Meet Melissa Smith | Racial Equity/Healing Consultant – Community Builder and Culture Shifter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Melissa Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Melissa, what do you attribute your success to? What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?

I believe the most important factor behind the success of Authentically Grounded is our ability to help people bring awareness to and accept their whole selves as a daily discipline. We support individuals and organizations to examine their role in systemic oppression and learn how to dismantle systemic oppression in their circles of control and influence. We do not pad the comfort of the dominant norm, nor do we seek to center voices who have consistently held the power and privilege in our society. Instead, we gracefully agitate and supportively interrogate one’s thoughts, ideas, and beliefs to open the eyes of awareness for those who are unconsciously creating spaces of exclusion or oppression.

We seek to Influence authentic change and contribute to individual well-being and organizational effectiveness by cultivating psychologically safe spaces to bring conscious awareness to our thoughts and beliefs. We help people to participate as their full selves in the world, safely and gain awareness of the incongruences between what we say out loud to the world and what we are whispering deep down to ourselves.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My passion keeps me motivated both personally and professionally.  I am passionate about uprooting and dismantling the beliefs, practices, and policies that directly or inadvertently reinforce or reproduce inequities. I specialize in applying the study of human behavior to influence authentic change contributing to individual well-being and organizational effectiveness.

I am currently the Lead Instructional Coach for Equitable Social and Emotional Learning at the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. I am also a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Learning Facilitator at UVA and provide engaging training to internal teams focused on inclusive skill development and equitable workplace culture.

I am a Co-Founder of Edjacent Design Collaborative.  As Edjacent’s Inclusion, Belonging, and Culture Consultant, I cultivate organizational synergy by facilitating cultural moments that promote trust, collaboration, and belonging.  I also design live and on-demand eLearning experiences for adult learners that promote best practices to create healthy and inclusive environments.

My career started as an educator for Roanoke City Public Schools in Roanoke, Virginia, and Virginia Beach City Public Schools in Virginia Beach Virginia.  I served as a teacher, literacy coach, mentor, curriculum and learning designer, and professional learning facilitator.

With each endeavor, I work to empower participants to reach beyond their comfort zones to reimage and redesign systems for equity, inclusion and belonging. My approach to coaching and leadership development helps individuals notice, name, and disrupt systemic barriers within themselves and their organizations.

My three truths:

1. This work is best-done #OUTLOUD: learning in public, holding ourselves and each other accountable, trying new approaches, and working through complex challenges together.

2. Everyone is worthy of love and belonging simply because they exist.

3. Make the silence audible and unmask the blindspots

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s so much to do in Virginia Beach! We would enjoy some outdoor activities such as hiking and biking through various trails in First Landing State Park or False Cape State Park. We would also take a kayak or dolphin watching exploration to explore the scenic beauty of Virginia Beach.

I am a brunch and bottomless mimosa type of gal! So we would have plenty of places to go to get our fill such as Doc Taylor’s, Bay Local, The Bee & The Biscuit, or Citrus.

If near the oceanfront area, we could take a walk to enjoy the cultural arts enclave of the Vibe District where the mission is to “Promote, support, connect, and inspire the arts and creative industries to boost our local economy, grow jobs, and enhance our quality of life.”

The day may end with a wine tasting and a yummy dinner at Cooper’s Hawk or a ride to Norfolk to visit Town Point Park for an evening festival.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to Minda Harts. I knew racial trauma had been a long-standing narrative in my life; however, her book The Memo, helped me put words to my pain. It helped me feel connected to other Black women who also experienced internalized oppression and suffered from mental illness at the hands of workplace trauma. When her 2nd book, Right Within, was published I was in the process of understanding the pain and working toward healing. I was reading more, listening more, and facilitating my book clubs and study groups. Minda’s books truly helped me understand what I was going through.

Website: www.authentically-grounded.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authentically_grounded/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-smith-authenticallygrounded/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Meli_Smith3

Other: www.edjacent.org