Reframing Perspectives with Payal Beri, PhD

Join Payal on a journey into the hearts and minds of those who dare to reframe perspectives. Through stories of personal evolution and pivotal decisions, Payal explores how using empathy and curiosity transforms the way we build closeness with each other and within our communities. Featuring guests like social impact founders, purpose-driven entrepreneurs, and everyday people, these conversations celebrate our uniqueness and our commonality as humans. Discover how a single perspective shift can amplify, impact, and reshape your world.

Reframing Perspectives with Payal Beri, PhD is a society podcast hosted by Payal Beri, PhD, with 67 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 81. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Payal Beri, PhD hosts Reframing Perspectives with Payal Beri, PhD, a society show with 67 episodes published.

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  Episode #68

  How AI Bias is Failing Social Impact Missions with Catharine Montgomery

  Jul 8, 202652 minS1

  Most conversations about AI are about what it can do. Very few are about who pays when it gets things wrong. This week on Reframing Perspectives , I sit down with Catharine Montgomery — Founder and CEO of Better Together Agency, creator of TogetherAI, and one of the most important voices in the country on AI bias and inclusive technology. Catharine walks us through the mammy moment — the day she asked ChatGPT to generate content about Black women and watched it return a full historical stereotype — and the structural insight that has guided her entire body of work since: AI doesn't go neutral. It reverts to how it was originally trained. We talk about the Biases in Generative AI survey she has been leading since 2024, the only longitudinal consumer study of its kind. The framework she calls born-inclusive technology — building with diverse voices from day one rather than auditing for bias after the fact. The creation of TogetherAI, a private AI platform built for nonprofits and mission-driven organizations, trained only on a client's own materials, drafting in their voice, detecting bias before anything goes public. And we talk about what Catharine herself has carried to build all of this: a childhood of being bullied by her own community in rural Alabama, microaggressions her parents never taught her to name, a colleague who created a racist work environment at a progressive Boston agency, and a March 2022 morning when she woke up in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there and a partner who, three days later, drove her home and never came back. This conversation is for every changemaker carrying something invisible while still showing up. Every founder building from scratch in a system that wasn't built for them. And every leader who is finally ready to ask the question Catharine wishes someone would ask out loud: what has this work actually cost — and has it been worth it? What we explore: Growing up in rural Alabama: being bullied by your own community and the long shadow it casts on identity and belonging Why Catharine chose PR and communications — and what she eventually learned about the gap between making money and making impact Moving to Boston in 2019 expecting progressive — and discovering the gap between liberal language and lived experience March 2022: a seizure with no medical explanation, a partner who said goodbye three days later, and the loneliness of carrying something terrifying while performing like you weren't Anthropic's Alignment Faking and the Othello reference ( I am not who I am ): why AI reverts to how it was originally trained The mammy moment : when ChatGPT returned a stereotype — and what it taught Catharine about who needs to be in the room Born-inclusive technology : why diverse teams must build AI tools from day one, not audit them after the fact The annual Biases in Generative AI survey — what consumers actually experience, and why most AI companies aren't yet incentivized to care Inside TogetherAI: a private AI platform built for nonprofits, trained only on a client's voice and values, detecting bias before content goes public Why every PR agency that doesn't incorporate AI thoughtfully will disappear — and what "thoughtfully" actually requires The cost of building: racism at a progressive agency, seizures with no diagnosis, and what Catharine has learned about asking for help as a leadership strength A question to sit with this week: If someone asked you what your work has actually cost you — and whether it's been worth it — what would you say? Connect with Catharine and Better Together Agency: Better Together Agency: bettertogetheragency.com TogetherAI: the private AI platform for mission-driven organizations The annual Biases in Generative AI survey Listen, subscribe, rate, share: If this conversation moved you, the most meaningful thing you can do is share it with one person who needs to hear it. Subscribing and leaving a review helps more changemakers find this space — and that is how this work compounds. For more on the Relationship Economy, subscribe to my Substack: https://substack.com/@drpayalberi Connect with Dr. Payal Beri & Reframing Perspectives: Instagram – Dr. Payal: https://www.instagram.com/dr.payalberi Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@payalberi?sub_confirmation=1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/payalberi Speaking & Media: https://www.drpayalberi.com

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  Episode #67

  Community Is Capital: Omi Bell on Building Black Girl Ventures and Funding Founders the System Overlooked

  Jul 1, 202653 minS1

  What if the most powerful form of capital you could access wasn't sitting in a bank or a VC fund — but in the community already standing around you? This week on Reframing Perspectives , I sit down with Omi Bell — CEO of Black Girl Ventures, Aspen Fellow, Kennedy Center artist, and the architect of a community-funding ecosystem that has resourced over 550 under-resourced companies and reached more than 20,000 entrepreneurs. Omi walks us through the lesson her grandmother taught her one afternoon at a historic Black-owned bookstore in Durham, North Carolina — a lesson that quietly became the founding thesis of Black Girl Ventures: if nobody else will help you, your community will. We talk about Omi's path from teen mom on public assistance to building one of the most respected community-funding ecosystems in the country. The first BGV event, where 30 women voted with marbles and coffee mugs at a brunch she cooked herself. The 1900s Harlem rent parties that inspired the crowdfunding mechanism she would build a century later. The framework she names pleasing, appeasing, proving, and adapting — what every founder is doing inside the rooms of power, whether they realize it or not. And the sabbatical that broke her out of the validation race and into the wellness practices that now shape how she leads. This conversation is a master class in what becomes possible when you stop waiting for the system to recognize you and start building with the community that already does. What we explore: Why Omi's structural reframe — community itself becomes a form of capital — has resourced 550+ founders the traditional system overlooked The grandmother story behind Black Girl Ventures: a historic Black-owned bookstore in Durham, an eighth-grade education, and the moment Omi saw what real social capital looks like Pleasing, appeasing, proving, and adapting : what every founder is doing inside the rooms of power The 1900s Harlem rent parties that became the model for BGV's crowdfunding mechanism Why networking is a two-way exchange — and what most founders miss about the long game of relationship building The story arc Omi has been quietly rewriting: from this happened TO me to this happened WITH me to this happened FOR me The validation race, the sabbatical, and the wellness practices that now sustain how Omi leads The pendulum swings back to community — and what the rise of intentional, in-person community means for the next decade of changemaking Why "self-made" is a myth — and why community is the only sustainable infrastructure for building anything that lasts A question to sit with this week: What part of your story is still living in the "this happened to me" phase — and what would it mean to move it into "this happened for me" ? Connect with Omi and Black Girl Ventures: Black Girl Ventures: blackgirlventures.org Omi's wellness practice + services: omibell.com/services Book: Originate, Motivate, Innovate: Seven Steps for Building a Billion Dollar Network Listen, subscribe, rate, share: If this conversation moved you, the most meaningful thing you can do is share it with one person who needs to hear it. Subscribing and leaving a review helps more changemakers find this space — and that is how this work compounds. For more on the Relationship Economy, subscribe to my Substack: https://substack.com/@drpayalberi Connect with Dr. Payal Beri & Reframing Perspectives: Instagram – Dr. Payal: https://www.instagram.com/dr.payalberi Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@payalberi?sub_confirmation=1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/payalberi Speaking & Media: https://www.drpayalberi.com

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  Episode #66

  Breaking the Mental Health Stigma in the Black Community: Archie Green on Hip-Hop, Healing, and Peel Dem Layers Back

  Jun 24, 202653 minS1

  What if the medicine someone needs isn't sitting in a therapist's office — but inside the music they're already listening to? This week on Reframing Perspectives , I sit down with Archie Green — Founder and CEO of Peel Dem Layers Back, hip-hop artist, and the creator of the Cope Dealer program that's transforming how Black men and boys are introduced to mental health. Archie walks us through the moment a viral song called Layers changed his life and launched a movement, the day his dad told him he should keep his depression to himself, and the structural insight that has guided his entire decade of work: people heal in community with people who look like them . We talk about Archie's mom — a 20-year breast cancer survivor whose public vulnerability gave Archie his first model of what it looks like to share your pain in service of others. The first Cope Dealer program at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio — and the school lockdown that turned day one into a real-time master class in cultural competency. The Campus International student who started the program quiet and neurodivergent and ended it announcing he wanted to pursue a career in mental health. And the personal pivot Archie is now living through — from cope dealer to edutainer , from building from pain to building from purpose. This conversation is for every changemaker who is pouring from an empty cup, every founder who is wondering what evolution looks like after a decade of carrying others, and every person who has ever doubted that the way they see the world might be exactly what someone else needs. What we explore: The viral 2016 song Layers — and how a song became a movement Why Archie became one of the first rappers to publicly say therapy saved my life — and the cultural ground that shifted because of it His mother's breast cancer journey and the gift of seeing vulnerability modeled inside his own family The story of the very first Cope Dealer program — a school lockdown, a SWAT team, and what it means to hold space in real time Why cultural competency is non-negotiable in mental health — and what gets missed when therapists don't share the lived experience of the people they serve Words are spells : the science of building playlists as therapy, and why Archie's Crash playlist is his personal SOS The Campus International student who came in quiet and left wanting to become a therapist The cost of pouring from an empty cup — and why Archie moved to LA to be among people who could pour back into him Building from purpose vs. building from pain — and Amina Altai's Ambition Trap What's next: the All Due Respect content series and Archie's edutainer era A question to sit with this week: What part of your story have you been keeping to yourself — that someone else might need to hear in order to feel less alone? Connect with Archie and Peel Dem Layers Back: PDLB: pdlb.org Celebrating 10 years of breaking stigma in Black mental health Listen, subscribe, rate, share: If this conversation moved you, the most meaningful thing you can do is share it with one person who needs to hear it. Subscribing and leaving a review helps more changemakers find this space — and that is how this work compounds. For more on the Relationship Economy, subscribe to my Substack: https://substack.com/@drpayalberi Connect with Dr. Payal Beri & Reframing Perspectives: Instagram – Dr. Payal: https://www.instagram.com/dr.payalberi Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@payalberi?sub_confirmation=1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/payalberi Speaking & Media: https://www.drpayalberi.com

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  Episode #65

  You Don't Need Dollars to Have Dignity: Miguel Centeno on Community, Accessibility, and Impact

  Jun 17, 202649 minS1

  What if the most powerful reframe you could offer someone wasn't how to give help — but how to receive it without losing yourself in the process? This week on Reframing Perspectives , I sit down with Miguel Centeno, the Vice President of Community Engagement at Healthfirst, a son of Bronx public housing, and a man whose entire life has been shaped by guardian angels who chose to invest in him. Miguel walks us through the lesson his parents taught him before he understood what it meant — you don't need dollars to have dignity — and the second half of that lesson he's spent his career trying to teach back to the rest of us: there is also dignity in accepting help. We talk about the woman named Susan Luger who prepared him and his sister for entrance exams that opened doors his parents didn't know existed. The walk down a steep hill to the public bus while his classmates climbed onto private ones. The high school guidance counselor who told him to "be more realistic" about Columbia — and the family who told him if they accepted you, it's because they believe you can do the work . And the families he later sat across from in a Bronx homeless shelter, where the question "where would you prefer to live?" became an act of dignity itself. This conversation is for every changemaker who has ever felt the weight of doing the work, and every leader who has ever forgotten that the people on the other side of the work are human first. What we explore: Why Miguel's parents' lesson — you don't need dollars to have dignity — became the foundation of his life and career The reframe most of us miss: that there is dignity in receiving help, not just giving it Susan Luger, the guardian angel who prepared Miguel and his sister for entrance exams that changed everything The two-worlds dance: walking down the hill from Fieldston to the public bus while classmates were chauffeured home The high school guidance counselor who told him to be "more realistic" about Columbia — and the family voice that pushed him through The Higher Education Opportunity Program: equity in action and the power of having someone tell you you are not alone A morning at a family homeless shelter when one question — "where would you prefer to live?" — shifted everything Why we do well by doing good — and what AI can never replace The leadership principle Miguel lives by: you are not just an employee to me. You are a human being. A question to sit with this week: Where in your life are you letting pride get in the way of the help that could carry you closer to your purpose? Connect with Miguel and Healthfirst: Healthfirst: healthfirst.org Learn more about community engagement at Healthfirst: healthfirst.org/community Listen, subscribe, rate, share: If this conversation moved you, the most meaningful thing you can do is share it with one person who needs to hear it. Subscribing and leaving a review helps more changemakers find this space — and that is how this work compounds. For more on the a deep dive from this episode, subscribe to my Substack: https://substack.com/@drpayalberi Connect with Dr. Payal Beri & Reframing Perspectives: Instagram – Dr. Payal: https://www.instagram.com/dr.payalberi Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@payalberi?sub_confirmation=1 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/payalberi Speaking & Media: https://www.drpayalberi.com

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  Episode #64

  Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Dan Zauderer on Building a Movement

  May 27, 202648 minS1

  <p><b>What if the most powerful systems we could build were the ones designed entirely around relationships, not rules?</b></p><p><b>This week on </b><b>Reframing Perspectives</b><b>, I'm sitting down with Dan Zauderer — founder and CEO of Grassroots Grocery, a nonprofit redistributing tens of thousands of pounds of fresh produce across New York City each week through a deceptively simple model: neighbors helping neighbors. Dan walks us through the moment a single refrigerator landed on a South Bronx sidewalk, the unexpected resistance he encountered as an outsider, and the structural insight that changed everything fo...

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