2.17 Flourish
Jenée Johnson, Program Innovation Leader, Mindfulness, Trauma and Racial Healing, pioneered and leads the unique effort to bring mindfulness into public health practices and programs though the Trauma Informed Systems of Care Initiative in the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Her goal is to improve the organization’s ability to manage change, stay resilient, inspire growth, and become a mindful culture that leads and serves with compassion.
Her work has been featured in various publications, including Mindful Magazine as the cover story in the October 2019, in the Fall 2020 issue as a leader in the mindfulness movement, and in 2021 Mindful Special Edition - The Gratitude Journal.
Jenée is the Founder and Curator of The Right Within Experience, a mindfulness immersion program that reclaims humanity, joy, and wellbeing for people of African ancestry through mindfulness practices. These are the human rights and exalted emotions that are eroded in Black lives through the consistent exposure to the trauma of racism. The Right Within Experience expands the scope of mindful practice to acknowledge its ancient African lineage and increase access and relevance to people of African ancestry. The program promotes healing and sovereignty for Black people and is curated for those on the front line of community service, social justice missions, and Black business leaders.
For 15 years, Jenée served as the Director of the San Francisco Black Infant Health Program, a program which provides direct service to Black pregnant women and new mothers to address the health disparities in infant and maternal mortality.
Jenée is a professional co-active coach and certified trainer and practitioner in mindfulness and emotional intelligence based on the latest neuroscience. She is a HeartMath certified trainer, Emotional Emancipation Circles Facilitator (Association of Black Psychologists) and certified to teach Femme! A meditative movement and wellness modality for women. She is a keynote speaker, work shop curator, coach, and consultant with Sankofa Holistic Counseling Services in Oakland, and on the advisory board of Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute.
Jenée is a native New Yorker with Caribbean and Southern roots. She resides in Oakland with her husband and young adult son.
In this interview we discuss:
Liberation
Flourishing
Joy as a Birthright
Blackness
Black culture
The Myth of Race
Mindfulness
Emotional Intelligence
Ancestors
The Human Experience
Finding Refuge
Grief
Resilience
A Stake in Love
Love
Connect with Jenée on her website or on Instagram @jeneegjohnson
Podcast music by Charles Kurtz