Greetings from Memphis, TN! As some of you know, my husband Dennis and I moved back to my hometown in October, 2021. After an eventful fall and winter, I’m excited to share some of the exciting things HBE is doing here in the South, and to tell you about the connections being forged between friends in DC, Memphis and New York.
Leadership Memphis
Soon after the moving trucks pulled away, I began a three-month Fast Track Leadership Memphis Class, meeting for two hours every Tuesday night on Zoom with a wonderful collection of Memphis leaders, all concerned about the health and wellbeing of the city. Now, HBE is using its publishing connections to bring thought leaders to speak to LM members. On March 11, HBE brought Johnny C. Taylor Jr., CEO and President of the Society for Human Resource Management, to keynote LM’s annual Leadership Awards Luncheon. We all learned a lot! You can enjoy Johnny’s discussion of his bestselling book, Reset: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, here (minute 40).
Memphis Schools
The reach of our Bridge Builder Events is growing! With the help of our good friend Chelsea Kirk, Director of the Goodwill Excel Center in DC, we connected with the team at the Goodwill Excel Center here in Memphis. In March, the DC GEC team came and met with me and the Memphis GEC team – a fun and rewarding meeting of minds.
HBE has also connected with a third trailblazing school — PURE Academy in Memphis, and is now scheduling shared Bridge Builder author talks and drop shipping books to all three schools! We were very pleased to host Melvin Cole, Founder and Director of the PURE Academy, for a book talk for all the students in March. Melvin is an engaging speaker, and his story is intense and inspiring. You can watch a video here. Let us know if you would like to host him at your organization.
National Civil Rights Museum Interview with Dr. Russ Wigginton
I met Dr. Russ Wigginton, who was recently named President of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, on a Zoom call before leaving DC. There were so many Memphis/DC connections that I suggested to my pals at Leadership Greater Washington that we host Russ to talk about his plans for the Museum. Russ and I had a robust conversation about the history of the Civil Rights Movement here and his amazing plans for the museum, including a Corporate DEI Center. Check out our conversation here.
Plan A Health Care — Mobile Clinics in the Mississippi Delta!
Before I left DC, a New York publishing friend introduced me to Dr. Caroline Weinberg, who after graduating from Columbia University with a Master’s in Public Health decided she wanted to bring health care to rural Mississippi through her brainchild Plan A Health.
I hosted a Friend Raiser with some of my southern friends, and wow have they done a marvelous job of connecting Caroline with movers and shakers in the Mississippi Delta. Plan A is providing much needed healthcare to Delta residents out of the mobile clinics and through a stand-alone clinic in Louise, MS. We hope to do more to support this great work in the coming months.
So, far from feeling distant from my longtime friends in DC and New York, I’m feeling strength, hope and inspiration to continue sharing ideas and connecting thought leaders in many areas. More soon from Memphis!
My Best,
Perry
*With homage to Richard Grant’s wonderful book Dispatches from Pluto
