Family Theatre presents Gene Crane and Gene Lockhart. Work in cooperation with Family Theatre presents Gene Lockhart in The Woman's Touch. To introduce the drama, your hostess, Gene Crane. Thank you, Tony LaFranco. Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives. If we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. This is supposed to be a man's world, but heaven helped the middle-aged widower with two married daughters and an interested neighbor lady. Though said widower has long since reached the age of consent and dissent, his feminine relations and friends flutter about him like anxious hens round a single chick. Such a man is Homer Poe. And such a man has decided to do something about it. Family Theatre presents Gene Lockhart in The Woman's Touch. Now listen, daughter, I'm free, white, and 51. I can keep my house, I can cook my dinners, I've made my bed, and now doggone it, let me lie in it. Well, if that's the way you feel about it, Dad. Thank you. Wouldn't leave my doors unlocked if I weren't home would I? Well, I saw Annie leave by the front door, Poe, so I came in the back. Thought you must be home, I saw her so flushed. You have a fight with her, Poe? Ah, look at this house. Oh, looks nice and neat to me. Yeah, that's just the trouble. I no sooner get things fixed the way I like them, than one of my daughters has to come in and change everything around. Why can't they leave me alone? Oh, it's just that they want to take good care of you, Poe. Oh, my, look at that nice blue vase up there by the clock. But it's lost there. I'll just take it and put it on the bookshelf. No, leave that vase alone. Poe, you almost made me drop it. I almost made you drop it. You women.  Why can't you let my blue vase be? Why can't you let me be? You move, Dad. Ah, there's any. Why did I have to have girls? Why didn't I have sons? Sons that went out and worked all day and let their poor Dad alone. Oh, what are you grumbling about now, Dad? Hello there, Mrs. Sowers. Oh, hello, Edna. Thought I'd stop by with a nice plate of salad for you, Dad. Here you are. Yeah, vitamins. Anna's been here, I see. Always puts your vase in the bookcase. It's wasted there. I'll put it on the what-not shelf. Yeah, you see, Mrs. Sowers? You see? Oh, now, Poe, don't go getting yourself all excited. Remember your blood pressure. Well, none of us are getting any younger. Are you calling me old? Well, no.  Oh, nothing. Now, things don't matter with me. I just want to be left alone. That's all. Well, really? And that goes for you, too, Kitty. I'm as young as I ever was. Do you hear? And as good as I ever was. My only trouble is I've got too many women. Too many women trying to take care of me. I can see I'm in the way. But don't bother to wash the salad plate, Father. I'll pick it up tomorrow morning. Wash the plate. I'll... Goodbye. Goodbye. Oh, now it's a real nice salad, Poe. Molded gelatin. Molded indigestion? Well, even the cat won't touch it, ever. The cat? Yeah, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. Poe? What do you want to do to that animal? I'm just going to feed it to my salad. Here you are, Kitty. Eat hearty. Poe! It's having a fit. That doesn't... I'm going to get away from all this. I'm going to take a trip. A trip alone? Yes, you bet it's alone. I'm going to shoot the workers. I'll show them that Poe's an old man. I'm going to... I'm going to Chicago. Chicago? A woman! Are these the shiniest pet and leather shoes you have in the store? Why, yes, Mr. Poe. Are they for yourself? You fit them to my feet, didn't you? Oh, yes. Then wrap them up. This is the usual style hat you buy, Mr. Poe. Yes, but I'm changing my style, Mr. Carberry. Now, give me something sportier. Sportier? You? Have you got any objections? Oh, no, no, Mr. Poe. But what did you have in mind? There. That derby there. I'll take that. The derby? Yes, the derby. Hi, it's Mr. Poe in person. Hello, Bill. Well, I want to turn Macarian. Think I've gotten my wear out of it, don't you? I'd say so, yes. Let's see, that's a... 37, isn't it? Ah, 38. Mm-hmm. Of course, I can't give you much on it, Mr. Poe, but on the other hand, your new car won't be out of line price-wise either. You want the most conservative model, of course. How much is that red convertible in the display window? The red convertible? It's for sale, isn't it? Oh, of course, but... That's the one I want.  Now, just let those dishes drip and I'll take a look over at Poe's to see if he's all right. Heavens! What's the fire chief's car doing in Poe's driveway? Oh, I must call the girls to get over here right away. Oh, my goodness. Six, get this telephone started. Oh, dear. Why doesn't she hurry? Operator, get me Elm 6-8-5-1 and hurry. Oh, dear. The chiefs get nervous. The fire must be getting worse. Hello, Anna. This is Mrs. Sowers. Oh, yes, I'm fine. Thanks. Your father. Your father. His house is burning down and yet... No, no. I gotta hang up now. There's somebody at the door. Probably the fire chief. Come right over. I wanted to show you something. A few things I wanted to tell you before I leave, too. Like feeding the cat while I'm gone. Leave? But your house? What about my house? It's on fire. The fire chief's car's in your driveway. The fire chief. Poe, are you going out of your head? No, Flossie. For the first time in a long time I've come to my senses. Why, that red convertible out there, that's mine. It's yours. That's right. And look. Huh? Take a look at my duds, huh? Derby hat. Look down here. Patten leather shoes. Oh, Poe. I just can't believe it's you. Well, it's me, all right. And I'm off for Chicago. All packed. Leaving right now. Now, you just take care of the cat, like I said. Oh, yes. Tell Anna and Annie where I am. Anna and Annie. Good heavens. Now what? I've phoned them. Your house was on fire. They'll be here any minute. Holy cats. I'm getting out of here. Oh, no, wait, Poe. Wait. Wait for what? My daughters and the fire department? I'm leaving while I can. Oh, well, as long as you're so set on going to Chicago, here's an address I wrote down for you in case you get lonesome. Miss Anna Strong. Another woman. She's real nice, Poe. That's why I'm going to Chicago to get away from women. You tell that to Annie and Edna.  That's your problem, Frosty. You started that fire in my house. Now let's see how you can put it out. The Middle West. Metropolis of... Now you listen to me. Friendly guy. Traffic's sick, though. I have it. I'll go for a walk along the shores of famous Lake Michigan. Beautiful father of waters. Who was it, the mother? Ah, inhale this fresh air. Right off the lake. Of course. I'm all right, officer. I'm just out for a little air. Air, is it? That stuff's bad for you, Pop. Get along now, no lawyer, and I'll have to run you in. Run me in? What for? Now, you wouldn't want me to worry about you, would you? We want to take care of our tours, so go along to your hotel now, Pop. Or you'll be warm and safe. Paul would go to be like this. Funny. Seem as the bigger a city is, the lonesomer you can get. You mean lonesome? Why, that's the reason I left Logan's Port to get away from people, especially women. I've only been in Chicago three days and I'm lonesome. See, what was that address Flossie gave me? That Miss Hannah's strong. She's probably an old bat-lax, but tonight, well, any old port in a storm. Is it Miss Hannah's strong in? I am Miss Strong. You? Is it that bad? Oh, no, ma'am. I mean, Miss Assauer's gave me your address.  I'm Homer Poe. A hat and overcoat, and go ride in and sit down while I hang them up. Thank you. Flossie wrote me all about you, Mr. Poe. I've been looking forward to meeting you. Flossie wasn't at all sure that you would call on me, but she hoped you would. And so did I. Well, that's mighty feisty of Miss Strong. We should call sooner. When did you arrive in Chicago? Three days ago. Oh, well, I think you did pretty well in calling me as soon as you did, Miss Poe. Miss Strong, you'd be surprised how roomsome a man can get in three days in Chicago. Did Flossie tell you why I left Logan's Port? Well, not exactly. No, I'll bet she didn't. Anyhow, I'm sorry I didn't phone you before barging in like this. Nonsense. It was a most delightful surprise. You didn't have another date? No. To tell the truth, Mr. Poe, I'm not too interested in you men. You're not? No. Does that surprise you? Well, I thought all women were interested in men in one way or another, either to be taken care of or to take care of them. No, I've managed to get along without them pretty well. Oh, of course I have my friends. But I don't take the masculine sex too seriously. Makes life much simpler. Well, you are different. And you like it? You bet I do. Miss Strong? Hannah, if there's one thing I like better than anything else, it's independence. And it's wonderful to find it in a woman. Well... You know, we're a lot alike. You and me. Are we? Absolutely. And I think we ought to do something about it. Celebrate, huh? What do you say? You show me the town tonight. Why, Mr. Poe, I'd love it. No, that's what I like. No shelly-shallying.  Hey? You said you couldn't do it. Well, I couldn't until you taught me how. And from now on... Well, from now on it's a... It's Viva everything. That was a wonderful dinner, Hannah. I'm glad you liked it. Shall we have our coffee in the front room? Fine, fine. Here, let me carry the tray for you. Oh, thank you. You know, you certainly make a fella feel right at home. I'll move the ash trays out of the way. Now, I'll help. Didn't drop a thing either. Why should you? If I'd been home back in Logan Sport, there it is. And if I'd offered to carry anything like that tray, my girls would have bet that I would have dumped a whole thing on the carpet. No, I can't imagine you doing anything like that. You're so sure of yourself. Homer? You've made me that way, Hannah. Here's your coffee, Homer. Thanks. Yep, yep, you. You do everything the easy way. And still, you accomplish a lot. And you take it for granted that I can do things the same way. Well, can't you? Well, sure I can if I'm let alone. Sugar and cream. Say, I just can't thank you enough for making my month in Chicago so fine. I've enjoyed it too. I'll miss you, Homer. But you've got other friends. I didn't give you much chance to see them lately. Oh, they won't mind. They're very understanding. Yes. Now, anybody could tell you're a happy woman. What a dear thing to say. Well, it's the truth. Why, it shows. It shows in your eyes and your ways. Everything about you. Or even in this flat. This is a happy place. It's been my home for a good many years now. Dear, do you think you could be happy anywhere else? Anywhere else? Well, I don't know. I hadn't thought about it. I've always lived in Chicago. I've always lived in Chicago ever since leaving Kentucky. I like it. Why should I leave? I've got a... I've got a bone business back in Logan Sports, Hannah. I have to live there. Homer. Hannah, will you marry me? Will you marry me? I guess I'm not much to look at. I'm no spring chicken, but... Honey, are you crying? Yes. Did I say the wrong thing? No. I want to talk to Mrs. Flossie Sowers in Logan Sports. The number's out in 627. Oh, things. I mean, congratulations. Take it to them gently. Well, this looks like a party. What's it all about, Flossie?  Well, I didn't mean to be any. I just thought it'd be nice for us to have a little... get together at your dad's house. Sad. It's about dad. You've heard from him. Well, yes, I have, Edna. You've heard from Dad. Don't get excited. There's been an accident. Oh, I knew it. We never should have let him go off to Chicago alone. We should have followed him and brought him back. No, no, no, no, you're wrong. He's not dead. Oh, Flossie, don't tell us that. Girls, when you're led your way. Tell us. Tell us the worst. Poe is... Poe got married.  Can you do it all at once?  How many did you ask for? I'm gonna go to Chicago. Nice woman. Nice? In Chicago? Logan's fort is the only place that's got nice people. How could Dad do such a thing to us? He was lonesome. He had us.  Now, Edna, you're 26 and Annie, you're 29. You're both old enough to know that. You're both got husbands. Why begrudge your dad or wife? It isn't decent of him to marry again. He's forgotten motherhood. Oh, nonsense. When a widower marries again, it shows his first marriage must have been a mighty happy one. Nobody'll ever take your mother's place with him. Not even Hannah. Sweet as she is. Hannah. You're stepmother. Strong of known of three years, she's a fine, sensible girl. Girl? How old is she? I'd say Hannah was 40. And old maid. A maiden lady. And a mighty pretty one. She's had her share of bows, the pick of the men. But she had to wait till Dad came along. I still think you were behind this whole thing, Flossie. This woman is your friend.   I didn't have anything to do with a marriage. It was entirely your dad's idea. That horrible red car. I didn't know he was getting that car. I tried to talk him out of going away alone, but that's the way he wanted it. And I reckon he's old enough to know his own mind. Not when it comes to women. Especially when it comes to women. I'll admit I gave him Hannah's address in case he needed a friend. A friend. A fine friend. You'd better make the best of things because they're arriving home today, my girls. Your dad and Hannah any minute. That's why I invited you over. Well... Oh, my hair looking this way. I'd have worn my son's address. But she'd make any difference. I'd do it for poor dad's sake. Marrying a woman like that. He'll need all the family backing he can get. I hope you're pardoned. I'm not, but no one answered. And Poe said to go right on in. Hannah! Oh, my God. Oh, dear. I can't tell you how happy I am for you, dear. And Poe's a lucky man to get you. Ah, thank you. Now... I know you want to meet Poe's girls. Indeed I do. Poe's done nothing but talk about Edna and Anna. He loves you very much, you know. I'm Edna, Mrs. Hannah. Welcome home. Thank you, Edna. I'm Anna. You're the one that threw the pace pot on the school door because you didn't like your arithmetic teacher. Poe! Congratulations. Hey, there you have it. You were in your teens. Well, girls, what do you think of her? Isn't she a sweetheart? Well, she certainly is.  I made him. Yes, you girls always took fine care of your old dad. Now I want you to come over just as often as before. This is still your home, you know. Well, that's awfully nice of you, Hannah. Oh, now this is no way to celebrate a wedding. Folks, I've got a big party ready for you. Oh, that's big for you. Thanks, Falsi. Thanks for breaking the news to the girls. You sure did a swell job. Oh, I didn't do anything, Poe, unless it was the opposite. Why, what do you mean? Hurrying on something terrible when Hannah walked in. She heard it, too. But did she get mad? No. When it's time, she'll wreck them right around her little finger. I tell you, Falsi, Hannah's won in a million. And if it hadn't been for you, I never would have met her. Well, as long as I couldn't marry you myself, I couldn't think of anyone sweeter than Hannah. I hope you'll be very happy together, Poe. Oh, I know that. Now let's get over to the girls. Oh, I think everything looks just lovely, girls. I know I'm going to be very happy here in a ready-made home. A real home built by love. Bless your heart, Hannah. They, um, there's just one thing, though. Oh, I know it's silly, but it makes me feel really at home. So I've had a hand and kind of sort of range in things. What's that, Hannah? This blue vase. What? I'd like to put it right over here. Oh, no. What's funny about that? That vase, honey. What you loved it, Poe, you told me. You sure I did. But that vase has been a boner contention for years. A woman could leave it alone, not even you. Don't you worry about that vase. I'm glad it's broken. Oh, it's so sweet of you to feel that way. But that settles it. What? What do you mean, Hannah? I'm not going to touch another thing. I want the girls to do exactly as they did before us. What? Oh, no. A weak family theater receives many letters attesting to the power of prayer. Rarely ever do we read excerpts from these letters. But this week, we are reading a few lines of a letter we received from one of our listeners, because, well, the letter speaks for itself. I was in the hospital last week when I heard your program for the first time. I had my first baby at the same hospital where my husband was taken three weeks before with polio. I heard your plea for prayers and also heard you tell of someone who said he didn't know how to pray and that he didn't believe prayer helped. And then you read a poem on prayer and answer. That poem brought tears to my eyes because it was so true. God answers prayer. I know because my husband wasn't expected to live, but we prayed and he did. There's only God to call on when even the doctors give up. Would you please read that poem again and if it isn't too much trouble, send me a copy? My husband is 20 and I'm 17 and we have a little baby now. With God's help and our faith and our prayers to him, we'll work together till my husband walks again. Keep telling the people to pray. God answers prayer. Yes, God answers prayer. That's why Family Theater encourages you each week to pray, to pray together as a family because the family that prays together stays together.  And was directed for Family Theater by J.F. Mansfield. This is Tony Lafranco expressing the wish of Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home. And inviting you to join us next week at this time when Family Theater will present Marina Herrera, McDonald-Carrie, Pedro de Corteva and Jean Ruth in The Lost Mind of the Padres. Join us, won't you? Throughout the world and originates in the Hollywood studios of the world's largest network, the Hollywood Virtual Broadcasting System.


okay here I am James P. Madonna and MegaLife 21 here at all these in the Lodai, New Jersey as you can see they still only one cashier only one cash here and by time I get out of this damn place my coconut cream my premium coconut cream ice cream will become a coconut coconut milkshake by time I get the hell out of here sometimes the line goes way down the aisle like worst in motor vehicles what happens when I call the main office they do nothing but apologize to me a million times and as you could see you have really wonderful local people here in this town I only have two items and guess what no one is letting me get ahead one two two and I repeat two stinking items versus right got it got it


So hey Gems, I'm in the car driving because I'm heading to a little breastfeeding workshop that my aunt is having at her job and she asked me to be a speaker so I kind of want to document it. I don't know if they're going to let me record, I'm an actor but I'm just filming this in a joint case so I'm able to record. Y'all, I was trying to prepare last night like write little prompts so that I could have my thoughts together and in case I get nervous that you know I have a little need to stay, what I need to say but I fell asleep, I was so tired. I fell asleep, woke up with these damn index cards right on my bed and then this morning I have to get my boys ready, get the baby situated then get myself ready so like I am literally like Russian Russian Russian so I feel unprepared but I'm just going to speak from the heart you know tell my story, tell my breastfeeding journey, share my breastfeeding journey and see how that goes so if I'm able to record y'all don't judge me I am not good at public speaking but I love stuff like this so I want to like challenge myself to be more outspoken, outspoken, it's way different than just picking up a camera and running my mouth so and I don't think it's a big event or anything because it's literally at her job I think it's like a little workshop. I'm hoping that a lot of people are there, I don't know, I don't know what I'm actually literally don't know what I'm walking into I just agreed to do it so we don't see y'all anyways if I'm able to record I'm gonna show some of that if not I'll just come back on here and tell y'all how it went but I hope I'm not wanting to be there 10 minutes before 10 and it's 947 and these cars are driving so slow my goodness okay y'all I'm about to pull up to my aunt's job she works right off the waterfront is this a parking did I get lucky this is perfect okay I'm here oh shit let me let me park better okay I'm here is 953 so let me run inside so she don't tell me I'm too late I'm excited but I'm nervous okay so I'm a mom of three a one year old a two year old he'll be three next month by here a little backstory on who I am um my profession I graduated from St. Croix educational complex out of tutorials like Barry to get my bachelor's in accounting then I went to Liberty University to get my master's online I worked in accounting for a little bit but then I got pregnant with my first son I was living in Florida and that was it I moved on to other things and wonder what is what actually led me to my passion and accounting just wasn't it so from there I became a certified yoga instructor a certified doula a certified wound wellness specialist and I'm working on my only steaming facilitator certification can I know what's a wound specialist a wound wellness specialist so I pretty much focus on women's health from a holistic aspect so anything that anything that has to do with your wound care your uterus pregnancy just overall women's health and so there's so many different aspects of all life that affects a lot of women do not think about on a daily basis so I wanted to dive deeper into that I've been on my health journey for a very long time I've always been very health conscious and the more I learn the more I implement those things into my life so I want I wanted to be able to share with other women what I've been doing in my journey to help them and um through that because I live my life from a holistic aspect I started digging into herbalism as well so in short why I say that motherhood led me to my passion is because I decided to start my own business so I'm the creator and owner of gem statistics I make natural skin care products hair care products baby products as well as wound wellness products so um wound massage oils uh and herbal teas for like fibroids and metriosis picos um hormonal imbalance and fertility or all that so um life be happening so I have to shop for my business for a year and then last year I started back up and it's been going very well so what else yeah that's about it for me um this is about breastfeeding so I want to kind of more stick on that topic and for me personally breastfeeding has been not only beneficial for myself but of course for my children I've had three home births I've never had a birth in the hospital having having my child in the hospital was I was like foreign to me because of how I was raised my mom had me at home I've been surrounded by women who had babies at home I've only seen my mother and other women breastfeed so that's all I was ever exposed to in fact I don't even think I knew what formula was until I got older so not breastfeeding was never an option for me in my mind I have a baby I have a breastfeed that was it so when my first I didn't really experience any challenges breastfeeding so when my first my milk came down strong like it was so much that I was getting involved that I had to come to just get something and when that happened like you know I did the work impressions massages and then come to just get some release and then I was able to freeze that but I never had a moment where it was hard to breastfeed or I was experiencing like chap nipples and it was painful now what I would say is one of the things one of the benefits of breastfeeding that we don't even think about is it helps contract our uterus back down to its normal size so when you're breastfeeding and you feel that pain I don't know if any of you have experienced that you feel that pain that's your uterus actually contracting back down to its normal size so although it's painful it's good you know and you know that only lasts also long it's not until last forever so that's one benefit for your room health as it pertains to breastfeeding another is when we're pregnant our estrogen levels spike up which is normal because that's necessary in order to sustain a pregnancy once you have the baby your estrogen levels stay risen but when you're breastfeeding it continues it starts to lower so breastfeeding actually helps regulate your hormones after you have the baby so that's good for postpartum health so a lot of women we experience postpartum depression like you're emotional you don't know why or anything and now there's a lot of aspects that triggers that but one of the things is the unbalanced hormones in our body and breastfeeding helps to regulate unbalanced all of that um another thing about a lot of I've spoken to a lot of women who have challenges breastfeeding and one of the things that I started looking more into is the difference between women who have who give birth naturally and vaginally versus those who either get an epidural and have a c-section now like I said I do everything from a holistic standpoint I do not judge anyone for their decision but I always look at cause and effect and what's their group of issues so a lot of women who undergo a c-section are prone to have difficulties breastfeeding because our body is so intelligent that our womb is connected to our brain so if the baby comes out via c-section it doesn't send that signal to our brain that will just be burnt so now your body isn't producing milk yet it's not it's not starting that process because when you give birth vaginally there's actually a chemical that's released that sends that message to your brain to say okay you just had a baby now it's time to start working on that milk so that is why a lot of women who perhaps their babies via c-section initially would have that difficult start in breastfeeding and feeling like oh my god what am I doing now what to do and the first thing the hospital is going to do is say how a parent give them the formula. That's like being a youth author because I also feel like if you do that you somebody's not naturally going to do it. Exactly so now you're that's that's what I was going to say too so now if you're induced or even have an epidural it shuts down everything so now the communication between your womb and your brain has stopped. And that's why I support and like advocate for natural birth. Now I'm not saying if you're high risk or have difficulties that is an actual emergency that don't do what you have to do but that is why preventative care is always the best care and that's where nutrition come in that's where your lifestyle comes in and from experience I could tell you that I ate the healthiest with my second son. I'm vegan on campus but you could be vegan and unhealthy let's get that straight so like with my first son I would eat a lot of processed vegan stuff and like because I was having such a hard time mentally with that pregnancy that I wasn't really focusing on what I was eating and how I was eating but my second I was already transitioning into like I did the doula stuff and you know I was doing more research I had not experienced postpartum so you know I'm digging in to see why did I experience this what is going on so my second son I was more aware and more educated and I ate very healthy my second son and I to this day could tell you the difference between both of them. My first son he liked a lot of junk like he wants the chips the crackers the vegan pizza and all of that my second son he would eat fruits all day he would just one after the next he'll eat all the fruits I have to like write my personal into even fruits my third pregnancy wasn't the healthiest in terms of eating wise but that was because of issues beyond my control but that alone shows again the difference between how I was eating between offering pregnancies and how big came out to me because my my one year old right now he's still breastfeeding he exclusively breast feeds and I personally exclusively breastfeed up until one because the baby's digestive system cannot handle anything but breast milk up until one and after you give birth that is still developing so a lot of times we um by six months or whatever we want to start giving them baby food or even look right here and look their digestive system is being shocked and it then turns into getting issues like they're throwing up a lot and even if you don't even see no symptoms right then and there in the long run you can start to see those things because remember the digestive system is still developing turn out to have like gut health issues in the long run so for us just to stay on the safe side I always exclusively breastfeed for a year and then after a year and I start giving them fruits so I didn't give him anything in between like the breastfeeding for a year we just strictly breastfeed and it sounds crazy I know so my last son strictly breast no water no water they don't need water they're getting everything they need from the breast milk how you eat affects their sickness too because that's our next comparison between my son my first son would get sick quicker than my second son and even when both are missing the second one get well much quicker so when they get the cold or the cough or something knows it's not necessarily a bad thing because that's your body's natural response to fight whatever is trying to attack it is trying to get it out but it's how fast we recover is what determines the state of your health that's not enough six weeks is not enough time to recover from burns like it took you it took you nine months to take this baby there's no way your body is ready to enter back into regular life after six weeks but again that's how they designed the system and that is why when I became a mother like mentally I couldn't I literally switched my life around because I just mentally couldn't do that I could not just after three months go back to work I resigned from my job I was looking forward from home job I mean thankfully things worked out in my favor because I was so determined not to have to leave my baby so after getting to work from home job then I started my own business and I've never been back to a nine to five since from three babies later so I've been able to exclusively breastfeed and keep my children home with me I'm not saying it's easy but I know that it's best for them so I make that sacrifice you know as women we have so much on our plates especially when you're going through pregnancy and you don't have the support and then when the baby comes you still don't have the support and then you have to just do things that normally wouldn't really want to do because you're responsible for this new life is never done so I am like that's why I became a doula too because like my heart they're just kind of like melt a little bit when I see I'm pregnant woman like really going through it and no I'm support down here is different well because St. Croix the Virgin Islands does not support home birth deletion okay like you have a home birth you basically that say I just didn't make it to the hospital and I had my baby out with my daughter I stayed home until I was like six centimeters I went to the hospital it was like why are you staying home so long I just felt more comfortable in the comfort of my own most of the time I got to the hospital I was on six and that gives the hospital less time I didn't want to be laid down which is working against your body you should be able to move around walk around so I just got home a little while ago I was so busy rushing out the house that I forgot to bring my backup battery so as I was recording I don't even know how the clip look I don't know if I was in the frame properly I don't know if I was talking loud enough but at some point my camera died so whatever footage y'all see I don't know how long it is I don't know if I'm gonna keep all of it in but um okay what was I saying because I am not trying to stand here holding this camera my arms is tired I'm hungry about to go eat me some lunch but I was saying that at some point my camera died and whatever footage y'all see just know that's not how it ended but it was a great event it was very small and intimate and I enjoyed myself at the end of it I felt happy like full like joyful and it's just confirmation I'm always getting confirmation that birth work is truly my passion it is a labor of love for me and birth work is not just about being a doula and being physically there while someone is giving birth it's about sharing information being an advocate supporting in any way possible throughout pregnancy birth and postpartum and speaking at this breastfeeding workshop was part of that that is sharing information I was able to share my personal journey I was able to share information about breastfeeding from a holistic aspect because I'm always going to do everything I do from a holistic aspect I was actually kind of reserved about doing it because I know that I wasn't going to go in there with statistics and the medical side of breastfeeding and you know what doctors or these certified lactations the approach doctors and certified lactations would take because I'm not in I don't live from a medical mindset I live through experience through nature through doing things from a holistic standpoint so I was a kind of reserved because the workshop was held by wick the point of the matter is everyone was very receptive everybody was very engaged and I personally enjoyed myself I enjoyed talking to the pregnant mamas there and it's definitely something I would do again and overall it's funny that I even did this because one of the things that I want to start doing in the near future are holding workshops or seminars regarding womb wellness regarding natural birth because I really really really really want to start encouraging women to trust themselves to give birth naturally and possibly just at home because I've been hearing so many horror stories even the story about the young lady oh my goodness I can't even talk about it because I started reading the article and I just couldn't finish reading it listen I don't even know what to say about that story it just really like pains my heart like y'all stop having our babies in these hospitals they have medicalized birth they have turned birth into a medical procedure and it is not if y'all know what I'm referring to about the young lady who was given birth I think it was in Atlanta I believe the oh I can't even say it the words can't even come out my mouth because it's so disturbing and it makes me so upset anyways I digress I just hope to do more stuff like this in the near future I wanted to be able to be kind of a one-on-one vibe in a very small group a small setting to be able to educate women share information answer questions help them get rid of that fear that they have surrounding birth natural birth home birth breastfeeding and just doing things from a holistic aspect doing things in accordance to nature anyways I don't want this to be a long video I just wanted to come in here to wrap this video up and let you all know that the event was great it was successful and I enjoyed it and I am just truly blessed I'm grateful to be able to share my knowledge my journey and just overall information with people so that they can better themselves they can better their lives and it can help them on their own pregnancy birth and postpartum journey and as always to all of my melanated women watching protect your womb by any means necessary y'all when I say that I say it from the core and depths of my soul because I know what I'm saying when I say protect your womb how that woman had to uh how they how they handled that lady in that hospital while she was giving birth that is part of protecting your womb you don't want shit like that to be happening to you to all my melanated women out there protect your womb by any means necessary and to everyone watching protect your peace by any means necessary I wish you all love light and prosperity and you'll see me in my next video peace


Care in New York City, the black maternal mortality rate is up to 12 times that of white women. 12 times. The statistics are staggering.  Centuries of poverty and marginalization among indigenous people. When I saw how so many indigenous youths like me get left behind, I was like, this is not fair. For me, the answer was robots. There are 18.4 million children not getting ASIC vaccinations because of the challenges of the last mile transportation. I was shocked and then I thought there must be a way to solve it. A mission to eradicate racism and bias for maternity and infant care. I want to give students robots who wouldn't have them otherwise. It's a lot. The goal is to create a reliable calling device to deliver these life-saving vaccines to the people who need them. Even though I know this is the right thing to do, it's just bloody difficult. Welcome everyone. My name is Sarah Montabaro. I am the director of strategic partnerships at MIT Solve. What you just saw was the trailer to Solve's documentary series, The Big Idea, which follows three innovators over the course of a year as they pursue, against all odds, making their ideas a reality. We are lucky enough to be able to feature one episode from the series today and be joined by the film star, Danielle Boyer, who is the founder and CEO of Steam Connection and will be joining us for a panel discussion and Q&A alongside Nicole Johnny from Raven Capital Partners. But before we dive into the film, I want to spend just a few moments introducing the SoCAP community to Solve for those of you who may not be familiar with us. Solve is an initiative of MIT with a mission to drive innovation to solve global challenges. Through our open innovation challenge approach, we find and select the most promising solutions from across the world and connect them to MIT's ecosystem and community of supporters to help drive their impact and growth. We have run over 75 open innovation challenges to date and have received over 18,000 applications from nearly every country across the globe. And once we select those innovators, connect them to a nine-month wraparound capacity building support program, as well as our community and MIT ecosystem to help them scale and grow. And what these numbers really tell me is just how many people are out there in the world trying their hardest to create the future that they want to see. Now I know that I'm likely preaching to the converted here when I say that we need innovation in order to address some of the world's most pressing challenges. At Solve, we focus on five areas of impact that we believe need more innovation, whether it's addressing climate change, poverty, broken health care and education systems or systemic racism. We believe that we need new ideas and even more so, we need new voices. So I want to talk a little bit about who these innovators are and talk a little bit about the work that they do. Our innovators, we have nearly 300 in our portfolio who are affecting over 170 million lives around the world. And what that means tangibly is that's a child who now has access to better learning tools. That's a mother receiving better maternal health care services. That's better air we breathe. That's the water we drink. Truly that means fewer lives, fewer people who are dying from reasons that we can prevent. And these solvers are not necessarily MIT students. These are, and in fact some of them have never even been on a college campus before, but these are folks who saw a problem in their communities and are doing something about it. Over the last seven years, SOLVE has worked with our community of supporters to facilitate over $65 million in funding to our innovators. We work with a variety of philanthropic and corporate partners to ensure that every team that's selected through our program receives prize funding in the form of unrestricted grants. They receive leadership coaching and wraparound services and bespoke and tailored partnership introductions to a global community of social impact resource providers. What we have seen to date is that there's also been a need for further investment capital to help support teams that are on the brink of growth. We have also developed our own philanthropic venture fund called SOLVE Innovation Future, or CIF, which is organized as a donor advice fund and has been created to help with philanthropic support to make catalytic direct investments into our for-profit solver teams at the SEED and Series A levels. To date, we have made 17 investments in our for-profit teams through debt equity and alternative investments and have remained vigilant in ensuring that the entrepreneur's growth strategy remains at the center of our investments. We want to ensure that all of our investments are founder-friendly, are in using flexible capital wherever possible. And we also use the proceeds of the fund and the proceeds that come from our investments to reinvest in future solver teams to create a pay-it-forward and evergreen mechanism. And the statistic that we're most proud of is this one here that for every dollar that we've invested, we've helped to unlock four dollars towards our investees through our participation. Now, there's so much I could tell you about our solver teams and the amazing work that they're doing and the impact that they're having on the world, but there's really no better way to tell their stories than to show you. So I'm delighted to present the Indigenous Robots episode of our series, The Big Idea, and I invite you to stick with us for a Q&A and panel discussion that follows. And after the session, I also invite you all to join myself and my colleague Francis, who's in the back of the room over there, and to chat about ways that we can support innovators and their stories like the one you're about to see. So with that, I present The Big Idea. We live in a world run by technology. It shapes how we live, move, and learn. But technology creates a divide, and when you're on the wrong side of that, you get left behind. Tech has increased the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Access to technology is key. This is our number one issue, closing the digital divide. Right now in the United States, Indigenous people like me are far less likely to own a computer or have high-speed internet access than any other ethnic group. So I decided that instead of being left out of the tech world, we should be the ones building it. So I'm Mojibwe from the Sioux St. Marie band in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It's always been a part of who I am. I've always been very interested in how things work. I remember when I was younger, I would take a lot of appliances apart, like how do these things go together? Definitely a little too nosy sometimes, too. When I got to high school, I had a lot of learning challenges, and so I really struggled with math. I always convinced myself I couldn't do it until I stumbled upon a robotics team. I found myself learning everything from design to electrical engineering to computer science, and then on top of that, it's so cool. But I was kind of met face-to-face with this robotics kit, a cost of $500, and that is a lot of money. My family struggled to afford robots, and when I saw how so many kids who had a lot of funding get so many opportunities, I was like, this is not fair. The gears like started turning in my head. I started experimenting and teaching myself things. Testing things, getting new parts. And after I graduated, I invented my first robot. His name is Ekker. Every kid gets a robot. It's made out of recycled plastic. It's got little hexagon wheels, and kids are able to assemble, wire, and program the robot for like less than $20. So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to grab our motors, and we're going to line it up with our chassis like this. See, oh, it looks so cute. And so what happens is when we put this on a battery, see, it spins. Oh, that's cool. That is cool. Who wants to test it out? I started a nonprofit called the Steam Connection, teaching classes, starting robotics teams. Oh, so like it's all metal, so it connects. Yeah, it's conductive. There's metal in here. And you can make them spin. You can make them go forward. You can make them go backward. Kids are as excited as I am about the robots. How do we send things to the brain? You are going to code them at home. Here, I'm going to show you how. But as I continued to work with kids and teach more classes, I realized that the greatest need for these robots was within my own community. I often feel like I exist within two different worlds. I live in so-called America, but I'm not American. I don't see myself that way. Being Ojibwe is who I am. But often I feel like I have to be something else to exist in the world. Things like our language were criminalized up until recently. Now let's pick up with the English ones. I'm a pony, grandfather. That's better. Happy birthday. My fear is that our future will not include our culture and our voice. And so this year, I'm creating a robot for Indigenous youths. And the goal is to have the robots speak to students in their languages. Good morning, ACES conference attendees. Give yourselves a big round of applause for being here. Look around this room. It is because of you and the desire you have that can help our people to survive and continue to be resilient. Okay, what's your last name? Boye, B-O-Y-E-R. So the ACES conference is a tech conference for Indigenous peoples. I'm actually here right now to launch a new robot called Scobots. This right here is a speaker. It's magnetic and this is actually what's inside of the robot. I've been working on it for a while with volunteers to my organization. Yeah, sandwich iron on one side, solder on the other. We were up late programming and getting everything assembled and put together. Yeah, I got like no sleep last night. The goal is to get the support that we need to be able to bring robots to more kids. Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you. Hey, what is that fear? It's a language learning robot. It teaches kids Indigenous languages. Wow, that is so cool. And I match it. We have a Taino one, a Navajo one, and then this one's Ojibwe. Oh my gosh, so cool. You're the one that makes the robot. Yeah. So what does it do? It's a language learning robot. What? Yeah, it's for Indigenous languages. We had such a great response from people. They were taking pictures of it. All right, I'll do the thing. Asking questions about it. How does it work? See, it goes, it's like that. See? I would love to connect with you and so we can connect now. Oh, thank you. I really appreciate it. We have so many people now from ACES who want robots for their schools and classrooms. I was like, oh my gosh, we got to make even more happen. So since the ACES conference, we have gotten so many requests from Indigenous educators and schools to send the robots to their classroom. And that is really awesome, but we absolutely cannot meet them right now. I mean, I make all the robots here and pretty much make them myself. And so I'm always working. I work every single day, over 15 hours a day on the steam connection and on the robots. And there's only so many that we can make right now. I sometimes just fall over and fall asleep wherever I'm at. It is definitely a lot. I've always felt very intimidated by the business process. Things like marketing and social media, business planning and finances. I don't know really how to do all of this. And so finally I was like, Danielle, you cannot do everything alone. You're going to need help. One of my team members encouraged me to apply for MIT Solve for the Indigenous Communities Fellowship. I was fully expecting to not make it any farther. And then I did. So what is your big dream and for every kid gets a robot, the future of it? My biggest dream is for every Native kid to have a robot. And yeah, it's a big dream, a big goal, an expensive goal, but that is where I'm going towards. Solve is an initiative based out of MIT to support entrepreneurs around the world who are doing amazing work buying for their communities. We had over 1,500 applications and we wound up having 35 solvers. I'm so curious. What does Indigenous robotics mean to you? Well, I think it could look like many different things. I'm a member of the Navajo Nation and I work to support our Indigenous entrepreneurs and innovators. All right, let's come in. Perfect. This is like my workstation right here. I have things like breadboards who work on the circuits and I have a bunch of robot wheels here. Awesome. So with Danielle, she's incredibly passionate. She just loves what she does. So that's my chaotic thinking brain right there. But for Native peoples here in the U.S., it's not just about passion. We really need entrepreneurs who are able to support our communities. And I soldered out the base of the chassis and stuck the electronics in it. I think that for Danielle, she has eight different ideas for really amazing robots. But at the end of the day, it's about, okay, how do we make this scale? And how do I raise capital? And so that's one thing that I really think Solve will be able to help support her with. So I'm here for the MIT Solve event. Thank you. I'm trying to recruit more funding to be able to expand our manufacturing so I can build more robots for the schools and classrooms. I don't do a lot of formal pitches, so I'm just totally nervous. All right. Aneen, hello. My name is Danielle Boyer. My goal is to get a robot into every Indigenous youth's hands. And so what are your biggest needs or goals that you could use, advice or support on, whether it be capital or other types of capacity-building support? Yeah. So we're kind of at a turning point. A lot of it is down to funding to be able to invest not only in the manufacturing of ECUR, but also the expansion of the SCOBOX. And so, yeah. Right now we're looking for about $150,000. That's what we're looking for. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of money. We can offer some financial assistance. That would be awesome. And get the word out. That's awesome. Thank you. And then I work for General Motors and I need all of our STEM education grant making efforts. I know that if we were to connect with our volunteer employee engagement team, that we would be able to at least share out some opportunities. Funding is one of the most important challenges. And so to be able to have people say to you, this can happen, that's a huge relief. So what does it look like when you have something that has always been in your hands that is now going to be in other people's hands? Do you have to rely on others? I am ready. So I have one, two, three, four, five, six that need to go to one classroom. So we're going to put six in here. So because of the funding I've been able to get, I've been able to make more robots than ever before. Whichever fits best. Usually I do it with this pointing up to their space. So recently I had this amazing tribal school in LA. Reach out to me. They were like, hey, we need robots. Come quick. I had no idea that they even knew about what I was doing. So I was just blown away that they wanted me to come. I ended up making the most robots I've ever made in my entire life. We had over 120 robot kits on the floor of my workshop. I was so excited because bringing robots for Indigenous students has always been my biggest goal. So this is the only public Indigenous school in all of Los Angeles. You know, the majority of our students come from struggling families. We're talking about 85-90% meet the poverty levels. And the reality of the day-to-day is a struggle because our parents can't afford Wi-Fi. They can't afford a computer. On top of that, for Indigenous children, if you want to get into math, science, engineering, you simply don't identify in all these fields. Less than 20% are women. And out of that, how many are Native American Indigenous? Very few. Our youth could not see themselves as those professionals. And to us, that was a huge problem. Okay. Hi, everyone. Good morning. How many of you have built the robot before? All right. So let's dump everything out on the table. So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to put our motors onto our chassis. And we can control the direction of the robot based on which color we use on the battery. The coolest part is to see her explain the robots and show all the different equipment. Then they're just like, wow, that makes robotics and STEM seem so much more accessible. So you'll just put three rubber bands on each wheel. And can someone tell me why I would add rubber bands onto a robot wheel? Yes, traction. For art students, never had they ever had an opportunity to make a robot to hold the pieces. So not only are they learning how to solve the issue of you got all these parts, what do you do with them? Danielle also says, look, I've had all these barriers.  Look at what we can do together. All right. Three, two, one.  Oh my goodness. Being able to see the students have all the robots working was the best feeling in the entire world. Children need to belong. They need to feel that their culture is important. So being able to access role models like Danielle, it's extremely valuable. So have any of you soldered before? All right, let's try it. So with Danielle, I see her make her way into STEM on her own accord, doing what she wants to do and using her own cultural beliefs. I see her as someone that I can look up to and someone I might want to become in the future. But also such a big inspiration for my community especially with like the Scobots and language revitalization. And then next is Notoka. And that means my name is, and say your name. Scobot. I feel like this one would go too, because it's a black one. Oh yeah. You know, I think our knowledge is often dismissed. We're not seen as what we know is valid. But I think science and technology is what my people are and is what we know. And so technology should be made by us for us. That's how ears work, huh? If you can extend your hands like that. Thank you. Danielle, we're so honored by your visit today. You represent hope to our community. You represent the best of our community. You represent all that we can do. Thank you. Make a wish. Thank you. People have this idea that indigenous peoples exist just in the past, but we're still here now. And to be here, seeing the work that they're doing brings me so much hope and joy for the future. You know, our people have been inventors for thousands and thousands and thousands of years before colonization that was taken from us and we're reclaiming that. And you never know what the future is going to look like. A big round for Danielle. We're going to get our chairs set up here in a minute up on stage. And I just want to take one minute to applaud Danielle. First of all, this was filmed about three years ago. When you were how old, Danielle?  And there are many stories, I think, that inspire us today. And it's oftentimes in a world like this where, and those of us that are working kind of at the intersection of tech and impact that you feel the pendulum swinging between pessimism and optimism. And on days that I'm feeling particularly helpless or feel like I need a dose of optimism, I turn to Danielle's story and others like her. So I just want to thank her so much. I'm going to go ahead and welcome to this stage the star of the show, Danielle Boyer, founder and CEO of the Steam Connection, and Nicole Johnny, investment associate at Raven Indigenous Capital Partners. Welcome. Thank you so much for being here. I think you guys are over here. So we wanted to spend a little bit of time, of course, talking about the film and talking about your experience, Danielle. But I also want to make sure because we spent, folks were able to kind of get to know you in the film that we also introduce you, Nicole, and for you to tell us a little bit about your work and what you do at Raven. Maybe you could just introduce us to you, your background and the work that you do. Absolutely. So in traditional Navajo format, my name is Nicole Johnny, and I'm born to the Towering House clan, born for the Blackstreet Wood people. My maternal grandparents are the Wetter's Edge clan, and my paternal grandparents are the Teua Bear people. I grew up in the community on the Navajo Nation called Where the Clear Water Runs, but we call that Crystal New Mexico now. But I currently live and work in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Teua land of our Pueblo neighbors. And so, yeah, that's a little bit of who I am. Fantastic. And Danielle, obviously we got to know so much about your journey and what inspired you to start the Steam Connection. But we would love to hear just a little bit more about your entrepreneurial journey and some of the sort of peaks and pitfalls that have happened to you in the last few years. Yeah, so, Bonjour, hello. My name is Danielle. I realize I don't know that, but I'm Ojibwe from the Sioux tribe, which is in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I'm currently living in San Diego, so not that far from here. I am so happy to be in California. It's like lovely. It's so nice. It's like warm and all. I like it. Anyways, yeah, I got started in my work when I was 10 years old, actually. My little sister, Brie, was really interested in science and tech resources, but we couldn't afford the robots and stuff like that. And I started teaching at that age, albeit quite poorly. You're 10. When I got a little bit older, I joined a robotics team and I got bullied really badly. I was one of the only girls. And I had a lot of things happen, like stalking and harassment and stuff like that. And it doesn't say a lot of that here, but that is one of the main reasons why I started the work that I did is because my experiences are not one that I experience alone.  And it's the best part of my job. And I always feel a bit discouraged when I hear that my students have experienced the same things that I have. Like I at one point was getting stalked with drones by the boys on the robotics team and they would like spy through my window at night and like take pictures of me. And I learned that that is happening to other native girls in other schools. And so to me, it's so important that we have safe spaces and that we have spaces to advocate for ourselves and to learn in peace and in a happy way. And so it definitely has been a huge journey from that main goal and that main vision to now manufacturing and designing a lot of different robots. Now at this point, I've sent out over 11,000 free Ecker kits, which is really exciting. It makes me so happy. We have over 34,000 educators on our learning platform also making robots. One of my students just became a solver three weeks ago for an app that she came up with. That's so cool. And so I think from those negative experiences and things like that, a lot of positivity has come out of it. And we've been able to reach so many youths and it's a really, really beautiful thing. It's fantastic. It's such inspiring work that you're doing. And Nicole, I imagine that you are working with similar innovators to Danielle. And I'm curious how you go about finding and selecting and choosing to support particular indigenous led innovations and kind of what you're looking for when you're making your investments at Raven. Absolutely. So with Raven, we're super excited and always so passionate about supporting our indigenous entrepreneurs. It's a huge facet to what we believe in what makes a vibrant economy. It is with indigenous people. Lately, I've been kind of looking back upon in the Southwest, we have the different ruins like Chaco Canyon. We start learning about the different trade and the commerce that had been there. You start understanding that indigenous excellence, indigenous knowledge has always been there of us tracking the stars, of knowing the seasons, of inventing things, of solving issues. And so at Raven, we really believe in that. And so what we really look for on the Raven team as well is we look for passion. We look for commitment and we look for partnership. We look for passion because part of our screening of what we do at Raven is the impact screen. And that's pretty unique. A lot of the indigenous entrepreneurs that go through our system, they tell us and their feedback of like, I've never had the opportunity to talk to a VC fund about why we do what we do. Because often or not, the entrepreneurs that we work with, they have faced a hurdle. Like Danielle, access to robots. A lot of our indigenous entrepreneurs have faced several hurdles or a hurdle and they're trying to figure out and build a business that solves it. So we want to see the passion. We want to see what drives them to do the work of what they're doing and what they're building. But we also look for commitment. And we're not just talking about commitment to the business or the teams that you're building and then that they're committed to. But we're also looking to the commitment of advancing indigenous people and our livelihoods at that. That's the commitment we're looking for. That we're looking for the commitment in the business to better the communities around us. But we're also looking at partnership. And partnership is looking at what do we bring to the table to our entrepreneurs because in Navajo, our concept of relationship, of how we relate to one another, we want to be good relatives. And so how can be a good relative to our entrepreneurs? And so that's really the crux of what we're looking for, what we think about it and how we want to bring ourselves to the table to our entrepreneurs. That's fantastic. And I think it's so clear that their approach is so value aligned and kind of value-focused and it's really exciting. So Danielle, I know that in the film we saw the focus on preserving indigenous languages and the work you do and the incredible story when you were at the school in Los Angeles. I'm curious if you can kind of tell us a little bit more on what's next. As you look to the future for the STEAM connection, how are you looking to the future while still kind of holding true to knowledge of the past? Yeah, thank you. My main goal when working with students and creating STEM solutions is to help the students become future innovators, to give them the skills that they might not have otherwise. So it ranges from coding to building your own website, to learning how to assemble and wire things, learning 3D printing, CAD skills, all that stuff, kind of doing it all in a way that is project-based, easy to understand and accessible and simple, right? And that is the main goal through my organization. And that looks like many different forms. And one of those forms is through the form of a language revitalization robot named the SCOBOT. And SCO means let's go in res-like. And so it's like a cute little kitty cat robot and I was able to design it with my students. And it's something that's very important to me because my language, Ojibwe Mohan, is actually an endangered language as are many indigenous languages. And it's a very scary thing to know that there are limited resources, that there are limited information out about there, about our languages. It feels very like you're stuck sometimes because there's so many problems in our communities, whether it be access to clean water, to the internet, to language resources, all those things. I see robots as an opportunity to help to begin to solve some of these problems and to offer our youth opportunities to help us solve these problems in the future. So yeah, what that has looked like for now is manufacturing a lot of robots. And it's been really, really exciting. We've been able to branch into AI and AR and incorporate a lot of upcoming technologies into the robots. And it's really, really cool. And if anyone wants to see some videos of the robots afterward, I have more. I have some wearing tutus and unicorn ones. They're cute. Well, Nicole, I also know that at Raven, you're kind of looking at trends across the indigenous investment space too. I'm curious what you see as some of the opportunities for the investment community to be doing more in terms of investing in indigenous led solutions and what's kind of the call to action for the folks in the group in the room here today? Absolutely. So two weeks ago, I was back here in San Francisco with the Native Women Lead Inaugural Growth Capital Summit.  I heard there that 0.004 percent. Now, I don't know if you guys realize how small of a number that is, but 0.004 percent of venture capital funds actually make their way to indigenous entrepreneurs. That is unacceptable on every accord. And what we do at Raven is that we try to bring this access to capital. We try to, because we understand the hurdles there. And if you ask yourself, why is it only 0.004 percent? Part of it comes down to indigenous representation. And it's about indigenous representation at the levels that make the power, the decisions of how capital can go to our entrepreneurs. Because ask yourselves, how many indigenous led VC funds do you guys know? How many indigenous fund managers do you know? At that, how many indigenous people in finance in general do you know? We're not here, but we are doing our best to be here. You know, for myself, what I really loved in the video was that I never saw myself in finance. I have two degrees in finance and investment banking background, but when I graduated high school from a border town in New Mexico, I had no idea what the finance world is. I had no idea you could get a degree in finance, but now I have two of them. Those are the hurdles. Those are the hurdles that we have to face to even get to this space. And so the call to action really is of what I think when we're here talking about impact, talking about change, talking about why we should care about these things. It's because when you center and you can uplift people, people that have a systemically been left out, you find more results. You find better ways to think about the world and different issues and solving those issues at large. So I'd say really fund scholarship opportunities for Indigenous youth. The hurdles that we face are massive to even get to the space that we're even at right now. So if you have the opportunities, fund. Fund the scholarship opportunities that you can. Fund the entities that are doing the work, that are rooted in their communities, that have people and our communities at heart. Fund that and trust us when you fund that. Be an ally. Help us create the spaces so that we can be here in representation, so that we can tell our stories. Because there are over 500 and what is it? 74 federally recognized tribes. We only represent a handful of them here on the stage. So when you're talking about the Indigenous narrative and the voice here, know that there are over 500 voices that need to be heard. So help us make the spaces so that we can be here because we can't do this work alone and we need you guys as allies. Thank you, Nicole. And I invite everyone to spend some time after the session meeting with Raven, some of her other colleagues. Meeting with the Raven team, meeting with Nicole, some of her colleagues that are here across SOCAP today and tomorrow because this work is important and we must do it together. So we're going to open it up for Q&A with the audience. But before we do to kind of lead into that conversation, probably the first question that we'll hear is Danielle, what other support do you need now? What are you looking for as we move into the future for STEAM Connection? For me, one of my biggest goals is to get a robot into the hand of every single Indigenous youth. And to look at that, it takes a lot of funding. We have a lot of great supporters, but we give every single resource away for free. And we also have youth cohorts where we compensate our students to learn advanced technology to help us develop our programs. So to bring 500 robots to a school, it looks about $10,000, which honestly is not a lot of money when all the kids get to take those resources home, they get to keep them, and it impacts them so much. If you're curious to learn more, my website is www.steamconnection.org. And we have a lot of really great information on what the students are doing now with the skills that they've learned through robotics. And if any of you are interested in STEM education or supporting any of those initiatives, definitely let's have a chat. Fantastic. Well, my colleague Francis has a mic, and we'll take a few questions from the audience. One in the back. Hi, I just wanted to first say that what you guys are doing is pretty inspirational. My question is, how do you guys deal with infrastructure issues when it comes to technology? I can answer that. There are a lot of infrastructural tech issues, especially regarding Indigenous communities and things like access to the internet. A lot of the schools that we go into, there aren't enough laptops, they don't have computer mice, they don't have always all the resources we need to be able to start the programs. But they really, really want them. And so one thing that I do is when I'm designing robots is all the robots are designed to be able to operate without access to the internet, which is really awesome. We also make all of our resources out of recycled packaging, recycled stuff, so that we're able to get them into the community's hands faster and more sustainably. And the other thing is that we work with a lot of partners who don't always have funding for us, but sometimes they'll just give us a box of computer mice, which I got last week. I was really happy about it. And now we're able to teach a CAD class to an entire group of students. There are a lot of issues, a lot of infrastructural issues, and ones that I cannot necessarily always solve on my own. But there are ones that I can circumvent and help the students access the opportunities now. But there is a lot of progress to be made, especially when it comes to bringing internet to our communities. Anything you want to add, Nicole? The infrastructure on that is definitely very true. And I think that's really unique as well when you're talking about meeting the needs of Indigenous community, whether that's on reservation or off reservation. So those are sometimes two very unique conversation points that you can have. But definitely the connection, the connectivity, I think the pandemic had really highlighted the disparity of the access to internet, to basic resources as well too. So we've got a lot of work ahead of us to do and we're all trying to chip away at it in some way or form. Next question. Hi, I'm Benjamin Castaneda from Peru. So I have a question and an invitation. What you're doing is very inspirational and I think it's very applicable, of course, to Peru. Could you like to go international? That's my question. And the invitation is, as we speak, we are running an event in Peru about STEM which is funded by the U.S. Embassy in Peru. And would you like to come to Peru to speak to everyone? I would love to. I recently just did an article with BBC and they were interviewing robotics teachers in Peru and it is a cool piece that's coming out soon. And I was like, I have to visit. The teachers here are like amazing. They are really putting the work in and I have to say I admire it a lot. So, yes, I'd love to. Hi, I actually have a similar question but it's a little bit different. So my name is Jennifer Ma and I'm from Hawaii. I am a native Hawaiian woman and actually Hawaiians are not federally recognized indigenous people. What I found super powerful about your story is that there's STEM but there's identity. That was tied to it and that was really, really powerful. So we are actually opening what might be one of the largest indigenous youth centers in Hawaii. Yes, and STEM is going to be a huge part of that. What advice would you give for, I guess, starting it? Like, so for you, you're going around teaching. How do you build up in young people to become the teachers or to even start this, whatever advice that you might have? Honestly, I start with the teachers and working on a needs assessment with them. What do the students already know? What are they looking for? It's a very customized thing that I do based on the communities that I work with. I go around to many different indigenous communities across Turtle Island and every single community is so, so different and has so many different needs. So I can't always give blanket advice because sometimes I'll have a school come to me and they're like, we just want math help. We just want to start a math center. We need help with this. Other times, I have communities come to me and they're like, we want to start a 3D printing program. We need help with that. And so a lot of what I do is I speak one-on-one with the educators and helping supply those needs. The biggest thing that I do is I train the teachers to use the solutions, whether it be my own or even other technical solutions on their own so that their centers or classrooms can run independently. So that is like, I would say the biggest part of what I'm up to day-to-day is working with the teachers. So if you have specific questions on what kind of needs there are, things like that, I would be happy to help. I can help from everything. I've been asked what kind of 3D printer should we get to what kind of computers do we need to be able to run this. I have a really great team of engineers and people who are very hands-on with this and who are so supportive and down to help. So yeah, feel free to reach out. Hi, my name is Yilana, I'm a young Oak Tree. And first, just super congratulations to the trifecta of the three of you collaborating in these ways, just modeling how to go forward. Questions related to the most recent, have you created a curriculum guidebook that would allow teachers to one, if you want to do them one by one, they're all short questions? Yes, I have a virtual learning platform called the Make a Robot platform. We have 34,000 educators on it and we have a great curriculum. And we're, we have an app soon that's coming out, so I'm excited. Fantastic. Related to the approval and invite, have you guys been invited to or thinking about applying for a Clinton Global Initiative? This tend to be around the $10 million market. We have been in touch with the team about potentially presenting there, but it's definitely something we'd like to be featuring, Danielle's story, the other episodes from the film to be able to share to more audiences. So if anybody in the room has opportunities that we want to discuss, happy to have that conversation. Great. I'm actually one of their previous students and like the support that they offer is amazing. I also went on after that to do one of their programs with VentureWell. It's called the Verizon Forward for Good Challenge and we ended up winning that with BioDegratable Robots and it was really exciting. I think that was about when we started filming this and it was just honestly the support that the Clinton Global Initiative has is really awesome. And related, had the pleasure of starting George Lucas's Educational Foundation in 1991 and if you haven't already been profiled on a Jitopia, it's still the most widely used online video magazine in K-12 education. We can get you straight in there. That would be cool. Okay. Any other questions? All right. Last pieces of advice for Indigenous innovators out there who feel like they want to change the world, whether that be in their communities or they want to come up with a solution to help more communities and more lives around the world. What advice do you have for them to just get started? Don't be afraid. Even if you feel like there's a failure, it's not because you don't learn unless you try and find that courage within you to keep doing it, to keep driving, to keep finding the solution that you want because it's there and you can do it. I love that. And our support, it comes together as a community. We don't do anything as individuals, nor should we. Everything that we create as Indigenous peoples, it's by us and it's for us, right? And so whenever I see my students be getting to create things and do things and they need support, it's about leaning on your community for that help. And not just your own community, your res, whatever, it's also Indigenous peoples as a whole. We're really here for each other, especially I think within the space that is tech and stuff like that. It's really scary, especially a lot of us are quite young and a lot of us are women. And we have a lot of big ideas and are not always taken seriously and it can be very difficult. But for me, whenever I'm struggling, I lean back on my mom and my grandma. They are bad asses and they're always killing it. And whenever I need advice, I always ask them and they give me the support that I need. So I always encourage everyone to lean on their family. That's beautiful. Well, we invite you all to join us in continuing this conversation. I know that we'll likely need to flip the room for the next session. So we'll be out in the lobby area. Come talk to Nicole, come talk to Danielle, come talk to myself and my colleague Francis about ways that you can join us in this journey. Thank you so much, everyone.