Soundwaves of Belonging Annahid Dashtgard

with Barb Thomas, Labour Educator and Author of Dancing on Live Embers: Challenging Racism in Organizations



The final episode of the Soundwaves of Belonging series takes us back to the virtual launch event of Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World. Listen to Annahid in conversation with Barb Thomas, Labour Educator and Author of Dancing on Live Embers: Challenging Racism in Organizations. 

In this episode, I talk about why anyone in their right mind would write stories about race, why these stories are so necessary and how we can use them to move closer to a future where everyone belongs. Don't miss the close of this conversation series!

For more on the stories that inspired this series, pick up your copy of Bones of Belonging today from wherever you get your books.

with Christa Couture, Author and Award-Winning Musician

Christa Couture is an award-winning performing and recording artist, filmmaker and broadcaster as well as recent author of the debut memoir How To Lose Everything. She is also proudly Indigenous (mixed Cree and Scandinavian), queer, disabled, and a mom. Over the course of her acclaimed career, Christa has become known, unenviably, as an expert in loss: singing, speaking and writing about the childhood cancer that led to the amputation of her left leg and the tragic deaths of her two infant sons. 

In this episode, Christa and I talk about the presence of grief in our lives, both individually as well as collectively. We discuss how we can lose ourselves in loss but also how it can open us up to more possibility of grace and gratitude, and how ultimately the way we work through loss can teach us to value life. 

For more on the theme of love and loss, read the story “Ocean Intelligence” in my latest book Bones of Belonging — now available for purchase.

With Mark Shapiro, President and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays 

Mark Shapiro is currently the president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays . He formerly worked with the Cleveland Indians from 1991 to 2015, beginning in player development and ending as team president. 

In this episode Mark and I talk about how connection underpins any form of learning, including and especially about racial and other forms of injustice.  We talk about the need to step into the uncomfortable conversations before they escalate into other forms of violence. Mark discusses his journey grappling with race as a white leader in a white dominant sports context and the steps he has taken beyond checking the box to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

For more on the theme of learning, read the story “Ocean Intelligence” in my latest book Bones of Belonging.

Julie Diamond is an executive coach, leadership consultant, and creator of the Diamond Power Index, a Myers Briggs-type assessment on a leader’s use of power.  She’s worked with organizations around the world from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies, labour unions to NGOs. Her book, Power: A User’s Guide, is a handbook for using power effectively and ethically, no matter what role you’re in.



In this episode, Julie and I talk about how power literacy is the next frontier of human development, how it’s unfair that power always gets a bad rap, and what it means to use power WELL. 



For more on the theme of power, read the story “Boss Lady” in my latest book Bones of Belonging.

with Amanda Leduc, Author and Disability Rights Advocate

Amanda Leduc is a disability rights advocate and author of Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, which was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award in Non-Fiction. 

In this episode we discuss perceptions of disability all the way back to Darwin, and how fairy tales—our basic origin stories—offer fertile ground for re-imagining disability and "disfigured" bodies. We talk about writing for our seven-year-old selves, and how to create belonging even when the world may not be ready for our differences. 

For more on the theme of story, read the story “Foreign Object” in my upcoming book Bones of Belonging — now available for purchase.

Jerry Colonna is previous chair of the Naropa Institute in Colorado and CEO and co-founder of Reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm.  He is the author of the ‘Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up’  and the upcoming ‘Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong’. Prior to his career as a coach, he was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP) and co-founded New York City-based Flatiron Partners, one of America’s most successful, early-stage investment programs.



In this episode Jerry and I have an honest conversation about his journey grappling with racism post-George Floyd, and his own relationship to whiteness. You can listen to me go into Brown woman perfectionist mode and then catch this disconnection setting to reshift to move into more real and vulnerable relationship: a micro-reparation in action! Jerry offers his suggestions for other white leaders to start working toward generational justice—how we make room for everyone in the promise of the American Dream.

For more on the theme of whiteness, read the story “Bad Immigrant” in Bones of Belonging — now available for purchase.