DEI After 5 with Sacha

Hosted by The work doesn’t end at 5pm—and neither do we.

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Oct 2026

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About the show

DEI After 5 is where inclusion meets real life. Hosted by Sacha Thompson, this weekly podcast explores how current events shape our workplaces and communities—with practical insights and honest reflection. deiafter5.substack.com

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60 recent

October 27, 202620 min

When Work Becomes Harmful: Psychological Safety, Power, and Finding Your Way Forward

Workplace abuse is not always obvious, and it does not only affect women. Men can also experience bullying, intimidation, control, and harmful power dynamics at work—often without knowing where to turn for support. In this episode of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson talks with Deb Falzoy of In Workplace Abuse about psychological safety from the employee’s perspective and what happens when a workplace no longer feels safe. Together, they explore the difference between intent and impact, how power and hierarchy can enable harmful behavior, and why workplace bullying can slowly erode an employee’s confidence, sense of worth, and ability to speak up. This conversation also focuses on what employees can actually do when they are experiencing workplace abuse, including where to find support and why broader systems and policies matter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

October 20, 202617 min

Reclaiming Our Future: Indigenous Wisdom, Community, and a Culture of Care

What if the future we need is not something entirely new, but something we have to remember? In this Part 2 conversation, Sacha Thompson and Joy Donnell continue exploring the relationship between history, community, nature, and care. This time, they look more closely at what happens when people, land, and culture are treated as resources to be controlled rather than relationships to be honored. Together, they discuss Indigenous knowledge, colonization, environmental harm, community resilience, and the ways our well-being is tied to the earth and to one another. The conversation also examines what it means to center care in the systems and communities we build moving forward. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

October 13, 2026Episode 819 min

Sankofa in Action: How History, Community, and Storytelling Shape What Comes Next.

Progress rarely happens in a straight line. Sometimes moving forward requires looking back, reconnecting with what we have lost, and asking better questions about the future we want to build. In this episode of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson talks with Joy Donnell about narrative change, community, time, history, and our growing disconnection from the earth. Together, they explore how storytelling shapes what society sees as possible, why the Overton Window matters when thinking about social change, and what gardening can teach us about care, community, and resilience. The conversation also looks at Sankofa—the idea that we can move forward by reaching back for what is valuable—and how history can help us better understand moments of progress, resistance, and pushback. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

October 6, 2026Episode 718 min

Diversity Just Is: Why the Work Still Matters

Diversity does not need to be created. It already exists. In this Part 2 conversation following our episode on Black Fatigue, Sacha Thompson continues the discussion with Dr. Mary Frances Winters and Marisha Winters-Reese about what happens when organizations resist the very realities their employees are living. Together, they explore why diversity is an inherent part of the human experience, how power shapes resistance to workplace inclusion, and why the current backlash does not eliminate the need for this work. The conversation also expands beyond the U.S. to consider how workplace equity is understood globally and what leaders need to pay attention to as expectations continue to shift. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

September 29, 2026Episode 622 min

Black Fatigue Is More Than Exhaustion: How Racism Lives in the Body

Black fatigue is more than being tired. It is the cumulative, intergenerational toll of navigating racism over time—and that stress can affect the body, mind, relationships, and sense of belonging. In this episode of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson is joined by Dr. Mary Frances Winters and Marisha Winters-Reese for a powerful conversation about Black fatigue, the physiological effects of racism, and what healing can look like. Together, they unpack the concept of “weathering,” the chronic stress created by repeated exposure to racism and discrimination, and how those experiences can accumulate over time. They also explore the difference between belonging in community and belonging at work, why respect can mean different things to different people, and the practices that can help restore capacity and reclaim humanity. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

September 22, 2026Episode 517 min

Building a Poppy Farm: Creating Spaces Where Black Women Can Thrive

After last week’s conversation on Tall Poppy Syndrome and how high-achieving Black women and women of color are often cut down in the workplace, this episode asks a different question: what do we build instead? In this Part 2 episode of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson reflects on the move from radical self-reliance to intentional community. For solopreneurs, women entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and anyone trying to build something healthier than what they came from, the work is not just avoiding toxic environments—it is creating structures, relationships, and practices that support trust, collaboration, and psychological safety. This conversation explores how self-reliance can become a survival strategy, why delegation and collaboration matter, and how leaders can avoid recreating the same harmful dynamics they once had to survive. It is a call to build the “poppy farm”: a community where growth is nurtured, not threatened. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

September 15, 2026Episode 415 min

Cutting Down the Tall Poppy: Why Black Women Are Being Pushed Out of the Workplace

What happens when high-achieving Black women and women of color enter organizations, do the work, name the problems, and then become the problem? In this episode of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson welcomes back attorney Brittany Hale for a timely conversation about Tall Poppy Syndrome, workplace abuse, psychological safety, and the patterns that push talented women out of organizations. Together, they unpack why some workplaces reward mediocrity, resist accountability, and marginalize the very people who are identifying risks, gaps, and opportunities for change. This conversation also explores conflict fluency: the ability to navigate tension, name what is happening, and address issues before they become culture problems, legal risks, or talent losses. For many Black women and women of color, the challenge is not a lack of skill. It is the exhausting reality of being in permanent proving mode while trying to survive systems that benefit from their labor but resist their truth. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

September 8, 2026Episode 318 min

Lessons from Frozen 2: Racism, Power, and the Next Right Thing

Sometimes the lessons we need are hiding in plain sight—even in a children’s movie. In this episode of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson and Dr. Evelyn Carter continue their conversation on racism, power, and the systems that shape our everyday lives. Using Frozen 2 as an unexpected entry point, they unpack themes of settler colonialism, collective liberation, accountability, and what it means to “do the next right thing” when the path forward feels overwhelming. Together, they explore the difference between race and racism, why individual success cannot be separated from collective experience, and how modern fights against racism require consistency—not just statements, good intentions, or surface-level change. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

September 1, 202620 min

Was That Racist? Understanding Racial Bias, Power, and Everyday Harm

Racial bias is not always loud or obvious, but it still shapes how people are seen, treated, believed, and included. In this Season 13 opener of DEI After 5, Sacha Thompson talks with Dr. Evelyn Carter, social psychologist and author of Was That Racist?: How to Detect, Interrupt, and Unlearn Bias in Everyday Life , about how bias works, how it connects to power, and why historical context still matters. Together, they unpack the difference between racial bias and racism, how current events reveal deeper patterns of exclusion, and why understanding history helps us better understand the present. The conversation also touches on voting access, gender, policy, and the importance of asking better questions when something feels “off.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

August 25, 2026Episode 10 min

Season 13 Is Here: What Does DEI Look Like Now?

DEI After 5 is back for Season 13 —and this season will look a little different. We’re revisiting timely conversations from past seasons, bringing in new guests, and exploring what the future of DEI, inclusion, workplace culture, and psychological safety looks like in today’s anti-DEI climate. Tune in as we ask what’s changing, what still matters, and where we go from here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deiafter5.substack.com/subscribe

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