Laura Zera

Stories to Connect Cultures

I’m Diggin’ Brené Brown and Her Vulnerability Study

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Fun and funky, Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor who studies vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame and how they relate to a person’s sense of what she calls ‘wholeheartedness.’ I first got turned on to her when Molly Greene posted a link to Brown’s TEDx Houston talk in one of her blog posts.

The clip is 20 minutes long, which often is about 17 minutes longer than my attention span; however I’ve now watched this particular video four times and have emailed it to several friends. I like what this woman is saying enough that if there were still tickets to her upcoming talk in Portland in July, I’d drive the 175 miles to be in the same room as her for an hour.Continue Reading

Tea with Geena Davis: How Girls Can Save the World

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Tea with Geena Davis, Seattle – Meryl Schenker photo

I went to see Geena Davis speak a few weeks ago when she was visiting Seattle. Davis is the founder of The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and See Jane. She spoke on a panel with Christine Grumm, former CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, and the title of the presentation was “How Girls Can Save the World.” I thought it was a rather grand and sweeping claim/name for the event, but I’ll get back to that later. First, I want to get to the one point that stuck in my head on March 12, and is still sticking there, like caramel in my molars.Continue Reading

Democracy Out of Balance

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There are things afoot in this country that make me scratch my head (and sometimes swear). One of those things is what I perceive as a lack of regulation of U.S. federal campaign financing limits. As a result, big money is buying the presidency. If special interests (corporations, trade unions, lobbies, etc.) fund the majority of a federal politician’s campaign, who do you think (s)he answers to once they get into office? Not the regular voting taxpayer, brothers and sisters!Continue Reading