Who We Are
Sara & Misasha met over 25 years ago while walking out of a racial identity discussion at Harvard… and we have basically been best friends since then.
We have a lot in common, and these commonalities are the lived experiences that have taught us that there is more than one way to live in this world. Both of us are the oldest daughters in our families, and each one of us has a parent who is a Japanese immigrant. We have both lived abroad in Asia, we have both worked in finance, and we have both changed careers several times since our finance days. We both have two multi-ethnic kids, and we are both passionate about making the world better for said kids.
It's only fitting that we're doing this work when we met walking out of a discussion about identity while undergrads at Harvard - and not because the discussion was over, but because we didn't think it was asking the right questions.
That said, we are also very different – and those differences are what make us a better team with powerful perspectives.
Misasha is married to a Black man, Sara is married to a white Canadian man. Sara is raising two girls, while Misasha is raising two boys. Misasha is a lawyer and amateur historian with a strong sense of justice; Sara is a life coach and positive psychology aficionado and has a deep drive to pursue well-being for all.
With all of our similarities and differences, our hope is to get you thinking, and talking, about things that you might not have consciously thought about before.
What We Believe
We believe that the little things you do, along with the assumptions you make, have a ripple effect on those around you.
We believe that you get to choose whether you walk through life without purpose, or with intention and curiosity and reflection.
We believe that change is most effective when it happens within our own communities, and we do better when we know, support, and lean on those in our communities as well.
We believe that even if you don’t get it right the first time, it’s more important to grow up than to give up.
We believe that internal change leads to systemic change, and both are required to create a lasting difference.
About Us
A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Misasha Suzuki Graham has been passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal profession as well as in her communities for over twenty years. She is a facilitator, writer, and speaker regarding issues of racial and social justice, especially when it pertains to young people, the co-author of Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism, and the co-host of Dear White Women, a social justice podcast. Misasha, who is Japanese and white, is also the proud mom of two very active multi-ethnic tween boys and is always fighting for them first. They live in the Bay Area of California.
Sara Blanchard (she/her) loves to bridge the gap between well-being and social justice, advocating for those facing systemic challenges. After graduating from Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs, Sara became a portfolio careerist: she is a certified life coach, co-founder of Dear White Women (a social justice platform + podcast), moderator, consultant, and the author of two books. In addition to raising two multi-ethnic daughters in Colorado (Sara herself is Japanese and white), she and her white Canadian husband are constantly learning and unlearning as they navigate parenting neurodivergence. They live in Denver, Colorado.