Your Accent Is Your Superpower | What My Mother Taught Me About Identity

Season #3 May 08, 2026

n this special encore presentation of Building Leadership Community Podcast, Coach Dora Mendez welcomes back activist, advocate, and author Zenaida Mendez for a deeply personal conversation about migration, leadership, identity, and community.

Zenaida reflects on arriving in New York as a teenager, the political realities that shaped her family’s migration journey, and the years she spent organizing for representation, environmental justice, and equity in communities across New York City.

Together, Dora and Zenaida explore the emotional realities behind diaspora experiences: the love, heartbreak, resilience, and responsibility that shape immigrant families and future generations of leaders.

Buy Zenaida's Book: Amazon https://bit.ly/4nhpIPS

This episode is for:

First-generation professionals
Immigrant leaders and families
Professionals of color navigating leadership spaces
Community advocates and organizers
Anyone seeking leadership rooted in humanity, culture, and belonging

Key Themes

Migration and identity
Leadership through community organizing
Representation and civic engagement
Intergenerational wisdom
Language, confidence, and belonging
Preserving family and community stories

🔴 TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Mother’s Day Encore Introduction
01:05 The Meaning Behind the Memoir
04:40 Why Zenaida Chose to Share Her Story
06:56 Arriving in New York at Fourteen
08:30 Politics, Migration, and Identity
10:54 Dominican Leadership and Representation
12:39 Organizing Washington Heights Communities
14:15 Environmental Justice Advocacy
16:13 Encouraging the Next Generation
17:24 The Meaning of “Love and Heartbreak” in the Diaspora
20:37 Leadership Through Family and Community
21:51 Language, Education, and Opportunity
23:01 “Your Accent Is Your Superpower”
24:13 Why Every Story Deserves to Be Told
25:15 Closing Reflections

🎧 Subscribe, follow, and share this episode with someone navigating leadership, belonging, or change.

Episode Transcript

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Welcome back, amazing leaders,

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and welcome to this very special encore
presentation

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of the Building Leadership
Community Podcast.

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I'm your host, Coach Dora Mendez.

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Today we celebrate Mother's Day.

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We honor a leader
whose impact continues to cross borders.

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My mother,
the soul of this podcast, Zenaida Mendez.

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She has just returned

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from the International Book Festival
in Bogota, Colombia.

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A historic moment.

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She shared readings
and was featured by her publisher,

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Pan House, for her powerful new memoir

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‘Amor y desamor de la diáspora:

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Una vida de activismo, migración
y liderazgo

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en Estados Unidos’ And for my English
speaking listeners, stay with us, please.

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The English translation is coming
soon of her book ‘Love

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and Heartbreak from the Diaspora:
A Life of Activism,

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Migration, and Leadership
in the United States’.

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This memoir is more
than a collection of stories.

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It is a call to rise unapologetically,

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a blueprint for a life rooted in movement.

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My mother's journey across
activism, migration,

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and leadership reflects
everything we stand for on this show.

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She has joined us
for every season premiere.

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She has joined us
for every premiere of this podcast.

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She's been our first guest

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to kick off every season
because her voice is so essential.

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It transforms

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it connects, it bridges where we've been
and where we are going as a community.

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And seeing her work honored
on the international stage in Bogota

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reminds us of something powerful
when we lead with truth.

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Our stories have no limit.

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I'm re-sharing this conversation today
because it's message is timeless.

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It speaks of resilience.

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Whether you are navigating
your own migration story

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or leading transformation
within your organization.

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Zenaida’s wisdom offers
three things a renewed sense of purpose.

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The courage to stand in your truth
even when things feel heavy.

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A reminder that your presence and your
leadership are vital to the collective.

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And do us a favor.

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Don't forget to hit like,
share and subscribe.

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Help us out with that YouTube algorithm.

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And if you're listening, don't
forget to like and follow.

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Share this episode with your mom,
with your daughter,

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with someone who really needs to hear it
today.

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This Mother's Day
episode is your invitation

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to rise boldly, to lead unapologetically,
and to trust

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that systemic change begins
with the individual.

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So settle in, take a breath,
and get ready to learn from the activist,

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the author, and the leader I most admire.

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Roll credits.

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Hello and welcome to Building Leadership
Community Podcast.

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I'm your host, Dora Mendez.

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I am the founder and CEO of Coach
Dora LLC.

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Our guests will be entrepreneurs,
small business owners,

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and community leaders
that drive social impact.

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It can be lonely at the top,

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but it doesn't have to be.

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Hi, mom. Hi.

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How are you today?

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I am great.

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I’m just laughing, because its like: Wow!

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Thank you so much for that introduction.

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Oh my God. Whoosh!

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Yeah.

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So you see, you see here, right above me.

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There's your book.

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It's it's
my new set for season three. Yay!

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There's the book. You can get it on
Amazon.

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We'll talk a little bit
more about that later.

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Yes. It's beautiful.

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So. So, mom, you know, you

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this is your third time on the show, so
we you've always launched our premieres.

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The first season. Season.

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You have such a long,

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you know,

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history of advocacy and leadership.

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And season one,
we talked about a lot of your,

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you know, back in the days
your organizing and community

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organizing
and season two, you really shared,

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advice to the next generation.

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And in this season.

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Let's talk about your book and how,

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leadership is really at the core,

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like, sort of sharing your inspiration,
your immigration story.

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So can you tell our listeners and viewers,

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why you decided to tell us your story now?

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Well, I been,

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actually solo
writing for the last ten years.

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In some of my writing

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have been publishing other books and,

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such as the one you may get on the,

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history, or you may get, Dominican women
in the United State.

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The American Latino compile was 12,
was a chapter in the book,

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and I kept a diary since the 80s.

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So I have bus system busses, a log book.

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We story it.

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My plan actually was to,

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have the book out during the pandemic
because I got a lot

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and things happen and it was delayed.

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Finally.

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And also the deciding
because I wrote over 600 pages.

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So now I have enough for three books.

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So this is the first of three.

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This book is more about my memoir,
I my autobiography

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since the time that I leave
the Dominican Republic to the time

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that I left there
and arrived in the United States in 1969.

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My trajectory here.

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The next one is going to be
an analysis of politics,

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not only the United States,
but also Latin America,

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since we live in very different time
in 2025, going to 26.

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So it's going to be every single day
I write something new

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because something scandalous is going on.

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And that one in the United States,
but also in the world. Yes.

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So can we I love to
we we talk about leadership here.

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We usually ask the same three questions,
but this is a unique episode.

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So we usually ask folks
to tell us about their unique story.

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We know a lot about your unique story,

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but I would love for you to tell us
about your immigration story.

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We really haven't heard heard about that.

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And then if you can share
how that informed your leadership.

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Well,

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the reason
my parents came to the United State,

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I always said, was very blessed
that I came

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with my parents
because, as you know, many times

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the mother comes first or the father comes
first and request the rest of the family

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and that's why we have so much trauma
in our communities,

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not only in the Latino community,
but the world.

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So so I thought

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so when I came here in 1969
I was 14 years old.

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I was in the 8th grade.

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I went to P.S.

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61 in Corona, Queens,
and I went to Flushing High School.

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And it's, you know, to tell you the truth,
I didn’t

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know that we were going to stay.

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We came during the summertime in July.

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So I thought that we were here on vacation
because we really vacationed

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even though my parents worked from Monday
to Friday, Saturday

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and Sunday, every Saturday and Sunday
we have a place to go.

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We went to Philadelphia,
we went to the Statue of Liberty.

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We went to Washington, D.C.

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every week.

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We went to the Bear Mountain,
I don't know how many times.

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And so every week my
my father already had a place to go.

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Thank you for sharing

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that that you arrived here and you,

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your family immediately.

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Became immersed in the culture
and taking advantage

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of the culture of New York City.

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How about how did how did,

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being an immigrant

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coming here as a refugee inform
your leadership?

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Well, I don't consider myself
a refugee, but, okay.

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Well, so, so, So, you know that is so.

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Clarify that share. Yeah.

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Well, clarify that. Yes.

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Because you did.

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You did come as under asylum, correct?

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More or less. Yes.

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Because my father was very involved
in 1965.

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We had,

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what we call a constitutional revolution
in Dominican Republic.

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My father was very involved.

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Therefore, he he lost his job to the,
the president or that

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or that at that time, so many family
had to leave Dominican Republic.

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We had 40,000 U.S.

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soldiers invade the Dominican Republic.

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Therefore

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but, so we came here and like I said,

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I had gone to Puerto Rico also before
because my mother was a teacher.

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So every year, instead of buying is,
you know, what she did

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if we got good grades, see the buy
some kind of jewelry, you know, like this

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Dominican earrings you know, or

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she would take us on a visit, a trip.

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So we usually went to Puerto Rico.

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My mother went several times
to Puerto Rico.

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Can you talk about your leadership, Mom?

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Your,
The book is so much talks a lot about.

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I always like politics.

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I always like to know what's going on.

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And when we came here,
my father already was very aware

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about John Lord and Angela Davis,
and he knew about Martin Luther King.

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And you know, what happened to Malcolm X
and Shirley Chisholm,

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the first African-American woman
in Congress was also running night, 1972.

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She ran for
for president of the United States,

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so I, I you know, I was very much into
what was going on in politics.

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Mom, thanks for sharing that.

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You know that you're always into politics.

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We were raised in a very civic minded
household,

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and in the book
you have like a specific chapter about,

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Dominican leadership.

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In the United States.

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When the English version comes out,

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I hope it's still chapter four, but right
as of right now, it's chapter four.

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So can you, talk about that?

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Because leadership is so important
and, and, and inspiring

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the next generation of leaders
and especially immigrant leaders,

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I think our audience
would really appreciate

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hearing that perspective from,
from from you.

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Wonderful, wonderful.

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Of course.

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Well, basically,
you know, when I was involved very much

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with my community board
as many people might know my issue.

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They borrow a New York City is divided
within 12 Community Boards.

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That's community board.

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Basically, they see how the city

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is going to manage that area,
that community,

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you know, the garbage, the priority,
the park and education.

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So I was very involved.

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And then when David Dinkins
became Manhattan Borough President,

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I was

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recommend to work with him
because I was basically the only African,

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you know, Latina in community board
4, very active.

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I knew what was going on in Hell's
Kitchen, And, after negotiation,

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I accepted job and I loved it.

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I mean, I was the liaison
to this community

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from the Manhattan Borough President’s
office.

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And later on,
they asked me to represent East Harlem,

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which basically was to the many Puerto
Rican community in Washington

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Heights with the Dominican community
Boards 11 and 12.

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But she was fantastic.

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What happened, one or then in

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1989,
David Dinkins decided to run for mayor

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when he decided to will run for mayor,
I was very involved in the campaign.

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As a Latina, as a Dominican, we organized

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the Dominican community
Dominica for David Dinkins.

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I was very involved,
that we also wanted to make sure

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that the new district
that was going through redraft in 1990

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would have, in mind the large
Dominican community in Washington Heights.

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And therefore.

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Just for context
and so sort of gerrymandering, the voting,

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the voters in Manhattan and so you were
very integral in organizing,

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representation for

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the Dominican community in Washington
Heights, correct?

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Definitely, definitely.

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We were really having a situation
with the school district,

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not enough bilingual teachers
in other situations.

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We were having a situation
with the hospital,

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and we needed a leader
that really understood our community

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as there were more and more Dominicans
arriving to New York City.

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Therefore, we were able
to, draft a district

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that five Dominicans
ran for that position.

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And Guillermo Linares
was the first one elected

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to represent us in the city council.

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Which is was fantastic.

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She was there, for 12 years,
representing us, very well representation.

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And more of us became more involved.

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As you know,
David Dinkins was very amenable

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to the community because he also lived
in Washington Heights.

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And he knew our community,
you know, as a leader.

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And in, you know, I continue

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when he was not,

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reelected as Mayor,
then I went to work with West Harlem

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Environmental Action,
working for Environmental justice,

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because I don't know if if many people
know basically most of the places

00;14;32;17 - 00;14;38;28

where there is a, you know,
like where the busses are staggered,

00;14;39;01 - 00;14;42;11

and also the
garbage are usually communities of color.

00;14;42;14 - 00;14;49;10

So, a group of African-American leaders,
Peggy Shepherd, and others

00;14;49;13 - 00;14;53;26

noticed a very by order
coming out of a processing plant.

00;14;53;29 - 00;14;55;22

They did the the highway.

00;14;55;22 - 00;14;58;12

A sewage it was a sewage processing plant.

00;14;58;12 - 00;14;59;18

Exactly.

00;14;59;18 - 00;15;03;10

And, and they sued the they sued the city.

00;15;03;13 - 00;15;06;17

And when David Dinkins became the mayor,
they settled down.

00;15;06;17 - 00;15;10;09

So I was very involved in that process
also.

00;15;10;12 - 00;15;15;02

I was, you know, I became member
of that board of directors then. I

00;15;15;05 - 00;15;17;15

worked with their staff.

00;15;17;15 - 00;15;20;23

And it was wonderful
because I learned a lot about also

00;15;21;00 - 00;15;26;04

why our community has more asthma
and more or respiratory illnesses.

00;15;26;05 - 00;15;31;28

And it's because all the fuel from the
truck driving, all the cars, the garbage.

00;15;32;01 - 00;15;35;08

So is is it was really

00;15;35;11 - 00;15;38;10

there were
people really got on board organizing.

00;15;38;10 - 00;15;40;04

We organized door by door.

00;15;40;04 - 00;15;43;14

We would go into a building,
knock on each of the doors,

00;15;43;14 - 00;15;47;10

just like what happened
nowm, a few weeks ago in New York City.

00;15;47;13 - 00;15;50;23

What do you mean, just what happened
now, a few weeks ago in New York City?

00;15;50;23 - 00;15;56;13

Well, the mayor elect, Zohran Mamdani,
he did the same thing door by door.

00;15;56;16 - 00;15;57;21

Over a million.

00;15;57;21 - 00;16;00;05

They they knocked over 3 million door.

00;16;00;05 - 00;16;04;28

Had he had almost a million volunteer,
you know. Ten.

00;16;05;01 - 00;16;07;00

And you were one of them?

00;16;07;00 - 00;16;09;13

Yes, definitely. Definitely.

00;16;09;13 - 00;16;13;00

So, Mom, can you can you share why

00;16;13;00 - 00;16;16;20

your book is so important now?

00;16;16;23 - 00;16;18;09

Well, I think it's critical

00;16;18;09 - 00;16;22;10

that the new generation
know what we've done in the past

00;16;22;13 - 00;16;26;01

and how they can look forward
to a beautiful future.

00;16;26;04 - 00;16;29;16

Every, every, group

00;16;29;19 - 00;16;32;19

and every, epocha,

00;16;32;26 - 00;16;36;20

there have been some struggles, you know,

00;16;36;23 - 00;16;38;01

we can not give up.

00;16;38;01 - 00;16;39;12

I think that is important.

00;16;39;12 - 00;16;42;12

The more the new generation
they are, more of the new generation

00;16;42;13 - 00;16;47;12

that are going to college, getting degrees
getting PHDs, which is important

00;16;47;19 - 00;16;50;29

because we need more doctors,
more lawyers, engineers.

00;16;50;29 - 00;16;53;08

We need more of us everywhere.

00;16;53;08 - 00;16;54;24

We need people who are,

00;16;54;24 - 00;16;59;24

you know, in charge of the hospital,
in charge of the courts.

00;16;59;27 - 00;17;02;06

So we still have a lot of work to do.

00;17;02;06 - 00;17;07;05

So this is to encourage them
not to, not to have a heartbreak.

00;17;07;05 - 00;17;11;03

The book is called ‘Love
and Heartbreak of the Diaspora’.

00;17;11;06 - 00;17;12;13

Its justto, you know.

00;17;12;13 - 00;17;17;04

We have a lot of heartbreak,
but we also regain our confidence

00;17;17;11 - 00;17;20;11

when we, know that it can be done.

00;17;20;18 - 00;17;23;04

It can be done. We can not give up.

00;17;23;04 - 00;17;26;04

And so when you say we,

00;17;26;11 - 00;17;30;13

You mean women,
people of color, immigrants.

00;17;30;16 - 00;17;31;24

Definitely.

00;17;31;24 - 00;17;32;15

Definitely.

00;17;32;15 - 00;17;36;01

And you see, a lot has to do.

00;17;36;04 - 00;17;41;05

And and it's important for people
to understand that,

00;17;41;08 - 00;17;44;24

we, the United States,

00;17;44;27 - 00;17;48;02

you know, a very colonial mindset
or Latin America.

00;17;48;05 - 00;17;51;05

And it's important
that our children understand

00;17;51;11 - 00;17;54;26

that many of us came here
not because we “oh, I'm going to New York,

00;17;54;26 - 00;17;58;04

I'm going to United States.”
We were forced to be here.

00;17;58;07 - 00;18;00;18

I give you an example,

00;18;00;18 - 00;18;05;13

the United States, for 12 years
there was a war in El Salvador.

00;18;05;16 - 00;18;07;16

In all, there were thousands and thousands

00;18;07;16 - 00;18;09;18

El Salvadorian
that went to Washington, DC.

00;18;09;18 - 00;18;14;08

If you go to Washington DC, most of
the Latinos in DC are from El Salvador

00;18;14;11 - 00;18;18;15

because of the United States
intruding in El Salvador.

00;18;18;18 - 00;18;22;02

And the same thing happened with Vietnam.

00;18;22;05 - 00;18;25;03

Most of the soldiers that went to Vietnam
did not speak English.

00;18;25;03 - 00;18;28;10

So all those translators,
once the war stopped,

00;18;28;10 - 00;18;29;18

they had to bring them here, otherwise

00;18;29;18 - 00;18;32;09

they were going to be killed
by other all the other,

00;18;32;09 - 00;18;35;09

you know, all the Vietnamese
because they feel that they were traitors.

00;18;35;10 - 00;18;36;05

But let's talk.

00;18;36;05 - 00;18;40;06

Let's focus on you, Mami.

00;18;40;09 - 00;18;41;18

Okay?

00;18;41;18 - 00;18;44;23

Well this is history, its important.

00;18;44;23 - 00;18;49;14

I love that you talked about the title
and what it means.

00;18;49;17 - 00;18;52;21

So let's let's go back

00;18;52;24 - 00;18;56;03

to what's
the what's the love and the heartbreak.

00;18;56;06 - 00;18;59;22

Well, ‘Love
and Heartbreak of the Diaspora’ basically,

00;18;59;22 - 00;19;04;29

is that we, you know,
we are in love with our country also.

00;19;04;29 - 00;19;05;22

We have to leave.

00;19;05;22 - 00;19;08;19

That's a heartbreak.
We feel, you know. Oh, wow.

00;19;08;19 - 00;19;12;22

After living in Paradise
all year with summertime.

00;19;12;29 - 00;19;18;08

Then we have to come here, winter
with ten degree weather and a lot of snow.

00;19;18;11 - 00;19;21;16

And things happened, politically,
and also.

00;19;21;16 - 00;19;22;12

And family.

00;19;22;12 - 00;19;24;19

You have to separate from your family.

00;19;24;19 - 00;19;27;02

All that is a heartbreak. Well,
at the same time.

00;19;27;02 - 00;19;29;22

Like like I said,
since I came with my parents

00;19;29;22 - 00;19;34;04

and I have family here so I was
you know I was rejoiced.

00;19;34;04 - 00;19;38;00

I was really happy because I was with
my parents

00;19;38;03 - 00;19;41;16

was a lot of people
don't have that, you know, a luxury.

00;19;41;22 - 00;19;44;04

You know, they come one by one.

00;19;44;04 - 00;19;48;25

And, basically I talk about Love
and Heartbreak of the Diaspora

00;19;48;28 - 00;19;53;05

because we go up and down, you know,
we might have a year or two that is great.

00;19;53;05 - 00;19;57;25

And something happened
politically and also in our family.

00;19;57;28 - 00;20;03;26

So, you also have a love and heartbreak,

00;20;03;29 - 00;20;06;16

with your different, identities,

00;20;06;16 - 00;20;11;20

intersections of your identities
as an Afro-Latina,

00;20;11;23 - 00;20;14;07

and racial trauma,

00;20;14;07 - 00;20;17;25

and culture shock, which you discuss

00;20;17;25 - 00;20;20;25

beautifully in the book.

00;20;20;27 - 00;20;23;03

Is there any,

00;20;23;03 - 00;20;27;07

final words that you'd like to share
with our audience?

00;20;27;10 - 00;20;29;14

Anything that,

00;20;29;14 - 00;20;34;09

really speaks to,

00;20;34;12 - 00;20;37;08

leadership and building community?

00;20;37;08 - 00;20;38;02

Definitely.

00;20;38;02 - 00;20;41;25

I feel that it is critical
for us to get involved,

00;20;41;28 - 00;20;44;16

to take a handle on community.

00;20;44;16 - 00;20;47;07

When I say community, you don't
have to go out there and protest.

00;20;47;07 - 00;20;48;25

You can just do family.

00;20;48;25 - 00;20;52;02

Like every opportunity
that I get together with you

00;20;52;02 - 00;20;55;09

and in our family,
we talk about what's going on.

00;20;55;12 - 00;21;00;02

It can be Thanksgiving, it can be New
Year, it can be, you know, Christmas Eve.

00;21;00;05 - 00;21;00;14

Yeah.

00;21;00;14 - 00;21;06;03

But most people, most families
avoid talking about politics.

00;21;06;06 - 00;21;08;26

Well, you know what's also
what's beautiful.

00;21;08;26 - 00;21;12;12

Every year in the Latino community,
at least, there is a song,

00;21;12;15 - 00;21;17;26

a new singer or a new song that impacts
the political situation of the,

00;21;17;29 - 00;21;22;05

you know, even those Marengue
from Milly Quezada and Johnny Ventura

00;21;22;08 - 00;21;24;16

and El Gran Combo with the Salsa.

00;21;24;16 - 00;21;27;25

There is a message on those songs.

00;21;27;28 - 00;21;32;29

So it's so even though we are having fun
and maybe, you know, sharing family,

00;21;33;02 - 00;21;35;27

when we listen to the song,
we say, wow, look

00;21;35;27 - 00;21;38;27

what's going on, listen to the lyrics,
what are they saying?

00;21;39;04 - 00;21;41;24

And that's, you know,
so that's important that

00;21;41;24 - 00;21;44;25

every situation
we take it to raise consciousness.

00;21;44;25 - 00;21;46;19

Let's,

00;21;46;19 - 00;21;49;10

talk again about,

00;21;49;10 - 00;21;51;16

how to how to best get involved.

00;21;51;16 - 00;21;55;24

I love you did a beautiful talk
about learning English,

00;21;55;24 - 00;22;00;15

how important it is to learn English,
and how much we love

00;22;00;18 - 00;22;03;14

our language.

00;22;03;14 - 00;22;07;22

But, in order to really get ahead

00;22;07;25 - 00;22;11;00

here in the United States,

00;22;11;03 - 00;22;15;11

your your your advice is to learn English
right away.

00;22;15;14 - 00;22;19;03

Is that correct? Yes.

00;22;19;06 - 00;22;21;06

Well, then English is very important.

00;22;21;06 - 00;22;23;25

I used to go out every Saturday.

00;22;23;25 - 00;22;27;22

You know, I finished high school,
I got married, but I continued, just

00;22;27;24 - 00;22;34;02

to take English lessons at Colombia
University on Saturday and then

00;22;34;05 - 00;22;37;05

someone from

00;22;37;09 - 00;22;40;09

Brooklyn Community College
is going to talk to us, say, listen,

00;22;40;16 - 00;22;44;04

we have the opportunity
for a bilingual program

00;22;44;07 - 00;22;48;19

that college and I went back to school
because of Dr.

00;22;48;19 - 00;22;53;03

Diego Colon, who came and talked to us
and I said, you know what?

00;22;53;06 - 00;22;55;01

I'm going back to school.

00;22;55;01 - 00;22;57;02

And it changed your life.

00;22;57;02 - 00;22;59;09

Yeah, it is. It let critical.

00;22;59;09 - 00;23;01;03

And does it matter if you have an accent?

00;23;01;03 - 00;23;04;06

You know, I tell people, I say, oh,
you have a very heavy asking the

00;23;04;06 - 00;23;06;17

of course,
I was not born in the United States.

00;23;06;17 - 00;23;08;03

It's not my main language.

00;23;08;03 - 00;23;10;08

It's your superpower.

00;23;10;08 - 00;23;11;22

It's my superpower.

00;23;11;22 - 00;23;14;18

Yes. My daughter. Yes. Is your superpower.

00;23;14;18 - 00;23;19;08

I always, I tell my own students,
sometimes they get embarrassed by their

00;23;19;08 - 00;23;25;06

someone comments on their accent,
and I always remind them that you,

00;23;25;09 - 00;23;27;12

that you can do it twice.

00;23;27;12 - 00;23;31;29

You're two times smarter
than the person who speaks one language.

00;23;32;02 - 00;23;35;28

And when people question your abilities
because you have an accent,

00;23;35;28 - 00;23;39;03

I would ask them,
what other language do you speak?

00;23;39;06 - 00;23;40;22

I usually do.

00;23;40;22 - 00;23;44;16

And could you go to college
in a different country and another

00;23;44;16 - 00;23;45;28

and not your native tongue,

00;23;45;28 - 00;23;49;03

and get a college degree
and get a master's degree like you did?

00;23;49;06 - 00;23;52;12

And, and, most monolingual people can't.

00;23;52;12 - 00;23;55;08

So the fact that,

00;23;55;08 - 00;23;59;25

I always say bilingualism,
multi multilingualism is a superpower,

00;23;59;25 - 00;24;02;00

it really is.

00;24;02;00 - 00;24;05;24

So, mom, I want to thank you so much.

00;24;05;27 - 00;24;08;24

Do you want to share with, our,

00;24;08;24 - 00;24;12;08

our listeners and our viewers
how they can get a copy of your book?

00;24;12;11 - 00;24;13;05

Oh, definitely.

00;24;13;05 - 00;24;16;05

They can get a copy on Amazon.

00;24;16;09 - 00;24;16;29

Definitely.

00;24;16;29 - 00;24;21;08

You just put my name, Zenaida Mendez,
or Amor y desamor de la diáspora.

00;24;21;11 - 00;24;24;11

It would be coming in English
in a few weeks.

00;24;24;13 - 00;24;25;29

And its going to be great.

00;24;25;29 - 00;24;26;21

You're going to see,

00;24;26;21 - 00;24;31;00

you know, there are pictures you
some of the things that I’ve done.

00;24;31;00 - 00;24;34;00

Like I said,
I want to inspire the new generation.

00;24;34;00 - 00;24;38;29

And to the people from my generation,
everyone to write their story.

00;24;38;29 - 00;24;43;09

Everyone has a story to tell, which is
very important for the next generation

00;24;43;09 - 00;24;48;05

to know where we from, what we going to do
know about our grandparents

00;24;48;05 - 00;24;53;29

great grandparents, where they were born,
or that is very important to share.

00;24;54;02 - 00;24;55;03

Thank you, Mom.

00;24;55;03 - 00;24;56;09

Thank you so much.

00;24;56;09 - 00;24;58;28

Can you hold on there?

00;24;58;28 - 00;25;03;21

While we, say our final,

00;25;03;24 - 00;25;06;23

goodbyes to our audience.

00;25;06;23 - 00;25;09;01

Thank you so much for being here.

00;25;09;01 - 00;25;10;23

Hold on in the wings.

00;25;10;23 - 00;25;15;23

I want to thank our all our listeners
and viewers for joining us.

00;25;15;26 - 00;25;18;04

That was a really powerful story.

00;25;18;04 - 00;25;20;16

Even though I'm biased, it's my mom.

00;25;20;16 - 00;25;25;24

So I want to
thank you for being here. And,

00;25;25;27 - 00;25;28;14

I think a lesson learned
that we could take away

00;25;28;14 - 00;25;31;27

is that every one story is important.

00;25;32;00 - 00;25;33;29

And so,

00;25;33;29 - 00;25;36;04

don't forget to follow us.

00;25;36;04 - 00;25;41;18

All the links and all of the contacts and
the socials will be in the description.

00;25;41;21 - 00;25;43;08

Thank you so much for being here.

00;25;43;08 - 00;25;45;29

We really appreciate you.

00;25;45;29 - 00;25;49;12

You've been listening
to Building Leadership Community.

00;25;49;15 - 00;25;51;25

Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM.

00;25;51;25 - 00;25;55;00

Listen, wherever you get your podcast,

00;25;55;03 - 00;25;58;28

follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram,
and YouTube @CoachDoraM.

00;25;58;28 - 00;26;02;22

Visit
me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com.

00;26;02;22 - 00;26;07;11

Hosted by me, Dora Mendez.

00;26;07;14 - 00;26;11;17

Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan Rogers.

00;26;11;20 - 00;28;51;27

Graphics, editing,
and sound mixing by Dylan Rogers.

00;28;52;00 - 00;28;54;25

Welcome back, Amazing leaders

00;28;54;25 - 00;28;58;28

to season three of Building Leadership
Community Podcast.

00;28;59;01 - 00;29;01;22

I'm your host, Coach Dora Mendez,

00;29;01;22 - 00;29;04;22

and this episode is very special.

00;29;04;22 - 00;29;07;06

It is the season three premiere.

00;29;07;06 - 00;29;12;03

We are honored to welcome back
a very special guest.

00;29;12;06 - 00;29;15;09

The leader I most admire who has become

00;29;15;09 - 00;29;18;18

a part of the DNA of this podcast.

00;29;18;21 - 00;29;23;19

She's been here once, twice,
and now a third time

00;29;23;22 - 00;29;29;11

because her voice is so essential,
that transformative.

00;29;29;14 - 00;29;31;21

And that's needed in this moment.

00;29;31;21 - 00;29;34;11

Our season three premiere

00;29;34;11 - 00;29;37;21

guest is none other than the activist,

00;29;37;26 - 00;29;41;12

advocate and new author.

00;29;41;15 - 00;29;45;18

My mother, Zenaida Mendez.

00;29;45;21 - 00;29;49;27

By the end of this conversation,
you will walk away with a renewed sense

00;29;49;27 - 00;29;55;26

of purpose, a deeper courage
to stand in with your truth,

00;29;55;29 - 00;29;59;03

and a powerful reminder
that your voice, your story,

00;29;59;03 - 00;30;03;02

and your presence matter
more than you realize.

00;30;03;05 - 00;30;05;23

This episode is your boost

00;30;05;23 - 00;30;10;18

to rise boldly, unapologetically,
and with the conviction

00;30;10;21 - 00;30;13;15

that change begins with you.

00;30;13;15 - 00;30;15;04

So settle in.

00;30;15;04 - 00;31;09;02

Let's take a breath and let's get ready.

00;31;09;05 - 00;31;11;27

It means so much that you join us

00;31;11;27 - 00;31;17;06

week after week for these conversations
that you are back with us for season

00;31;17;06 - 00;31;18;02

three.

00;31;18;02 - 00;31;21;14

It can be lonely at the top,
but it doesn't have to be.

00;31;21;17 - 00;31;24;15

That is why we started this podcast.

00;31;24;15 - 00;31;27;24

If you are new to the Building
Leadership Community,

00;31;27;27 - 00;31;30;06

we are so glad that you're here.

00;31;30;06 - 00;31;35;12

Please don't forget to like, share,
subscribe so you never miss an episode!

00;31;35;15 - 00;31;37;18

Say hi in the comments!

00;31;37;18 - 00;31;40;18

We have some great resources
to share with you today.

00;31;40;24 - 00;31;46;01

If you are thinking about starting your
own podcast, check out our mini episode.

00;31;46;04 - 00;31;47;14

Oh, pardon me.

00;31;47;14 - 00;31;51;07

Our mini course,
The Entrepreneurs Podcast Blueprint.

00;31;51;14 - 00;31;55;21

I've partnered with my husband
and co-producer Dylan Rogers to create

00;31;55;21 - 00;31;58;21

five easy to follow video modules,

00;31;58;23 - 00;32;02;07

along with a workbook
that you can download and follow

00;32;02;07 - 00;32;06;07

along at your own pace,
and you get a very handy A.I.

00;32;06;07 - 00;32;10;04

prompt sheet
that will make getting your episode

00;32;10;04 - 00;32;13;08

out there into the world a breeze.

00;32;13;11 - 00;32;15;22

Check out the link in the description.

00;32;15;25 - 00;32;16;28

We are

00;32;16;28 - 00;32;20;22

starting this
season with a renewed sense of purpose.

00;32;20;25 - 00;32;23;06

So let me tell you about our guest today.

00;32;23;06 - 00;32;25;26

In case you are new to the podcast,

00;32;25;26 - 00;32;28;26

let me tell you about our amazing guest.

00;32;29;00 - 00;32;32;20

The leader I most admire, Zenaida Mendez.

00;32;32;23 - 00;32;36;26

She is currently the Chief
External Affairs Officer of Manhattan

00;32;36;26 - 00;32;38;04

Neighborhood Network

00;32;38;04 - 00;32;42;10

and the president and founder
of the National Dominican Women's Caucus.

00;32;42;13 - 00;32;45;29

But her roots and advocacy go much deeper.

00;32;46;02 - 00;32;49;13

Zenaida is a lifelong social justice
advocate,

00;32;49;16 - 00;32;53;03

serving in pivotal roles under Mayor David

00;32;53;03 - 00;32;57;10

Dinkins, the first black
mayor of New York City, and the honorable.

00;32;57;10 - 00;32;58;25

May he rest in peace.

00;32;58;25 - 00;33;04;04

Congressman Charles Rangel, as well
as being the first woman of color to be

00;33;04;04 - 00;33;09;15

president of New York's state chapter
of the National Organization for Women.

00;33;09;18 - 00;33;11;25

She was also the first

00;33;11;25 - 00;33;16;27

director of racial diversity programs
for the National Organization for Women.

00;33;17;00 - 00;33;21;05

Today, she continues to serve
on the boards of New York Women

00;33;21;05 - 00;33;25;18

in Film and Television
and the Harlem SGL •

00;33;25;21 - 00;33;28;15

LGBTQ center.

00;33;28;15 - 00;33;32;26

She is a powerhouse who has recently added
author to her

00;33;32;26 - 00;33;38;10

resume and long list of accomplishments
and accolades.

00;33;38;13 - 00;33;40;09

Author to her resume

00;33;40;09 - 00;33;45;20

with the release of her memoir Amor
y desamor de la diáspora:

00;33;45;23 - 00;33;48;24

Una vida de activismo, migración y

00;33;48;24 - 00;33;51;29

liderazgo en Estados Unidos.

00;33;52;02 - 00;33;54;13

It is available now in Spanish

00;33;54;13 - 00;33;57;26

and with an English translation
on the way.

00;33;57;29 - 00;34;01;16

And today,
Zenaida is here to pour into you.

00;34;01;19 - 00;34;05;12

Season three starts right now,
and we can't ask

00;34;05;12 - 00;34;08;27

for a more inspiring woman to lead us

00;34;09;00 - 00;34;12;00

into this season.

00;34;12;02 - 00;34;14;22

Let's bring her to the stage.

00;34;14;25 - 00;34;17;25

Hold for applause.

Your Accent Is Your Superpower | What My Mother Taught Me About Identity

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