n this powerful crossover episode, Jen Cort welcomes back Kwame Sarfo-Mensah—educator, consultant, and author of Learning to Relearn—for a deeply resonant conversation on justice-centered education and the evolving role of educators as cultural leaders and activists. Broadcasting from Lusaka, Zambia, Kwame brings a global lens to DEIJ trends, the impact of political censorship, and the nuanced ways educators can strategically use identity and privilege in the classroom and beyond.

Together, Jen and Kwame explore how joy becomes a radical act in the face of resistance, how Generation Alpha is poised to reshape activism, and why publishing, podcasting, and elevating student voices are forms of modern-day resistance. Whether you're a seasoned professional in equity work or just starting, this conversation is an invitation to listen, reflect, and take action.

Juelz is a Towson University freshman majoring in Sports Management and minoring in Business Administration. He prides himself on demonstrating a strong work ethic and learning mindset in everything he does. He is an alumnus of Oneness-Family High School in Kensington, Maryland.

Jim Malone, a Math and Physics teacher at Mercersburg Academy since 1979, shares his unique relationship with mistake-making and connects it to his role as an aspiring ally.
Jim graduated from Swarthmore High, an excellent public school outside Philadelphia, in 1973.

He has always been good at math and science but could have done better in English or History. Jim liked reading good books and discussing them in English class, but needed to be more patient and take the time to learn how to write a good essay. He found History boring in school, but is now interested in it.

Jim attended the University of Michigan and earned a bachelor's in Wildlife Biology. He says he fell asleep doing reading assignments in high school and college, was talkative in class, and was halfway between neat and sloppy. I love rebuilding cars, trapping hawks, climbing, and listening to classic rock and whitewater canoe.  

Jim has coached Football, Basketball, Whitewater Canoeing, and Rock Climbing; he has a wife, Sue, and two daughters, Molly and Jessie.

With practical advice and thoughtful insights, a student, faculty advisor, and diversity director discuss the beauty and challenges of their affinity group program.  


Ved Rawat is a rising senior at Friends Academy Upper School. He plays tennis and basketball and volunteers at St Catherine's Hospital and nursing home. Ved is keenly interested in the positive development of our communities, as he wants to move forward as a member of the Public Health field. Ved shares, “I want to learn to be a leader in our interconnected community and am delighted to be part of Third Space!”


Nikita Desai is a 3rd-grade teacher at Friends Academy, previously taught 1st and 4th grades, and is in her 24th year. Nikita grew up in England in her elementary and middle school years. She moved to Pennsylvania as a 14-year-old before getting married and moving to Long Island, where she lives with her 13-year-old daughter, Mira, and husband, Harit. Nikita enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her family. She believes in listening to students and centering their voices to inform how she teaches. Being a DEIJ practitioner and a lifelong learner, Nikita advocates for inclusivity and speaking truth to power and encourages her students to do the same. 


Camille Simone Edwards, a graduate of Northwestern University and the daughter of two U.S. Army Veterans, is a multifaceted professional. She is a consultant, DEI practitioner, school leader, and educator with a strong focus on people and culture. Camille S. Edwards, a multifaceted professional, is currently the Director of Student Affairs at Friends Academy of Long Island, New York. She is involved in program design, community engagement, DEI practitioner, leadership development, identity consciousness, culture work, team-building, vision & goal-setting, and interpersonal communication strategies. She coaches teams to implement and uplift strategic plans for sustainable equity, belonging, and access change. She also designs and facilitates equity seminars and immersive summer leadership workshops for all teams, annual wellness retreats for people of color (PoC), and offers one-on-one coaching year-round for all individuals. Camille S. Edwards's belief in the power of courage to bring about meaningful change is evident in her work at Friends Academy.

Kristen Pollard is an American living and working overseas in the international education system for over ten years, teaching English language and literature in schools in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands.  Her current position as the IBMYP Coordinator helps me support and manage curriculum development with staff across grades 6-10. Kristen's particular focus is developing a more forward-thinking concept-, inquiry-based style of teaching and learning within an inclusive environment that supports our international students' diverse needs and identities. 
Claire O'Brien is originally from Ireland and works in the Netherlands as a teacher of IBDP Geography and Student Coordinator for well-being. I have an MBA in educational leadership with a focus on inclusive education. Claire is lucky enough to serve as a regional pride organization board member. She also works as a consultant/trainer for institutions looking to instill confidence in staff to discuss issues around DEIJ and develop a curriculum that considers student identity.

Jeannie Gainsburg is an award-winning educational trainer and consultant in the field of LGBTQ+ inclusion and effective allyship. Formerly the Education Director at the Out Alliance of Rochester, N.Y., she is the founder of Savvy Ally Action and author of the book, The Savvy Ally: A Guide for Becoming a Skilled LGBTQ+ Advocate. Jeannie has a BA in psychology from Brown University and an MA in social work and social research from Bryn Mawr College.

She was under the impression that a citation was the result of driving too fast until January of 2019, when she received one from the New York State Assembly for Distinguished Educational & Human Rights Services for her work in promoting LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. Her encouraging, passionate, and warm-hearted approach will jumpstart even the most tentative ally. Visit her website and download free ally goodies at: www.savvyallyaction.com.

Website: https://www.savvyallyaction.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savvyally
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanniegainsburgauthor/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannie-gainsburg/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@savvyallyaction

Leo S. Ullman was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in July 1939. After surviving WWIIas a “hidden child,” as chronicled in his book, “796 Days”, and in a documentary film, "ThereWere Good People...Doing Extraordinary Deeds: Leo Ullman’s Story” Harvard College (1961) received law and business degrees from Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve.

Mr. Ullman practiced law and founded a real estate investment trust, which he took to the New York Stock Exchange and was named Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year.” Mr. Ullman served as a Director of the Anne Frank Center USA, established the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam, and was a member of the Development Committee of the U.S.Holocaust Memorial Museum. At Andover, Leo established the “Ullman Lectures” as part of tolerance education.Leo and his wife, Kay, have co-sponsored the exhibit “State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda” at the U.S.National Holocaust Memorial Museum. They have also funded the creation of a “Righteous Remembrance Room” atStockton University’s Holocaust Resource Center to honor the persons who saved his life and the lives of others in hisfamily.

Mr. Ullman was the goalie in 1960 and 1961 for Harvard’s championshiplacrosse team has completed 145 triathlons, including 3 Ironman competitions, and bicycled across the U.S. in 25days, donated a collection of some 15,000 Nolan Ryan baseball cardsto Stockton University, authored“The Largest and Most Unique Collection of all Things Nolan Ryan” and “Leo, A Hidden Child in WWII,” which includes 19 pages of illustrations by Michelle Shain.

Leo continues to be active in lectures and programs on the Holocaust in many schools, universities, churches,synagogues and civic organizations.

L.J. challenges listeners: ‘within each of our roles in society, we have the power and opportunity to take risks’ and to ‘look at yourself, determine your privileges, and go do something different.’
As a proud, queer, and trans high school student in Jacksonville, FL, L.J. Valenzuela started advocating by joining Equality Florida's Youth Leadership Council and some local LGBTQ+ groups in his area. Since then, he has spoken at conferences, including the All Together Now Conference, the Association for Middle-Level Education Conference, and a statewide back-to-school mental health webinar earlier this year.

Currently, he is a Field and Advocacy fellow with Equality Florida. He is also working within his community to produce an LGBTQ+ play, Hunger, by Ashlyn Colwell, with the playwright within the upcoming months. From these experiences and his journey, L.J. has committed to professionally supporting his community, planning to incorporate activism into his chosen career through an interdisciplinary approach. He likewise urges everyone to find their power and use it to support the queer community and other marginalized groups through their unique ways.In his free time, L.J. is also an avid theatre kid, animated film enthusiast, and LEGO set builder!

You can reach him at @ljvalenzuela37 on Instagram or [email protected] via email.

L.J. clarifies his comments: ‘I’ve become aware that the “red list” for the Thespys program may have been formed for copyright purposes instead of content purposes, though this is unclear. I know we cannot bring anything on the “red list” to the District competition. That said, from my experience, theatrical productions in Florida's schools are still being censored. As a student, I cannot take certain pieces to competition due to their content, and our in-school endeavors must also follow new curriculum laws. I have spoken to my teacher about this, and a main takeaway from official meetings is that many policies have not been fully clarified, so it is difficult to implement them without taking the “safe” censorship route, including censoring LGBTQ+ topics. Therefore, I hesitate to provide a definitive description of the “red list.” However, it should also be remembered that different districts may be handling the situation differently.’

About Natalie Gillard

Natalie Gillard is a DEI strategist and the creator of FACTUALITY, a facilitated dialogue, crash course, and interactive experience that simulates structural inequality.

Over the last six years, Natalie has led virtual and in-person FACTUALITY facilitations for over 57,000 global participants. FACTUALITY has supported the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at hundreds of multinational companies, universities, government agencies, and nonprofits (including Google, Twitter, FOX, American Express, Under Armour, Converse, Yale, Princeton, UCLA, Stanford, Boston University, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Rikers, United Way, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, American Heart Association and more).

Natalie and FACTUALITY have been featured in Fortune Magazine, USA Today, and Amazon best-seller The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table. FACTUALITY has also raised and donated over $20,000 to organizations that advance social equity through its Factuality Gives Back program and became an ice cream flavor through a partnership with the social justice ice cream brand, Taharka Brothers.

Quentin McDowell, head of Mercersburg Academy. After arriving at Mercersburg in 2007, Quentin has served as history faculty, director of summer and extended programs, Admission, senior associate director of admission, financial aid, and head boys’ varsity soccer coach for eight years, leading the Blue Storm to its first-ever Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship and the PAISAA state championship game in 2014. Before he arrived at Mercersburg, he was, for two years, a member of the history faculty and head boys’ varsity soccer coach at Cushing Academy in Massachusetts.

Quentin has played an active role in professional associations like The Enrollment Management Association, The Association of Boarding Schools, and the Independent Educational Consultants Association, where he has become an engaged educational leader. Quentin is also co-founder of the Erdmann Institute for Enrollment Leadership, co-founder and faculty member of the Future Leaders Institute, and a member of the Forbes Business Council.

A native of Washington state, Quentin attended Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire, as a postgraduate student before matriculating to Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies. He holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from George Washington University.

Quentin email [email protected]

Mentions:Muhlenberg college, Holderness School, Erdmann Institute for Enrollment Leadership, Forbes Business Council, TABS, Cushing Academy, Mercersburg, Characteristic Institute, NAIS, Linda McDowell, Katie titus, Peggy Macintosh, Marlo Thomas