The Catalyst

The Catalyst is a collection of articles and perspectives that offer ideas, insights and action steps to spark individual, interpersonal and organizational break-through.

Are My Hands Clean?

It is my privilege, my desire for abdication that would have me use perfectly logical explanations to avoid facing hard truths. I have to face what I am afraid of that the white people above represent.

I’m White. What Can I Do To Help?

Many of you are asking, again, after the recent deaths of Ahmaud Aubrey and George Floyd, what you can do to help. Action is key, and so is reflection that leads to informed action.

Trauma & Resilience in Children

Trauma is part of life. So is resiliency. Trauma is not simply an event itself; trauma is in the nervous system. When our nervous system senses danger and threat—and this is different for every system—our primal, instinctual responses are activated as mechanisms to protect us and prepare us for survival. We are biologically programmed to fight, flee, or freeze in response to a perceived inescapable threat, and the younger we are, the more likely something is to be perceived as an inescapable threat.

Leaving Innocence Behind

I watched in awe this connection I will never be able to have with my son, thrilled that he was finding it. I also felt sadness that when he looks at me he cannot see an outward reflection of himself. He is black and I am white. He is a male and I am female. This is our truth.