MILK Podcast: Lost and Found, Season 3 Episode 13: Electing Black Women during Covid-19, Racial Justice and Higher Heights Redux with Political Fundraiser and Consultant Kimberly Peeler-Allen

Kimberly Peeler Allen is back with Mallory two years later in the MILK Studio. Kimberly has been working at the intersection of race, gender and politics for almost 20 years. She is the Co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of Black women from the voting booth to elected office.

Higher Heights has helped drive the national narrative about the power of Black women voters and has inspired countless Black women to step into their power whether it is as voters, activists or elected leaders.

Kimberly and her Co-Founder Glynda Carr built Higher Heights from an idea on the back of a placemat into a network of over 90,000 members, donors and activists across the country that have helped elect 10 Black women to Congress, 1 Black woman to the US Senate and grow the number of Black women in statewide executive office and leading our nation’s largest cities.

A highly skilled political fundraiser and event planner, Kimberly was the principal of Peeler-Allen Consulting, LLC from 2003 to 2014, the only African American full-time fundraising consulting firm in New York State. Kimberly served as finance director for Letitia James’ successful bid to become Public Advocate of the City of New York and the first African American woman elected citywide in New York’s history. Kimberly also served as the Co-Executive Director of New York Attorney General Letitia James' Transition Committee when she was elected to that office in November of 2018.

In 2018, Kimberly was selected as one of the Roddenberry Fellowship's 20 established and emerging activists to devote an entire year to projects that will make the U.S. more inclusive and equitable through their inaugural cohort.

Kimberly also serves as a board member of ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women's Equity. She is currently a visiting professor at the Center for American Women and Politics at Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.

She is drawing on her life experience as an organizer and operative to write her first book, Activist Momma, a celebration of this intersection and the gifts that mothers bring to movement work. It profiles the lives of a group of black women who are leading some of the most impactful movements at the local and national level. 

Follow Kimberly on twitter @kimberp_a and @higherheights and @higherheightsPAC to support getting more Black women into elected office. You all better have voted in your state's primaries, or Kimberly will be very disappointed, and you don’t want that.

MILK Podcast: Lost and Found, Season 3 Episode 10: Kamala and Maya's Big Idea and Phenomenal Girls Make Phenomenal Women with Meena Harris

Meena Harris joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Meena is the author of “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea," an illustrated picture book based on a true story from the childhood of Meena’s mom and aunt.

Meena is founder of the groundbreaking Phenomenal Women Action campaign, she is a respected entrepreneur and is recognized as an influential voice for women’s equality. In the book, two sisters make a difference in their community by dreaming big and fighting for what they believe in. It’s an early lesson on the power of community organizing, and an example of what Meena’s grandmother always told her: “Each of us has a role to play.” Meena believes that to fight for women’s equality, we need to start with girl’s equality, and her book focuses on listening to girls of color, supporting their big ideas, and following their lead.

Currently, Meena is head of strategy and leadership at Uber, where she leads brand transformation initiatives focused on corporate citizenship, customer loyalty, and employee engagement. In addition to Uber, she has advised major brands on diversity and inclusion. Meena is also an attorney with extensive experience in consumer protection, data privacy, and cybersecurity. She is a graduate of Standford University and Harvard Business School. She lives in San Francisco with her partner and two daughters. The book can be purchased through a link on phenomenal girl dot com. Follow Meena @meenaharris or phenomenalwoman.us

MILK Podcast: Lost and Found, Season 3 Episode 8: Home-Schooling, Home Teaching, Diversity Equity and Inclusion with Educator Nikki Turpin

Educator Nikki Turpin is in the MILK Podcast Studio with Mallory. Nikki is a teacher at Nashoba Brooks School in Concord, MA and this fall will be the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion leader at an independent school in New England. She is the Programming Director for Robbins House, and African American Museum in Concord and leads the Youth In Philanthropy Program at Middlesex School for Foundation for MetroWest.

Nikki has long held a passion for African-American history and recently presented at the Association of African American Museums, discussing the importance of telling the full stories of African-American female suffragists. She leads professional development workshops and leadership trainings for kids and adults as a diversity and inclusion consultant, and has worked in public, private, and independent education for over a decade.

She has been closely observing the effects of distance learning as an educator, a spouse, and a parent, and shares thoughts about her own daughter's racial identity and how her and her husband are navigating their quarantine household of home schooling and working from home as teachers. Follow Nikki @naturpin on Instagram.

MILK Podcast: Lost and Found, Season 3, Episode 7: Ambition, Addiction and Tragedy with "Smacked" Author Eilene Zimmerman

Journalist Eilene Zimmerman joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Eilene is the author of SMACKED: A story of White Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy, a deeply personal memoir about her husband Peter, who died after struggling with an addiction he kept secret from her and their two children.

Beyond Eilene’s personal experience discovering Peter’s body and retracing his secretive and harrowing addiction story is her own examination of herself as a partner and as a woman, as well as a powerful, reported look at addiction, privilege, and consumption in our culture.

Eilene has been a journalist for three decades, covering business, technology and social issues for a wide array of national magazines and newspapers. She was a columnist for The New York Times Sunday Business section for many years and since 2004 has been a regular contributor to the newspaper. In 2017, Zimmerman also began pursuing a master’s degree in social work, which she is completing soon. She lives in New York City and can be found online at eilenezimmerman.com

Episode 43: Two Jews/Three Opinions, The Tree of Life Shooting, and Saving Starfish with Rabbi Leora Kaye

Rabbi Leora Kaye is the Director of Programs at URJ, Union for Reform Judaism, and she joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. They discuss Anti-Semitism, parenting while Jewish, and how we can be more inclusive as Jews and as humans. As a Rabbi, Leora seeks ways to expand people's understanding of Judaism, encouraging them to approach their spiritual lives on their own terms.

Leora's work experience spans the Jewish world and includes education, programming, and filmmaking. She first combined her interests in media and ethics by working on the Sundance award-winning documentary Blue Vinyl. She went on to work as the rabbinic consultant for Shalom Sesame, and has been an adviser on many other media projects. As Director of Community Engagement at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, Leora spearheaded innovative initiatives including the synagogue's groundbreaking conversion program. She also served as the Youth Director of Temple Israel in Boston and as Associate Director of Programming for Synagogue 2000.

In her current position at the URJ, Leora is responsible for creative advancement of the core priorities of the Reform Movement: Tikkun Olam, Strengthening Congregations, Audacious Hospitality, and Youth. Leora graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison and received rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. She and her husband Doug Gordon, a writer and television producer, live in Brooklyn with their children, Galit and Zeb. She is on twitter @LeoraKaye.

Read more on the Tree of Life Synagogue by Mallory Kasdan in the Washington Post.

MILK Episode 42: Empowering Women and Girls, Being the Connector, and Getting Out The Vote with Carley Roney

Carley Roney joins Mallory in the MILK Studio. Carley is an entrepreneur and co-founder of The Knot, NYC's most successful early Internet company. She led The Knot from its early days as a wedding website to a multi-platform, multi-brand billion dollar company called XO Group.

Outside of XO, Carley has focused her expertise in branding, content, and community building to support female-founded start-ups and progressive causes.

Carley sits on the Board of Directors of fashion disruptor Rent The Runway, as well as non-profits Power of Two, Project Entrepreneur, and Brooklyn Community Foundation. She is a huge fan and advisor to female-led political community organizing start-ups Motivote and Sister District.

She lives in Brooklyn with her family and wants you to VOTE.  

Episode 37: Black Women, Higher Heights and Making the Sausage with Political Fundraiser and Activist Kimberly Peeler-Allen

Kimberly Peeler-Allen has been working at the intersection of race, gender and politics for almost 20 years, and she joins Mallory in the MILK studio. Kimberly is the Co-founder of Higher Heights, a national organization building the political power and leadership of Black women from the voting booth to elected office. A highly skilled political fundraiser and event planner, Kimberly ran her firm Peeler-Allen Consulting, LLC from 2003 to 2014, the only African American full-time fundraising consulting firm in New York State. 

Prior to that, she served as the deputy finance director for the 2002 gubernatorial campaign of H. Carl McCall. In 2014, Kimberly served as finance director for Letitia James’ successful bid to become Public Advocate of the City of New York and the first African American woman elected citywide in New York’s history. In 2018, Kimberly was selected as one of the Roddenberry Fellowship's 20 established and emerging activists to devote an entire year to projects that will make the U.S. more inclusive and equitable through their inaugural cohort. She runs Higher Heights with co-founder Glynda Carr, and runs her family with the help of her entrepreneur husband. Check out at www.higherheights.com for more information.