Jioni Palmer – As a seventh grader at Willard Jr. High School, Jioni got his start in the media business by founding the school paper. His first story was about the only kid in school who could dunk a basketball. A year later, he created the Willard Olympics, a school-wide week long sporting event where students competed in a bevy of activities ranging from handball to wrestling.

In high school and college, Jioni wrote for and edited campus publications. It was at UCLA that his professional career in media began writing news and entertainment for Rap Pages Magazine.

From there he would go on to cover sewers in LA, landfills on Long Island, the devastation and rebuilding of New Orleans, power politics on Capitol Hill and the presidential campaign trail.

For much of the past decade, Jioni has worked for members of Congress and the Obama Administration as a communications strategist and coalition builder. He lives in Washington DC with his wife, two sons and their two cats.

Shauntia White – Shauntia is the Founder of YSocialWork, Inc. It is a progressive network of social workers and allies creating social change in human services through advocacy, organizing, and fundraising among adolescents and young adults globally who have experienced trauma or are interested in social work application in entrepreneurship. The organization is looking to partner with corporations, government, and other nonprofits that share YSocialWork’s commitment to advancing youth and young adults in rewarding social work careers and other entrepreneurial endeavors.

This conversation was one that was centered around family, purpose, faith, and trust. Both Jioni and Shauntia are selfless individuals who have large visions for what the world should look like in what we see as the “new normal” beyond COVID-19 and the fight to combat social injustice.