UNBiased – Dharshi Harindra

Dharshi Harindra|11/4/2022

All of us carry our own biases. They are a product of our environment, our upbringing, and our lived experiences. Through guest interviews and their stories, UNBiased explores the way bias affects the lives of others, and what we can do to address it.

This week’s guest on UNBiased podcast  is Michelle Sheppard, or “Mama Mish” as she is affectionately known.

Michelle is a highly respected presenter, advocate, and trainer in the gender equity space. As a transgender woman, she appreciates the difficulties within the grey created by the gender divide and traverses them herself and willingly takes others on the ride with her.

Michelle brings her lived experience of being a trans woman into her work, running diversity, equity, and inclusion training, mentoring colleagues, and providing extra support to anyone transitioning or affirming their gender. In her work Michelle lays out the sobering statistics around violence and discrimination against transgender people, unemployment, financial troubles, and mental health issues but mixes them with anecdotes and funny stories from her life.

Michelle’s goal is the achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success.

Michelle shares openly her journey made up of more than 1 kind of transition, the impacts on her mental health, family and relationships, and how she found the resolve to lean in to living an authentic life as the antidote to discrimination and unwarranted biases.

https://www.dharshiharindra.com/podcast/episode/cc8671a1/unbiased-episode-24-with-michelle-sheppard