Listen in (audio link is at the end of this post) as I interview Sumaya Kazi (what an amazing young woman…such a leader, and so humble and bright!), Founder and Executive Director of The Cultural Connect. I encourage you to check out this project, and sign up for one, two, three (or all) of their weekly e-magazines (really great information).

ABOUT SUMAYA KAZI

Sumaya, 25, serves as the Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief at The CulturalConnect. She has been recognized by BusinessWeek Magazine as one of America’s ‘Top 10 Entrepreneurs Under 25′, CNN as a ‘Young Person Who Rocks’, and has also been recognized as a 2007 Who’s Who of Global Emerging Leaders. She frequently keynotes at Universities and business conferences across the U.S. on topics of entrepreneurship, community-building and bridging the non-profit community with other industries.

In her spare time, Sumaya works full-time as a Marketing Manager for the Global Communications Group at Sun Microsystems, the youngest in her division. Additionally, she serves as a high school entrepreneur adviser and mentor for BUILD, a social venture that empowers under-resourced students to excel in education and succeed professionally.

Her interests include connecting young professionals with each other, traveling, technology and International human rights.

Sumaya graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in Marketing & Strategic Planning. She is a Bangladeshi-American residing in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Contact her at sumaya@theculturalconnect.com.

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I am reading the most fascinating book right now and feel compelled to share it with anyone I can. Considering some of the projects with which I’m involved and my role itself in this growing company (not to mention being a very busy mother of two sons), issues of leadership are frequently on my mind. The book I speak of is called The Same River Twice: Honoring the Difficult, by Alice Walker. Through essays, journal entries and her own never-used screenplay, she examines the years in her life before, during, and after writing the Pulitzer Prize winning The Color Purple...and then setting it off into the world. Once it was out there, the controversy began. Amidst an undercurrent–and sometimes a tempest–of misogyny and racism, she found the strength to persevere. The effect of this brilliant work of art reverberates all of these years later. On the surface, hers is not a story of leadership, per se, but I personally see the legacy of Walker’s work as a brilliant example of it. Taking a stand, believing in the truth of your message and repeating it again and again (whether you’re an artist or a business person or both), requires you to lead fearlessly. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself…I’m only several chapters into it. I will post updates as I progress. In the meantime, if you get the chance to read this book, DO!