This week, Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League, sits down with Karen Finney, a political strategist, activist, and commentator who currently serves as Board Vice Chair for NARAL pro-choice America, Board Chair at Ultraviolet and a co-founder Power Risi…

This week, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial, and Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the Washington Bureau, sit down with Commissioner Geoffrey Starks from the Federal Communications Commission to discuss ways to bridge the digital divide. For more information or to see if you qualify for the affordable connectivity program, vis…

This week, Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League, sits down with Terrance Woodbury, founding partner of HIIT Strategies. Together, they discuss midterm election results, the ‘red wave’ that never happened, and what to expect with Georgia’s upcoming run o…

This week, Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and SVP of Policy and Advocacy of the National Urban League, sits down with Laphonza Butler, President of Emily’s List, and Latosha Brown, Co-Founder of Black Voters Matter. Together, they discuss the issues voters care about most, races and candidates we should watch out for, and a…

This week, Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and SVP of Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League sits down with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, who currently represents Wisconsin's 4th district. She has served in this seat since 2004 and was the first African American elected to Congress from the state. Congresswoman Moore d…

As millions of student loan debt borrowers prepare for the repayments to resume in January, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League, sits down with Ashley Harrington, Senior Advisor at the Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid. Together, they discuss Presiden…

This week, Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League and Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Karine Jean-Pierre, the first Black woman, Caribbean and open-LGBTQ+ Press Secretary of the White House. Together, they discuss some of the Biden administration’s priorities a…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Kerrie Johnson, Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. Together they discuss the nation's reaction to the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and its impact on the LGBTQ community and the importance of including …

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Dr. David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). Together, they discuss how to create a safe space for Black LGBTQIA+ members within the civil rights and justice community. Discussed in this episode: LGBT…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Dr. Michael Lindsey, Executive Director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University (NYU), the Constance and Martin Silver Professor of Poverty Studies at NYU Silver School of Social Work, and an Aspen …

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Jacqueline Ayers, SVP of Policy, Organizing, and Campaigns at Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and former Urban Leaguer. Together, they discuss the recent leaked document from the United States Supreme Court on the draft decision …

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with 3 advocates that discuss the impact of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre more than 100 years after the attack and the recent reparations case that was recently approved by the Tulsa County District Court Judge. Our guests on this episode i…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, focuses on the National Urban League's annual report titled, State of Black America Under Siege: the Plot to Destroy Democracy, which raises the alarm on the outlook of Black and Brown people as political forces have launched an all-out assault on voting…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down Reverend Leah Daughtry, co-convener of Power Rising, a space for Black women to turn power into action and create an actionable agenda to be implemented in their communities and nationally that leverages social, political, professional, cultura…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Jocelyn Frye, President of the National Partnership for Women & Families, an organization that works to improve the lives of women and families by achieving equality for all women. Together, they discuss the National Partnership's recent r…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Kim Tignor, Co-leader of She Will Rise, as they discuss the historic significance of the first Black woman to be nominated to the United States Supreme Court – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Together, they discuss Judge Jackson’s Senate hear…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Shalondan Hollingshed, President of the National Urban League Young Professionals, and Marcus Johnson, President and CEO of the Springfield Urban League in Springfield, Illinois as they discuss the importance of mentorship in the Black com…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Jelani Cobb, historian and author who currently works as a staff writer at the New Yorker. Together, they debunk myths and misinformation around critical race theory, a term that, although coined in the 1980s, has regained traction since t…

This week, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Helen Butler, Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition of the People’s Agenda. They breakdown the current nationwide attack on voting rights, in which Georgia Is ground zero, and Helen Butler – known as a “Goddess of Democracy” -- has b…

To kick off the new year, our Executive Director Joi Chaney sits down with National Urban League President + CEO Marc Morial and the Senior Vice President of Equitable Justice and Strategic Initiatives Jerika Richardson. They discuss the National Urban League's policy priorities for 2022 and the priorities they believe the Biden-Harris Administrati…

For our last episode of 2021, Joi Chaney, our Executive Director and SVP of Policy and Advocacy, sits down with Trey Baker, Senior Advisor of Public Engagement for the White House. Trey answers America's most anticipated questions about the Administration's Build Back Better plan, Voting Rights, Policing, Public Student Loan Forgiveness and more. F…

This week, Joi sits down with Mini Timmaraju, the new President for NARAL Pro-Choice America. They discuss the recent oral arguments for the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the effects upholding this case can have on access to abortion services, and the lasting impact overturning Roe might have. For more information…

This week, Joi sits down with President, CEO and Co-founder of Higher Heights for America, Glynda Carr. Glynda shares how the importance of having Black women run for office, the creation of Higher Heights, and how we can mobilize other communities to increase voter turnout. To learn more about Higher Heights, visit their website here: http://www.h…

This week, Joi sits down with Cameka Smith, Founder of the BOSS (Bringing Out Successful Sisters) Network, an online community of professional and entrepreneurial women who support each other through digital content, programs, and event-based networking. Cameka discusses the creation of BOSS, her motivation and purpose behind her work, and the impo…

In this episode, Joi speaks with the Natasha Alford, Vice President of Digital Content and Sr. Correspondent for theGrio digital network. Natasha, who identifies as Afro-Latina, discusses the complexities of Latinx identity and the importance of claiming your heritage, her journey to motherhood and being a 'boy-mom', her career path to theGrio and …

This week, our host Joi Chaney sits down with Nana Gyamfi, Executive Director for BAJI, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration. They discuss the Haitian migrant crisis, American asylum policy, and what the Biden-Harris Administration's must to protect black immigrants. For updates on BAJI's initiatives, visit their website at www.baji.org Follow B…

On this episode, Joi sits down with Natalie Cofield, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Women’s Business Ownership at the U.S. Small Business Administration. They discuss the Biden-Harris Administration’s resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs, the unique experiences and challenges facing women and minority owned small businesses, …

On this episode, Joi Chaney speaks with Judy Reese Morse, President and CEO of the Urban League of Louisiana and Portia Espy, President and CEO of the Mississippi Urban League. They discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, the effects of climate change and relief efforts taking place along the east coast. For information on the National Urban League…

On this episode, our host Joi Chaney interviews Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who represents Georgia’s 5th district. She is the successor to the late Congressman John Lewis and joins us to discuss the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, COVID-19 and her policy priorities. Follow Congresswoman Nikema Williams on soc…

On this episode, we are joined by Democratic Texas State Representatives Jarvis Johnson and Sheryl Cole. Representatives Cole and Johnson were among the other Democrats in the State legislature who staged a national walk out to avoid voting on an anti-democratic and anti-voter legislation as part of the national pushback on voting rights across the…

On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Andre Perry, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. As one of the contributing authors of the National Urban League’s State of Black America report, Dr. Perry discusses the economic disparities in the Black community due to COVID, its impact on housing and potential solutions to alleviate t…

The State of Black America, co-hosted by National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial and Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the National Urban League’s Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President of Policy & Advocacy of the National Urban League, is aimed at elevating and discussing persistent policy, social and civil rights issues affect…