original music was by Martin Austwick. The series is edited and produced by Big Tent Media and Emily Crosby Media.

In this ninth episode of our Reimagining DEI series, you will hear excerpts from my conversation with Catarina Rivera.

Catarina is a disability public speaker and DEI coach. We talk about intersectionality and disability, hidden disabilities in the workplace, and Catarina's hope for the future.

You can find out more about Catarina here - www.catarinarivera.com

Connect with Angie on her website - www.angelabrowne.co.uk

A full transcript of this episode can be found at https://being-luminary.simplecast.com/episodes/catarina-rivera-on-reimagining-dei

This podcast was written and presented by Angie Browne. Original music was by Martin Austwick. The series is edited and produced by Big Tent Media and Emily Crosby Media.