In The Room podcast

Meet The Room member who has made it her mission to peel back the layers of power. Aarti Shahani, an award-winning NPR journalist, bestselling author, activist and host of the new show, ‘Art of Power', explores what happens on the road to finding power and how it transforms those who wield it. She interviews innovators, leaders and culture shapers who dared to live out their ambitions to change the world. In our Season 2 finale, Aarti and ‘In the Room' host Veda Sunassee have a candid conversation that feels like a homecoming. Sharing gems from her groundbreaking interviews with newsmakers like Barack Obama and Sal Khan, she opens up about her personal power and the journey that led to her finding an unshakable sense of purpose.

The ability to create strong connections with others is crucial to living a full life and becoming more effective at work. Yet many of us struggle to do so - particularly when it comes to developing the kind of relationships in which we feel fully understood and supported for who we are. Renowned for teaching interpersonal skills to Stanford MBA candidates in the iconic course affectionately known as “Touchy Feely”, David Bradford joins host Veda Sunassee for an intimate conversation on how we can build more meaningful relationships with colleagues, friends, partners and family. Drawing from his new book, Connect, David shares lessons and insights on resolving differences, being vulnerable, setting healthy boundaries and having the courage to be seen.

Ambition. Where would we be without it? It is a powerful force that can drive us to reach unimaginable heights of success. But it can also be our greatest downfall, leading to burnout and an unfulfilled personal life. Tackling this dilemma is Nicolai Chen Nielsen, co-author of Return on Ambition and a Partner at the Supertrends Institute. He shares key insights on what he's learned about ambition and how we can achieve our aspirations without compromising on our personal growth and well-being

Joining us for a powerful discussion in honour of Women's History Month, the formidable Oulimata Sarr shares her thoughts on what it will take to bring about transformational change in the world. Hailing from Dakar, Senegal, Oulimata is the Regional Director for UN Women, covering 24 countries in West and Central Africa. A fierce champion of women's empowerment, she opens up about her beliefs on the limitations of micro finance and why unlocking the potential of women and girls is key for African countries to leapfrog out of poverty.

How can we build truly inclusive workplaces where everyone is counted? What does it take to move from performative allyship to active anti-racism? How will we ever level the playing field in an unfair system?Tackling these critical questions and so much more, internationally renowned broadcaster, writer and campaigner, June Sarpong, is our latest podcast guest on In the Room. As BBC's first Director of Creative Diversity, June is a passionate advocate for change in the workplace and greater representation in the media. A valued member of The Room and one of the most recognisable faces of British television, she brings her wealth of experience to this powerful conversation.“When someone is ‘the other', it's easier to ‘otherise' that person. The minute you get to know their humanity, they are no longer ‘the other'.”

“You have to be an optimist in the future space, because even the idea that there is a future is a hopeful thing, and that you can shape that future.”Marina Gorbis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future, shares her uplifting and insightful take on the nature of our collaborative future and the necessity of including the many, not the few, in creating it.In this inspiring conversation, she challenges us to approach the future with curiosity and openness, embracing the radical changes to come. 

Charles Murito is the Google Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Government Affairs & Public Policy. A dynamic businessman and speaker, he grew up on a farm in Limuru, central Kenya. Early encouragement from his parents and grandparents taught him to develop a sense of ambition, curiosity and confidence that have served him well in his professional journey. From living with purpose and doing so authentically to embracing mistakes, Charles reminds us in this episode of the importance of character – and most of all, to have a healthy disregard for the impossible. “The ability to define and drive the strategy of a Fortune 500 company was never in the cards for what I thought I would accomplish. Where you start does not determine where you end up. A healthy disregard for the impossible is something that I now have.”

If you thought the airship died with the Hindenburg … think again!Have you ever been part of or craved for a community that just feels like you belong in it, like you get them and they get you, like your values are aligned and you agree on a common sense of purpose, or being? Finding, let alone thriving, in such a community is hard these days. But have you ever wondered what it takes to build a vibrant, robust and enduring community? Whether they meet physically or virtually, given the current global context, it turns out that it takes a fair amount of thoughtful and deliberate planning and engineering to make communities thrive. In our podcast episode this week, we talk to three remarkable leaders, Ms. Leetha Filderman - President of Poptech, Ms. Cheryl Dorsey - President of Echoing Green and Ms. Joanna Sparber - Global Director of Impact at The Conduit. 

"My mission came from seeing first hand in my travels how economic activity declines in perfect step with moving away from large urban centres with sufficient infrastructure, and seeing the economic stagnation that would follow.More than one billion people today do not have direct access to paved roads or even runways. This fundamentally affects the lives they live, without access to the basic things you and I take for granted, like medical supplies.”Spencer Horne is the founder of Cloudline, a remote delivery startup that uses autonomous airships to bring essential goods to the hardest-to-reach parts of the world. He is a graduate of African Leadership Academy and Harvard College, where he trained as a mechanical engineer. His current work combines his passion for aviation with his mission to address systemic inequities around the world.

Yvonne Manzi Makolo, CEO and Managing Director of Rwanda Air discusses with Veda Sunassee the changes flyers will experience, the opportunities for innovation and how smaller airlines can drop protectiveness and embrace collaboration to recover from this crisis.

Ebele Okobi, lives in London, UK. Born in San Francisco to Nigerian parents, she is Facebook's Public Policy Director for Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. In this episode she sheds light on the foundations of racism in the US and why she knows that until we 'explode' this foundation, we will not see proper change or progress. She also offers advice on how to get more education, how to take effective personal positive action and challenges us to 'shake the table' to bring about more equity and justice. Enjoy this hopeful episode.

"If nobody sees me, do I still exist?" Veda Sunassee talks to one of the most famous faces in Kenyan and African media, Julie Gichuru, about identity. Born to a muslim Kashimiri father and a Catholic Kikuyu mother, studied law and is an enterpreneur in the entertainment industry and who lists herself as a "mother, a wife, a change agent, a child of God and an afro-optimist' as her many identities, Ms Julie Gichuru is perfectly placed to help unpack this nuanced and multi layered thing called Identity. 

Lerato Mbele, presenter of Africa Business on BBC World, candidly shares about the role of media in this crisis – “It is not a matter of luck but of integrity in the face of danger.” She also invites us into the world of reporting and gives us a sneak peak into the upcoming episodes on the BBC showing how the media, News and reporting are changing. She shares her story and shows us a humble person who argues that compassion and empathy have to be brought back to the human experience.

Ken Njoroge, the co-founder and Co-CEO of Cellulant, a one-stop payment platform in Africa changing how customers pay and get paid all from a single connected payment platform. Cellulant's mission is to build a world-class business led by entrepreneurial, value-driven people; for Africa, by Africans, in Africa. Ken is a serial entrepreneur. In 1998, he co-founded 3Mice Interactive Media which grew from a two-man team to a leading web development firm in East Africa and in 2000, 3Mice was acquired by Africa Online, the largest Pan-African Internet Service Provider at the time that was owned by London-listed firm, African Lakes Corporation. Last year, Ken won the Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the year award and the year before that he was named among the 100 Most influential Africans of 2018 by Africa Magazine, for the mega fund-raising of $ 47.5 million that he did.

Our first episode is with James Mworia, one of the most accomplished and remarkable young leaders in Africa. James was born and raised in Kenya and is the CEO of Centum Investment, a role he has occupied for the last 12 year. James is also a Tutu Fellow and the current Chancellor of Machakos University. In 2011, only three years after becoming CEO of Centum Investment, the largest publicly traded company in East Africa, he won the Africa Young Business Leader of the Year award.In this episode, we explore the topic of talent in Kenya and Africa as a whole. While many people are talking about it, James has successfully navigated this area.

Adama Sanneh, based in Milan, Italy, speaks to Veda Sunassee on his existence in a country two weeks ahead of most countries in the curve of the pandemic. He shares his insights and reflections on how he could have lead his team differently. As Italy starts to enter Stage 2, the stage following lock down quarantine, Adama offers thoughts on his thinking of how we move forward and how we need to think even more differently from what we believe will be the 'new normal'.As co-Founder and CEO of the Moleskine Foundation, an NGO committed to providing youth with unconventional educational tools and experiences that help foster critical thinking, creative doing and lifelong learning, with a focus on underserved communities.