Season 2: Episode 10 - Taking Off the Masks We Wear with Ashanti Branch

The Learning Future Podcast with Louka Parry

What masks do you wear in the world? How can we all step into vulnerability and self-love to create safer, kinder communities as men?

In today's episode, Louka speaks with Ashanti Branch, an inspiring educator, advocate and social entrepreneur raised by a single mother on welfare in Oakland. After studying engineering at California Polytechnic, Ashanti found his passion for teaching while tutoring struggling students. In 2004, as a first-year teacher, Ashanti started The Ever Forward Club to provide a support group for African American and Latino males who were not achieving the level of their potential. The Ever Forward Club has since helped 100% of its members graduate high school. Ashanti is on a mission to change how students interact with their education and the way schools interact with students.

After being featured in The Mask You Live In documentary, a Fellowship at the Stanford d.school, Campaigns for Black Male Achievement, and The Gratitude Network, Ashanti has launched the #MillionMaskMovement. The #MillionMaskMovement connects people worldwide in a self-reflective experience that helps people visualise and realise, "I am not alone."