Reimagining Leadership and Finding Our Role in The Movement with Beca Velázquez-Publes

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“I want everyone to understand that they’re a leader. Can’t nobody tell you nothing else. You’re a leader. You’re a leader in your family. You’re a leader in your space. Embody that. Learn how to be your most leader in line with your values.

The closer you get to your values and alignment there, the better you will feel as a human being. I want people to know that. There is not one way to do  resistance work and to do liberation work.

There are multiple ways in the ecosystem, everyone can have a role. Do not think that because you are not out here in the streets marching, that you are not part of the movement.

Find your role in the movement. Find what makes you feel good in how you can be best of service, but that takes you getting to know yourself and testing out some things, right? We’re always learning. We’re never making mistakes. You’re learning, and we want to learn at a rapid speed.

And then I think, your leadership doesn’t have to be lonely.”

–Beca Velázquez-Publes

Beca Velázquez-Publes, Founder, Coach & Consultant at The Liberated Leader, opens up about the lessons she learned early on from her parents that made working for social justice a part of her DNA. She talks about the evolving nature of purpose and how her work with the Urban Core Collective solidified her social justice journey, allowing her to build a space that resisted norms in the nonprofit space and push collective growth edges to test new ways of being for work and in community.  

Beca also talks about the significance of operationalizing equity and creating inclusive and human-centered organizational structures, the ongoing process of unlearning internalized oppression, and invites listeners to embrace their own leadership among the many ways to contribute and find community in the work for Liberation.

Meet Beca

Beca Velázquez-Publes walks alongside and coaches organizations, private and public sector institutions, systems solopreneurs and leaders on their diversity, racial equity and inclusion journeys. Her 25 years as a nonprofit leader in workforce development, healthcare, social justice, and racial equity provide her the expertise to strategically address systemic inequities in order to advance racial equity.

Her life’s calling is to be a thought partner and change agent in organizations as they transform their work by leading with a racial equity lens and reimagining their workplaces. She believes that by centering our humanity, we can transform the places we work into equitable ecosystems for change. Beca is the Founder, Coach & Consultant at The Liberated Leader.

More from Beca

This has been a lifelong journey for me. My parents were always sure to point out the injustices to me. I was thoughtful as a child and often questioned so much of what I saw around me. Shit just didn’t add up in my little mind, so I asked about it. I watched my parents as they volunteered their time and money to support our family & community. They taught me some very valuable lessons just by demonstrating by their actions what being a good human and community member means.

After college, I taught middle school and then immediately left education and went into the non-profit sector. I have always had a calling to serve. Serve my family, friends, and community. I often say this was in my DNA. I did not choose this life. It chose me. I don’t know how to be any other way, and believe me, I have tried.

I hope they (listeners) take away the idea that we are all leaders and as such we have the ability to disrupt any system we are navigating if we learn to lead.

Name Drops, References, and Resources from Beca

Her team at Urban Core Collective (UCC), partners at National Equity Project, Adrienne Maree Brown and Emergent Strategy, Nadia Brigham, and anyone she has been able to have a discourse with and be able to remain in conversation and relationship.

Connect with Beca

You can connect with Beca on Linkedin, and on her website: The Liberated Leader.

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Social Justice Origin Stories is produced, edited, and hosted by Relando Thompkins-Jones