Today we’d like to introduce you to Lesley Grady & Kim Anderson.
Hi Lesley & Kim, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our lives have been guided by the principle of Sankofa, a Ghanaian proverb that states: it is not taboo to retrieve what is in danger of being lost. Personally and professionally, we interpret that as a mandate to bring forth what is good from our past into the present to advance progress for the future of the collective. Our wealth as a firm is derived from the incredible experiences and deep relationships we have each established in our personal and professional lives. This has fueled the establishment and success of Chrysalis Lab, a social impact enterprise that guides visionary leaders and organizations in transformative, equitable change.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As women who insisted on doing it all at once – education, marriage, children, civic engagement, and professional career – it’s been a wonderful and hectic journey! As Black women who have always worked in, or on behalf of, predominately white environments and institutions, we’ve experienced discomfort, disenfranchisement, disengagement, and yes, even disgust in countless professional interactions where we were judged, alternately, as either unqualified or exceptional. Yet we have also BEEN BLESSED TO EXPERIENCE deep professional and personal satisfaction, ESTABLISH LIFE LONG RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS RACE AND CLASS, and LEVERAGE unique opportunities for creativity and expansion. We love this work and believe in its potential. Our greatest joy comes from the organizations we work with, like the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, the communities we get to partner with, and the impact we see from our work.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Chrysalis Lab?
In 2020, we partnered to form Chrysalis Lab after more than a decade of debate, dialogue, and deliberation as to how to achieve sustainable growth, justice, and equity in community. We’d seen far too many noble and well-intended efforts exhibit short-term and sometimes harmful impacts. We believed there was a better way to bring about meaningful, sustainable change: by opening up the process and co-creating the future in an iterative partnership with those most affected – be it residents, employees, or consumers; and by seeking and leveraging the small wins. Our work with Brookhaven Social Justice, Race & Equity Commission is an example of this. In our two short years of existence (buttressed by 40+ combined years of experience), this has borne out to be true.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
We consider mentoring to be a mutual commitment to support and encourage growth and success for another and that the strongest mentoring relationships are truly two-sided – meaning each party gives and receives guidance and support. These kinds of relationships are the result of time and a natural coalescing of exposure, interest, and compatibility. In other words, you can’t force it! We can all obtain intermittent and specific advice or career coaching and exposure from another person for a cost or free, but we can’t make that person a true mentor unless it is mutually determined and beneficial. There’s got to be chemistry, otherwise expectations won’t be met. If you see someone who you feel you can learn from – and who can learn from you – pursue that individual smartly, feeling out the inclination and boundaries of a relationship. If it’s real, it will happen.
Contact Info:
- Email: lesley@chrysalislab.org
- Website: https://chrysalislab.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrysalislab/
Image Credits:
Akr Productions, Atlanta Georgia
