Playing on Two Stages: Tech & Local Politics with Roxy Ndebumadu
Overview of this Episode
In this episode of the Trust Your Voice podcast, host Sylvie Légère sat down with Roxy Ndebumadu, founder, technology leader, and the youngest female and first African American woman to be voted and sworn into office as a Councilwoman for the City of Bowie in Maryland, to trust your voice to be heard on multiple stages and redefine what it means to be an innovative professional powerhouse.
In this conversation, Sylvie and Roxy discuss:
Regulations around safety in the virtual world
Deciding to run for office and make a difference
How to juggle professional responsibilities and civic responsibilities
To know more about Roxy and her visions, visit her website Roxy for Bowie
Be an Active Voter now! Visit Active Voter Guide to learn how to be an active voter and exercise your rights.
We hope you enjoy the episode! Tell us what you think by leaving a review on Apple podcasts. Stay tuned for more episodes and be sure to subscribe to the Trust Your Voice podcast on your favorite podcast player.
Read the Full Episode Transcript
Sylvie Legere 0:11
Have you ever felt challenged with making life changing decisions or leading in the public square or simply aligning your thoughts with your actions? Well, then you're in the right place. Welcome to trust your voice podcast. My name is Celia. And as a civically engaged entrepreneur, and mom, I understand the challenges of advocating for yourself and others, while attempting to balance your personal and professional demands. I had to develop a personal system have success in every area of my life. And now, I want to help you build your unique system and truly trust your voice, even and especially when it shakes. By the end of each episode, you'll be energized to spark your creative leadership make purposeful connection, and confidently prioritize the matters that bring you the most joy. So let's start the show. Welcome. Our focus today is about how to trust your voice to be heard on multiple stages. As a professional. And as an elected official. I'm really pleased to welcome today my guest, Roxy and Buma do and who is a technology leader. She's an elected official. And she's making waves and redefining what it means to be an innovative professional powerhouse. So Roxy spearheaded the monetization of Microsoft Cloud businesses. And she's currently at Twitch where she's focusing on trust and safety. And she's leading a strategic program that incorporates engineering tools, policy actions and law enforcement response to harmful content. And I have to say, I'm really glad that you're focused on that because my kid is on Twitch. So in 2019, Roxy became the youngest female and first African American woman to be voted in sworn into office as a council woman for the town of buoy, District Four in Maryland. And Roxy was also appointed by Governor Hogan to the Maryland State Board of waterworks. I have to also add that Roxy was a featured speaker at the 2021 policy circles summit on water and power. So Roxy, welcome to the show. It's so great to speak with you again.
Roxy Ndebumadu 2:17
Oh, my gosh, thank you so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this conversation all week. So thank you for having me. So it's great to see you.
Sylvie Legere 2:24
Well, I'm going to kind of open it up with since this is a trust your voice podcast, share with us, you know, the moment where you felt like, you know what, I'm really trusting myself, this is the right thing to do. And it might be a challenge that I'm taking on. But I've decided to trust my voice. Do you have a particular moment where you felt that
Roxy Ndebumadu 2:45
I think that moment for me was in 2019, when I first ran for office, I think what's interesting about my journey and running for office is that I never grew up viewing myself as a politician. I never dreamed of being in the seats that I sit in or being at some of the tables that I have the opportunity to be present at. But I think what clicked for me in 2019, I was in the room with one of my mentors at Microsoft, his name is Fred Humphries. And he's currently the Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs. And Fred said to me, you know, Roxy, you kind of always have something to say, You always talk a lot. And you bring these innovative ideas to the table. Have you ever thought of running for office? And I said to Fred, no, I don't think so. Like I don't think so I don't think the community would ever elect someone like me, because I'm not a politician. So after that conversation, I went home, and I thought about it a little bit more. And I was just like, Man, I do have something to say I do want my voice at the table. I do trust myself, to represent people like me, who never had representation in the terms of understanding where we're coming from. And so that light bulb went off, probably two days later, and I filed for office, I ran for 45 days against five other leaders who had been running for a year. And I ended up winning by 16 votes. That was a great example of just trusting that I had a story to tell my voice was my power. And just being able to represent myself as well as people that were similar like me and trusting that I had the voice that represented those people was magical in that moment.
Sylvie Legere 4:19
What's also interesting in that story is that and this is something that I mentioned in my book is that you have to believe that you can be a spark for others. And your mentor, in this case, was a spark for you threw that ball to you and you caught it, and you ran with it. So congratulations. It's really a great story. So tell us a little bit about your story because it's really interesting. Your family is from Nigeria, you still have very strong ties. You graduated from Howard University. You're a woman in technology, but I think you started off in nursing is what I think right? So tell us a little bit about your journey. Your just your professional journey and, and your personal life.
Roxy Ndebumadu 4:58
Oh my gosh, sometimes I will Wonder where do I start? My journey I think really started many, many years ago with my mom who migrated over from Nigeria to America and was really, really passionate about seeking a better opportunity. For all those of you who are familiar with Nigeria, I won't expand too much on what things look like there. But America tends to have a lot of economic opportunity when it comes to pivoting into different careers. So my mom came over to America, she became a nurse, and she ended up getting pregnant with me, I remember sitting in the back of the classroom with her, and screaming and wondering when we were gonna get out of there and what was going on. But we were extremely poor. We lived in a one bedroom apartment in Prince George's County over in Riverdale, with roaches and bees, and all these other things that you might imagine when you think about poverty. But what my mom did for me is, she made me spend a significant amount of time in Nigeria. When I spent time in Nigeria, one distinct memory I have was being in the village where from our true guru, for those of you are not familiar, I'm EBO. And I remember having to shower outside in front of like 15 people, and not having running water and walking down to the river and picking up water with a bucket and bringing it back to what we called a bathroom that was in a public setting and having to be out there to shower. And that was a mortifying experience for me, because someone who had spent time in America as a young child, now being in these remote villages, not really understanding what was going on, I think it was traumatizing. But it was traumatizing in a way that I saw what injustice look like. And I think for those who are familiar with my story, many people aren't it was a life filled with trauma. My mom was a single mother, she went through a lot. My stepfather was very abusive in many different ways. I've gone through things from physical violence to sexual assault. But I think the theme of my story is transcendence. Because at every moment, I saw what it looked like to rise above that, I think what I always wanted was to heal. I wanted to heal my soul from the trauma that I experienced. And I also wanted to be an advocate for others, because I wasn't happy with that experience, because it wasn't a life that I asked for. I think that's what led me to pursue nursing. I was very, very close to my grandmother, and she passed away from diabetes. And that killed me that broke my heart, because every time I was in Nigeria spent a lot of time with her. When she passed away, she was about in her late 80s. I said, You know what, there are diseases that affect minority communities very differently, that are very prevalent, I want to understand this a little bit more. Nursing taught me to break down complex problems and understand how to apply solutions in a very, very different way. I think from there, when I spent probably time doing my rotations in the hospital, I said, Okay, this is not for me, I don't think this is the area I'm going to be successful in. And so I pivoted, I pivoted in that moment, I said, You know what technology and infrastructure access in Nigeria is not what it is in the States. And I wonder why. But I know that if I put my foot in, I can figure out why. And I could solve that challenge. So I pivoted and went into technology, started my career at Microsoft. Working from the ground up, I worked my way up in sales, I spent a lot of time with our chief people officer who's still there. And a great mentor, Kathleen Hogan loved her dearly, who taught me a lot of things about people and leadership, and understanding how to run an organization. From there, I spent time with a lot of senior leaders, but I became very, very passionate about technology, because there still is a lot of inequity that exists within technology, even though we are democratizing access. And so I think for me, the theme of my story is transcendence. It's perseverance. It's taking that trauma that burns inside of you, and using it and applying it in a very different way to solve problems for others. And to be that advocate that I wish I always had.
Sylvie Legere 8:44
Yeah, well, I mean, it's an amazing story. And you know, one of the things that you seem to have this gift, like disability of like raising your gaze, right? Pivoting, looking at the environment, the circumstances that you're in, and then kind of seeing, okay, what could be next? And is there like something that you tell yourself, you seem to have an amazing optimism, this ability to transcend this ability to kind of be strategic, strategic mind? What do you tell? Do you have a mantra? Is there something that you tell yourself to do that?
Roxy Ndebumadu 9:16
I think many years ago, when I first became introduced to madam CJ Walker, I remember her saying in a documentary, she said, Don't sit and wait for opportunities to come to you go out and make them. And when I heard that, I was just like, Huh, well, nobody's really gonna give me anything because I've tried that avenue, it didn't work out for me. So I'm just gonna go create opportunities. And I'm gonna go out and share my story and hope that it empowers other people to break down barriers. And I think that's the connective tissue that I've found in many of these environments, whether that's in a political setting, or whether that's in corporate America. It's that ability to learn somebody else's story, understand our differences, and then to be able to grow from them together to create meaningful solutions that will impact the entire world no matter where you're located. So I think that mantra really, really did something for me. But I think even with the Nigerian culture in the mentality, it's always been this culture of hustle. If you're familiar with Yvonne orgy, she has a comedy show on HBO, she makes fun of Nigerians a lot, but in good faith, because in our culture, we're very, very familiar with, okay, you don't have money to go sell water on the side of the road and figure out how to be a salesman and figure out how to make it. That was the culture that I grew up in when I spent time in Nigeria. And so when I came to America, and started seeing that there was a ton of opportunity out here, that doesn't mean that I didn't face injustice. That doesn't mean it wasn't challenging, or that it wasn't hard. I always figured out how to pivot because I was like, okay, that door shot, we're gonna go out and make another opportunity over here. Because I know where I'm going, I know what impact I'm trying to make. And I think it's always having a mantra or a vision that's bigger than yourself that continues to drive you forward.
Sylvie Legere 11:01
Yeah, it's like disability to kind of see the open doors or the doors to open instead of seeing the hurdles in the mountains. It's always a mindset. So let's touch a little bit on your career. Because I find it interesting that you know, you were in sales, you were in infrastructure. And now you're working in privacy and safety in a very complex environment like, like Twitch where there's no boundaries, there's no world like, there's no geographic boundaries, and user comes together from all over the world. What's the vision there in terms of creating a happy and safe virtual environment? What perspective do you bring? Or how did you get into that space? From working on infrastructure into now into safety? And What vision do you have? Or what stamp? Do you want to leave?
Roxy Ndebumadu 11:48
Oh, that's such a good question. I think the idea of pivoting into privacy and safety came from the experience that I got from being elected. When you become elected, you see things in a very different way, because you are that point of contact for the community. So a community is always calling you, they are always surfacing what they perceive to be as problems. They're always surfacing concerns, or just feedback for you to be honest with you. So you learn a number of different perspectives, and the things that are truly affecting people differently. And like they say, all politics starts at the local level. And that's where I am. And so I think when I started hearing and learning a little bit more about the challenges that were affecting, particularly our youth, I was like, Okay, maybe I'm not in the right space anymore. And maybe it's time to learn something different. And also go enter a room where people like me, are not there in multiple. And so that's what prompted the pivot into safety. I am really, really passionate about defending democracy, which is why I'm a public servant, because that's what that whole entire goal is about defending democracy and making sure that you're protecting the rights of people, and you're providing a safe environment. And I think what's particularly fascinating about the internet, is that when people are on the internet, they are at their most vulnerable state, because you're not expecting harm to come your way. You're either surfing the web, or if you're a young person, you're playing a game on a platform like Twitch, or if you're somebody like me or you, you're just tweeting your opinions. So you're not expecting someone to be plotting harm, or seeking to weaponize a platform to use that against you in any way. And so for me, that was a real light ball, because I'm like people are at their most vulnerable space on the internet. So where can I make the greatest impact at this point in my career, that to me was an environment like Twitch, when you look at just regulation, in terms of online streaming, it's completely a open field, in my opinion, at this moment. And so I think when you take an environment in an industry like online streaming, and then you take big tech, and you take regulators who truly don't understand the space of tech, commerce, and just all of these types of different platforms, like the online streaming, or platforms that focus on persistent chat or enterprise solutions, there's really a gap there. And so I saw myself being able to figure out and fill that gap because I understood both worlds. I think what my vision is, is to make sure that all types of communities are safe on every platform, and that we have the right mindset and the right tools in place to do two things. One proactively changed the behavior of how people interact with each other. You see things particularly on platforms like Twitter, Twitter's a great example of this, where people are expressing their thoughts, but there is no cultural behavior of how to receive that those thoughts and engage in an intellectual or safe dialogue, where you're actually understanding where the other person is coming from. It seems to be more of a pattern like someone posts their opinion and then you get a bunch of people attacking that opinion who either disagree or either validate that opinion, and that's terrifying too. Our democracy into our community because you're not changing the behavior of how people engage with each other. I'll give you one other example. You have platforms like Instagram, or Facebook, or meta, or many others, where people are just recording themselves or sharing their thoughts. And then they're getting all these validations or all these feedbacks. But we can create models and systems and tools that not necessarily promote bad behaviors, because I think there's an incentivization, if you will, if you look across the industry, of promoting maybe behaviors that are not so much ideal, we can create tools that are a little bit more proactive in mitigating those types of behaviors to make sure that we are creating a safe environment.
Sylvie Legere 15:42
Yeah, that's right. I mean, it's great that you are seeing yourself as this bridge, because need regulators just from who they are, or their age group, don't understand the virtual environments in which people are now operating. And I love that comment about when you are in a virtual space, you are at your most vulnerable, and it is so true, it captures so well, the problematic in a way and why it hurts people so much when they are being attacked in the virtual environment. So it's interesting, you know, the, as you know, I'm the co founder, and now chairwoman of the policy circle, and the organization develops these briefs that can be used for conversation, we have one there's one on data privacy, there's one on government regulations, because people don't necessarily it's hard to understand what are regulations, what spaces it affects, and what each level of government can do to regulate environment and how also in virtual spaces, I'm sure it adds to an even an international level, because it's people who are from different countries, or interacting together. So there's an international component to it. So I invite people to actually host conversations using the briefs and to inform themselves about that space. Let's go to what you know, your decision to run. And being a representative in the in the town of Bowie. I've heard you say how many times you love being a representative for your community? What are the your driving principles, perhaps under which you launched your campaign, but also maybe how you operate day to day in being an elected official and a representative for your community?
Roxy Ndebumadu 17:24
I think for me, a lot of those drivers were to one bring a fresh voice because I felt like a lot of the voices are a little bit duplicative at the moment, I think it was to bring transparency, and then to also bring this perspective of bridging the gap. I think people have gotten so comfortable and not working together and basically being very stern in their opinions and saying, Hey, this is my stance. And this is my way, and I'm not willing to compromise. And for me, I think that's a true problem that we face across any democracy that you look at people not being willing to compromise. And so that was my guiding principle, my guiding principle was, each problem is always going to be nuanced. The solution is never black and white, you have different communities that are going to prefer different solutions, and you have other communities are going to have other preferences. And what we do as legislators is that we do bring our unique experiences and our perspective based off of our lived experience. But we also bring a skill set and being able to analyze a complex problem, understand where multiple sides are coming from, and being able to apply a decision making framework that makes sense to make sure that you're being inclusive of all parties. And I think that's been my guiding principle when I ran for office. Since I've been in office. I think since I've been in office, I've been one of the most disruptive council members to the status quo, if you will, and also one of the most forward thinking council members that our council has ever seen, in my opinion. And also in the opinion of my constituents. We've launched different types of programs that have been able to enable people to achieve success or to have a psychological safety or to reach the heights that they are trying to attain in life. And so I think for me, that's been transparency that's been bringing lived experiences and also being willing to compromise an understanding that solutions are going to be very nuanced.
Sylvie Legere 19:21
Hi, Sylvie, here. Do you need a starting point to engage in your community? Well visit the policy circle.org. The policy circle launched recently an interactive leadership course it's all clear, the Civic Leadership Engagement Roadmap, and it's a three month virtual course designed for women who want to learn how to take intentional actions to become impactful citizens and connect with other civic minded women. So there's one that's focused on education policy, so visit the policy circle.org. Now, let's get back to the episode. It's true. I mean, it's never black and white. Every issue is so complex and you kind of need to be able to as you said, Bring your skill set to the table to come present a vision, what's the ultimate goal that we're trying to achieve? Let's agree on that. And then let's agree on how to achieve it with the implementation, which is another part. So I've heard you say, you know, you have to be kind of you have to know your truths to be able to, when you step into the arena, and we just talked about that how you can become a target people can be cruel. You know, in my book, I talk about human nature. And I feel like strongly that once you understand human nature, I think you're much more ready to take the arrows because you understand maybe where people are coming from, whether it's fear, it's competition, it's anger, and what are your truths? And how do you would stand? Or I don't know if you've received some negative arrows, but how do you process that share a little bit?
Roxy Ndebumadu 20:51
The one thing that I remember at all times that I don't know that I knew when I was a little younger. And to be fair, I'm still quite young. I know, you're all wondering, like, what does she mean when she was younger. But one thing that I remember is this quote, I forget who said it, but it is, the privilege of a lifetime is to be who you truly are. That is the greatest privilege of my lifetime is to be authentic, and true to me as a person and understand that my experiences bring a very different perspective to the table, because I am not the norm. It is not normal to see a young, successful black woman in technology, it's not normal to see a young black woman be elected at 26 years old, those things are just not normal. And so I think my truth is my story, it is my experiences, it is the perspective that I bring. But one thing that I've been learning from my fellowship that I've been so gracious to be a part of by the Rodel Leadership Institute, is that a lot of people are driven by fear. We looked at Aristotle's readings from way back in the day, we looked at Machiavelli and some of the theories that came out of his readings from way back in the day, and a lot of decisions and behaviors are driven by fear. And I think that's why a lot of people are not willing to, number one own their truth. And then number two, understand and learn from other people's truth. Because there is this real fear of, if I do that, what does that mean for me? Am I sacrificing a piece of myself to understand and or compromise and or learn from somebody else's truth. And so I think that the only way that we can continue to bridge that gap and alleviate that fear is to own our truth, but not in a way that's so dominating, that it overpowers the story and the experiences of somebody else. I have a constituency that's representative of multiple ethnicities, and multiple different age groups, and people that are at different stages in their lives. My story as a young black woman does not threaten your story as maybe somebody that might be a little older that might come from a Caucasian ethnicity, or a background that has an experience that might be different from mine. It's my responsibility to learn from that perspective and that experience and apply that to my experience, still walk in my truth, but accept their truth and figure out so what's best for all of us? How do we accept all of our truths and find a path forward that makes everybody feel somewhat more comfortable than they were before?
Sylvie Legere 23:26
How do you reach out? How do you seek people's input? Do you like one of the things that that I really value and I've discovered really, recently is the value of building out this ecosystem of relationships? That's really broad, that encompasses very different people so that you could get feedback. How do you intentionally, perhaps grow your ecosystem of relationships or seek out opinions of people, when you're faced with a an issue to resolve?
Roxy Ndebumadu 23:54
I think for me, I intentionally put myself in environments that make me uncomfortable. And so when I go into those environments that make me uncomfortable, because I know that the perspective is going to be differing. And the feedback may not echo what it is that I am trying to do, I intentionally continue to move forward. And that takes a certain level of being able to put an ego aside, to be able to be forward thinking and know that it might hurt a little bit and that people may not agree with what it is that you're trying to do. But it's important to have that feedback to understand where you might not be aligning, or where you might be missing the mark. And so for me, if I know that I'm in an environment that makes me uncomfortable, whether that is people that are particularly more well off than I am, or that's people that are particularly in a different environment, or grew up in a very different way, or whatever that looks like at that time in that day, if I know that I'm making myself uncomfortable by going into those situations, and I know I'm in the right place. Some of the other tactical things that we do on my team is that we proactively run a lot of campaigns on social media to make sure that we are reaching out to people I proactively put my cell phone number out there publicly so that people can always feel comfortable texting me or calling me whatever might feel comfortable for them. I make myself 100% accessible. And I don't create these barriers to get access to be able to share your opinion or share your feedback. And I think that's what makes a good leader being willing to listen, and listen, to learn, not listen to respond, but listen, to truly understand and truly learn what that person might be seeking to deliver.
Sylvie Legere 25:26
Yeah, that is a really great reminder of how to be a representative right and to listen to your community. So you were appointed to the waterworks board of Maryland by Governor Hogan. So share how that happened. Because you were talking about stepping into experiences where you're really uncomfortable, and your background is certainly perhaps not in water systems. So how did that happen? And why did you say yes to this,
Roxy Ndebumadu 25:55
I love this new word that I learned. It's called voluntold. And so it's a mixture of being volunteered for something and a mixture of being kind of pushed in a certain direction that you might not have thought of for yourself. And so I think for me, when I was first seeking an appointment, because I really wanted to be an advisor, I really wanted to contribute in a very different way and bring the municipals perspective to the operations of the state of Maryland, Secretary cavies. And you know, we have this board called a waterworks, and I think you'd be great for it. And I was like, I don't have any experience on water, I don't know that I'd be great for them. And he said, you know, you just step outside of your comfort zone, you might actually learn that you are a good fit. And so I think when I took a step back, and I looked at it from a different angle, and I saw, okay, I have this deep expertise in in technology. But I also have all these transferable skills and advising or being able to see gaps or being able to set a vision or being able to tie key themes together and being able to solve complex problems. I was like, You know what, maybe I might be a good fit. And so from there, I was appointed to the State Board of waterworks, I went through a Senate confirmation and passed my Senate confirmation. And then I've been serving since then as a board member on the board of waterworks. And I think from that experience, I've been able to bring a very different perspective. And what it's taught me is that you don't always have to be prepared to do something, you don't always have to have the direct experience in that particular industry, or in that particular field, to feel comfortable taking on the position. Because there's something that I've saw, which is on the job learning, and being able to pivot and being able to stay agile, and being able to just understand what's going on in that moment. And think about it very differently, that's very valuable for those people that do have that expertise, because at that point, you are bridging the gap of being able to have an outside perspective, as well as an inside perspective. So that's been my journey being appointed right now I'm up for another board appointment in affordable housing. And so that is another area that I have no expertise in whatsoever. But from the perspective of being a legislator and looking at economic development that's going on across our city and understanding as a municipality, where are we trying to go? How do we think about affordable housing in a very different way, not from the key themes that have been currently presented as an AU, that's going to bring crime, or that's going to bring traffic, but being able to look at it from an outside perspective of affordable houses, or some of your police officers or some of your frontline workers or some of your nurses, their teachers, just being able to look at that very differently. So hopefully, I'll be able to make an impact there. And hopefully, I'll be able to be confirmed by the summit.
Sylvie Legere 28:38
So how do you and I say ally, he have a work life balance, because I don't believe in that it's all juggling it. All right. It's like we have all these. Sometimes I feel like I have like, all these plates that are spinning on these sticks. And I'm keeping them all spinning in the air, making sure you don't fall off. So how do you juggle it all? Like you're taking this on? Affordable housing is another commission that you're taking on? You're adding professionally, and also in your civic life? How do you manage it all? In the end? How do you perhaps organize your life so you feel still, you know, not overwhelmed and in control and enjoying it?
Roxy Ndebumadu 29:16
There's a popular saying that people have said to me throughout my career that I adamantly disagree with what I'm going to tell you because it's gonna add context. People often say life is a marathon, it's not a sprint. And for me, I disagree with that. Because I don't view life as if it's a marathon for me as Roxy and Deborah MoDou life as a sprint. And then it's a pause, and then it's a sprint, and then it's a jog. And then it might be a run, and then it might be a crawl, and then it might be a sprint. And so I think when I use that example, in that context, I look at my life and I try to understand where am I at the moment, what is it that I'm trying to accomplish? And what sacrifices Am I willing to make? What are the trade offs of that sacrifice and how does that get me to my longer term goal one So I have that understanding, I know that there are periods in my life like this period right now, where I am going to make a sacrifice. I'm coming up at the end of my term next year in 2023, where my term is almost over. So there are just certain things that I'm hoping to accomplish by the time my term expires, and understanding whether I will seek reelection or not, that I want to accomplish. So I do understand that right now, there are some things that are a sacrifice. And I understand that where I am in my life, I can make those trade offs and I can live with them. But one thing I can't and will never be able to live with is regret. Knowing that I had the opportunity to make a difference in certain areas, because that's tied to my personal mission. And I didn't do that. And so I look at life in terms of balancing what works for me, some days, that means no sleep and running on dirty Chais. I'm okay with that. Like I make that trade off. And I'm able to still show up as my authentic self, by maybe listening to music that energizes me maybe having a 15 minute dance session to just get reinvigorated and know that okay, maybe I didn't sleep as much as last night. But I'm reinvigorated. I'm ready to conquer the day. And maybe we'll sleep during the weekend. And I understand those trade offs. And I'm comfortable with them right now.
Sylvie Legere 31:11
Yeah, no, that's great advice. Because it's true. You don't need to have like, these big long weekends or big vacations to feel re energized, you can really take seize these short moments where you're going for a run, you're doing a short workout, and you're refocused re energized, and you're set to achieve your goal. Well, I mean, this has been like such a great conversation, I want to close on a topic that I think is a little challenging. And, you know, I know you have really strong ties to Africa, which you know, for our audience, it's a 1 billion people continent 90% of the world's blacks are in Africa, I have kind of a tough question for you is that when I read the paper in the mainstream media, we are not talking about Africa, the way perhaps back in my day, we were talking about Africa, poverty is a problem to be solved, where, you know, 90% of people don't have power, half of the 1 billion population live under $2 a day, there's that one dimension that was the center of the 90s. But today, there's also great opportunities in terms of you were talking about it early on, on infrastructure, in technology, what technology can bring to Africa, what power can bring to Africa? We're not talking about it. It's not there in the mainstream media. And I was just wanted to hear your thoughts and and where you see, and what can we do to maybe pay a little more attention.
Roxy Ndebumadu 32:38
I think this goes back to a trend that started many, many, many years ago, Africa has consistently been underestimated for years. And I think that's been a real challenge for the rest of the world, because I don't think people understand how to receive the opportunity in Africa, or even how to visualize what an opportunity in Africa could look like. And I think that's a real miss on our part. And it's also a miss on on people like me, my part, because we don't do enough to talk about some of the innovative solutions and ideas and things that are coming out of Africa and actually influencing the rest of the world. I mean, if you take certain places in Africa, for example, Nigeria is the the largest economy in Africa, and has some of the most brilliant startups coming out of their startup hub in Lagos. There is a lot of money that exists in Africa that is powering our nation. And I think that people typically tend to look at Africa as a source for crude oil. And that was this, the main perception or people's perception of Africa was really centered around poverty, because that was what was marketed at the time. That's what Africa was branded on, which is a real missed opportunity on the part of the media and many people. But I think what we can do is really just do our research, and spend some time learning a little bit more about some of the innovative areas that are coming out of Africa, places like Ghana, I mean, Ghana, two years ago, two, three years ago, did a welcome back to Africa, event and opportunity that literally powered majority of their economy by inviting African Americans to come experience Africa, to bridge that gap, to have that conversation, to power, some of those innovative solutions that are going to come out of Ghana for the years to come. Those are great examples. But I think that we just don't talk enough about it. Because many people just don't know where to start. And they don't understand the why. So I think people like myself can do a better job having that conversation and bridging that gap. And the last thing that I want to draw out there. I do think that there has been a big riff between Africa and the African American community, which is a big miss on both sides. Because of the cultural norms in Africa and the perception in America. There has been that divide. And so I think that does contribute to a lot of the ways that we perceive some of the things So that might be coming out of Africa and or how we do research about Africa.
Sylvie Legere 35:04
Yeah, thank you for sharing. I think like, as you know, we talked a little bit about that I think this would be a great conversation, a great policy circle brief, perhaps on Africa, but also a conversation to be had, because it needs to be in the forefront is, as you said, there's so many opportunities there. And it's a huge continent, part of this world. So thank you so much for coming on the show. And I wanted my last question to you is like what stars, you know, need to be aligned for you to be excited about a new experience? Or where are you taking your voice next? Do you have a next plan? Are you trying to achieve the goals that you've set out for yourself right now,
Roxy Ndebumadu 35:43
I am trying my hardest to wrap my head around being bolder in this next phase of my life. And that means that my moves will look very, very different. I think my platform will expand. But I think the challenge that I face is I'm a very introverted person. And so you might be reading and watching this conversation, like Roxy does not seem introverted at all, but I am. And so sometimes, I think that can hinder my ability to get the right mentors and get the right sponsors to be able to continue learning and learn the areas that I don't know so much about, and also expand my platform to be able to understand what opportunities are out there. So I think this next phase of my life, I'm focused on really being bolder and shaking things up. Because I do think our nation needs that. And then I also think I'm trying to do a better job of finding the right mentors and finding the right sponsors, and finding the right connections to be able to fill the gaps that I have, and also continue to expand the platform. So that's what I'm working on in this next space.
Sylvie Legere 36:43
So Roxy, it's been a pleasure to have you on the podcast, you are so tuned in to human nature, you stand on the truths that you believe in. And yet you're also curious, you seek to understand all views, you use Zoom out. And I also so appreciate how you embrace stepping into new experiences being uncomfortable. And I should say, your energy is is really refreshing and inspiring. So thank you for being on the podcast.
Roxy Ndebumadu 37:12
Thank you so much. And if you don't mind, can I just say one more thing to your audience because it is the trust your voice podcast, I think one thing that I want people to remember or just be mindful of is that you have a stage right now. And all you have is what you want to say and people are listening. So if you don't seize the moment, you have to wonder whether that opportunity will ever come around again. So trust your voice. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you for having me.
Sylvie Legere 37:42
Thank you for joining me so the Lesia on my trust your voice podcast. I hope that this episode brought you a new way to think about your voice, how to trust yourself, and how to use your voice for good in your life and in your community. If you liked this podcast, be sure to leave us a review in Apple podcasts. And subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player.