Hosts: Lauren Pray, Jimmy Kang, Jennifer Gaskin
Guests: Chandra Batra, Cyndi Weekes
On next today’s show we have the honor of getting to interview Chandra Batra!
Chandra was born disabled and at age 19 she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. As an advocate for herself and others, Chandra is on the MASSCANN advisory committee and is very active in all things medical/patient related! Chandra uses her voice and shares her knowledgeable opinions on Massachusetts’ medical and recreational marijuana laws. She recommends that there be a fix to the 1 to 1 patient to caregiver ratio and Chandra has volunteered for MASSCANN during the Boston Freedom Rally.
Chandra is also an AIDS activist and a sex work advocate and has been actively supporting the freeing of cannabis prisoners including her dearest friend Lance Gloor who is currently serving a ten year sentence for being a caregiver for several pediatric patients
Additionally, Chandra is a founding member of the MPAA and as a result of her persistence and passion, the medical law passed for this state! Big thank YOU, to Chandra!
Also joining us is Cyndi Weekes who is passionate about building an anti-racist, sustainable culture within all communities. Cyndi is a previous school leader, whose expertise is in equity, racial equity, instructional leadership, special education and policy. She is an Associate Lecturer at a local university and teaches on school leadership courses within their Graduate School of Education.
As an Education Consultant, her work today also continues to support school improvement through an equity lens. Her core values are to help build kind environments that respect the authenticity of 100% of its stakeholders. In doing so, she works with several school districts across The Commonwealth; by collaboratively creating sustainable systems grounded in social justice, racial equity, cultural responsiveness, instructional leadership and turn around practices.
Cyndi as a leader in the community, takes pride in using her lived experiences, gifts and talents with others to create open spaces for productive discourse. Propelling both larger and smaller communities closer to their goal of embedded culturally inclusive practices and anti-racist behaviors is always a goal when working with organizations in need of her services.