In what author C. Nicole Mason calls an "insider’s story," Born Bright follows the journey of her own childhood in Los Angeles—an improbable path from episodic homelessness, hunger, and living in poverty—to becoming a leading voice on public policies impacting women and communities of color and low-income families. With grace, insight, and first-hand experience, Mason sheds light on the systematic structures that render an escape from poverty nearly impossible. Joined by Ms. Magazine’s Education Director and Editor Karon Jolna, they will discuss a range of issues from poverty to the future of feminism and the ability of storytelling to accelerate social and political change.
C. Nicole Mason, Ph.D., is the author of Born Bright: A Young Girl’s Journey from Nothing to Something in America (St. Martin’s Press) and heads up CR2PI at the New York Women’s Foundation. Her commentary and writing have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Politico, The Nation, The Progressive, Spotlight on Poverty, USA Today, Marie Claire Magazine, Ms. magazine, Essence Magazine, The Washington Post and on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and NBC, among other outlets.
Karon Jolna, Ph.D. is education director and editor at Ms. magazine. During her tenure, she has expanded the use of Ms. as a textbook in hundreds of universities in the U.S. and Canada, driving growth and revenue to sustain the magazine for the next generation. She is co-editor of Gender, Race and Class: From the Pages of Ms. magazine, 1972-present. Dr. Jolna served as a research scholar at the UCLA Center for the Study of Women from 2004-2015. At UCLA, she developed and taught one of the first women and leadership courses featuring inspiring women leaders from a broad range of fields.
