Who We Are
Sara & Misasha met nearly 30 years ago – not in a meeting about racial identity, but walking out of a meeting about racial identity, because it turns out neither of us thought that the leaders were asking the right questions. Since that fateful meeting in the student commons of our college, we’ve been best friends who question the way things are, and consider how things can be better for ALL of us.
We have a lot in common, and these commonalities are the lived experiences that have taught us that there is more than one way to live in this world.
Both of us are the oldest daughters in our families, and we each have one parent who is a direct Japanese immigrant and one parent who’s a white American with a long family history in the United States. We have both lived abroad in Asia, we have both worked in finance, and we have both changed careers multiple times since those days. We both have two multi-ethnic kids, and we are dedicated to making the world better for said kids.
That said, we are also very different – and those differences are what make us a better team with powerful perspectives.
Misasha is married to a Black man, Sara is married to a white Canadian man. Sara is raising two white-presenting teenage girls with non-apparent disabilities, while Misasha is raising two very multi-racial tween boys the world assumes are Black. Misasha is a lawyer and amateur historian with a strong sense of justice; Sara is a life coach who is devoted to positive psychology tenets that help drive well-being for all.
With all of our similarities and differences, our hope is to get you learning and thinking about things you might not have consciously considered before, and ideally, choosing to take actions that make positive changes in both your own life, and in the lives of those around you.
What We Believe
We believe that the little things you do, along with the assumptions you make, have a ripple effect on those around you.
We believe that you get to choose whether you walk through life without purpose, or with intention and curiosity and reflection.
We believe that change is most effective when it happens within our own communities, and we do better when we know, support, and lean on those in our communities as well.
We believe that even if you don’t get it right the first time, it’s more important to grow up than to give up.
We believe that internal change leads to systemic change, and both are required to create a lasting difference.
Biographies
Misasha Suzuki Graham (she/her) is a Harvard and Columbia Law-educated attorney and social justice advocate who believes that our voices are the most powerful when we use them to get loud for each other. Throughout her legal career, she has advocated for equity and inclusion, not only through creating and supporting those efforts in the legal profession, but also through election protection work, navigating book bans, and upholding the rule of law. She is also the co-founder and co-host of the award-winning podcast and platform What Do You Mean By That?, and co-author of the book Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism. Misasha specializes in speaking about and facilitating conversations on racial and social justice, intersectionality, and systemic inequality, drawing from her own multi-ethnic Japanese and White identity and experiences as a mother raising multi-ethnic Black, Japanese and White tween boys in the Bay Area of California.
Sara Blanchard (she/her) is a heart-led conversationalist who helps people transform ideas into practice. She advocates for those facing systemic challenges and bridges the gap between well-being and social justice. After graduating from Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York, Sara stepped off the Type A path and curated a portfolio life: she trained as a life coach, immersed herself in the field of positive psychology, and is now a moderator/speaker and co-founder of the platform and podcast What Do You Mean By That?. Sara is also a TEDx speaker and the author of two books, Flex Mom: The Secrets of Happy Stay-At-Home Moms and co-author of Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism. Sara herself is Japanese and white, and she and her white Canadian husband are constantly learning and unlearning as they navigate raising multi-ethnic teenage daughters with non-apparent disabilities. They live in Denver, Colorado with their two adorable dogs.
