Conversations with Mynesha Spencer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mynesha Spencer.

Hi Mynesha, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up completely intellectually invested in the modern 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement. Historical figures and community activists were discussed during our family breakfasts and weekday dinners. My father was an educator with an affinity for African American or Black History. He would impersonate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in monologues in the middle of any family circumstance, but especially wherein instances race or culture became the subject- and it often did, since my mother named me and my siblings: Mynesha, Marquisha and Marquis.

Considering my rearing, I was the first in my family to attend and graduate with honors from a Historically Black College/ University: The Prestigious “Ts, Ts, Ts- U know” as every student enrolled would harmoniously chant at the southern classic each year, Texas Southern University. I studied under some of the greats: Dr. Marva Johnson and Dr. Thomas F. Freeman who was the debate coach hired to train and instruct the actors in the award-winning film, “The Great Debaters” (2007) featuring Hollywood’s Denzel Washington.

During my undergraduate career, two things happened that further molded my outlook on social justice and activism. I lost two little brothers. Both were murdered in cold blood. One’s name was Etienne Burns. The other: Trayvon Martin. There was something about the social unrest that swept the nation but even more so something about the organized protest strategies that invaded my school’s campus which served as an invitation to me to assume my role as a civically engaged citizen.

I recall graduating from Texas Southern University and attending the University of Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain. It was there where I learned that the history between that of Castilian Spainiards and Mexicans almost mirrored the historical racial relationship between that of African Americans and Europeans in America. I recall vividly my friends (one from El Salvador and the other from Mexico) feeling as though everything they did was an invitation for the natives in Salamanca to display their biases, disdain and or micro-aggressions. Undoubtedly, my experience in Spain, while a student, made me realize for the very first time that I had privilege. Not white privilege, not gender privilege, but privilege as an American woman. The natives, my host family, even my maestras – they all favored me without requiring me to earn such favor due to their conscious or unconscious perception of Americans. This was not the experience of that of my two friends. For the first time in my life, I realized how White people in America may feel whenever social unrest ravages across the nation after a racial police encounter ends in brutality or bloodbath. I truly understood that so long as something is not happening to an individual, they may be completely oblivious to its occurrence. My time overseas solidified my desire to study law to dismantle the prejudice, bias and discrimination that happens to people who did not bear the same privilege I walked so gracefully in during my time abroad.

I applied to different law programs believing that civil attorneys change the world. I studied Charles Hamilton Houston, Fred Gray and Ben Crump even. Only to discover that law on the books does not always equal law in practice. I worked in the the Harris County Court District and regretted it immediately. I left work each day drained, depressed, defeated. I knew that what I was navigating was not what I had envisioned for myself.

So, I left the field of law and worked as the equivalent to what most diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility practitioners do today. Only I worked at a national museum: the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, KS, a historical landmark commemorative of the Brown et.al. v Board of Education et.al. I worked there for five years, leading various initiatives to include audience-centered facilitated dialogues. But after navigating so much red tape, I decided to establish my own human relations firm with an emphasis on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility competencies and strategies… and well, here we are now eight years later.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not. In fact, there has been too many problems to name. Perhaps the most prevalent issue (and this is not unique to me as a small business owner), is that establishing the validity of D.E.I.A. as a professional industry has been a challenge felt among practitioners and employers. I believe this challenge has been presented by way of several issues. Namely the lack of education or miseducation of both D.E.I.A. practitioners and working professionals. To the dismay of many practitioners, we are thought of and requested to act as social activists. This has led to lack of progression and in instances where progress has been made-serious industry regression. Because progress is a real process.

Additionally, I’d argue that there is less funding, less interest and less commitment to human harmony in 2026 than that which has ever been.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
All of Us Together Co. is a full-service human capital firm offering premier HR solutions to stakeholders struggling with human relation challenges. We are at the forefront of cultivating human harmony with an emphasis on strategies and competencies that bring professionals together, not wedge them further apart. We help leaders, politicians, employers, students, faculty, companies, organizations and everything there in between, become more equitable versions of themselves. We do this by providing tools, knowledge and resources to enable space for all people.

What sets us apart from others is simple. We tell executives what they need to know. Not what they desire to hear. That is the All of Us Together Co. Difference.

Secondly, because we serve humans, and because humans are so complex, we pride ourselves on resolving the most complex workplace conflicts. So complex in fact, that neither Google nor Alexa or Chat GPT could compete with our precision in resolving human conflict on the job.

Finally, what sets our team apart from others in the industry is that each team member employed at our firm has matriculated through rigorous HR training, graduated from one of very few of our nation’s prestigious Inclusion Institutes, or both. We take pride in “being in the field” and in the classroom, demonstrative of our prioritization of professional development and continuous process improvement. For example, most recently, I studied at and graduated from the United States Institute for Diplomacy and Human Rights. Whereas, a considerable amount of other “practitioners” have deemed themselves qualified to lead in this work and have no formal education, no practical philosophy and lack the competence, emotional management skills and professionalism required to drive premier results… And since four out of five of our client companies return for additional services after reporting improved work culture, it’s safe to say that we do.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
While the dream and the vision of All of Us Together Co. were all my own, execution of that dream and vision has not been. As such, I’d like to thank the incredible mentors I’ve learned from along the way: Mr. Alex Habersham, Mr. Winsley Durand, Mr. Frank Allen, Mr. Bobby Brumfield, and Mrs. Ronda Harvey Shaheen. The incredible partners that our firm “loved-up, not lucked-up” to work with: The Weitz Family Foundation, Macon Black Pages, the Nebraska Enterprise Fund, Helms College, to name a few.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.allofustogetherco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_allofustogether
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllofUsTogetherCo
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/80195480/admin/dashboard/
• Twitter: https://x.com/allofustogethe3

Image Credits
Please sscreenshot the 4-8 images from our company;s pages and or web.