Chanté Thurmond
Co-Host of Greater Than Code
Chanté Thurmond is a D&I Talent Strategist who partners with emerging tech startups, digital health innovation companies, and VC firms throughout the U.S. helping them attract, retain and engage top talent.
Chanté’s interests are full-bodied, eclectic and reflective of her entrepreneurial spirit. In 2018 she founded The Darkest Horse, a next-gen consultancy exploring the intersections of radical inclusion, the future of work, emerging technology, and health, well-being, and human potential.
Chanté is also a Contributing Writer at Futurithmic, a new digital publication powered by NOKIA that explores the implications of emerging tech (such as 5G and IoT). In addition, she serves as a consultant and trusted advisor to a handful of small businesses, social impact organizations and early-stage startups throughout N. America.
Her background is anchored in Organizational Development, Social Innovation, Health & Well-being, and Community Engagement. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Mount Mercy University and an M.A. from St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, MN. Chanté is a proud mother of twins and Iowa native who now considers the community of Evanston (IL) home.
Chanté Thurmond has hosted 25 Episodes.
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272: People First – Self-Awareness and Being Excellent To Each Other with Ashleigh Wilson
February 23rd, 2022 | 54 mins 52 secs
Ashleigh Wilson sees “The Vision” and operates her company, Auditmate, under a “People First” mentality.
We talk about listening, digging into defensiveness and uncomfortableness, personal growth and development, leading with gratitude, and ask the question, “Why is showing vulnerability perceived as unprofessional?”
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269: Being Your Authentic Self – Turning Adversity Into Power with Nikema Prophet
February 2nd, 2022 | 1 hr 7 mins
Nikema Prophet talks about authenticity and power, seeing other people for their whole selves, facilitating safe spaces, becoming a founder, thoughts on education and homeschooling, and how impostor syndrome should not be normalized.
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264: #BlackTechTwitter and Black Tech Pipeline with Pariss Athena
December 22nd, 2021 | 59 mins 46 secs
Pariss Athena talks about being the creator of the hashtag, movement, and global community #BlackTechTwitter, and founding the Black Tech Pipeline.
She and the panelists discuss being okay with losing opportunities, being vocal about wins, and being intentional about community because people who are not Black do not understand the Black experience. We, as a collective society, and as coconspirators, need to make sure the Black experience is changed for the better moving forward.
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245: Hacking Reality with Rony Abovitz
August 11th, 2021 | 1 hr 20 mins
Rony Abovitz talks about having a free-willing imagination, and using his gifts of insight and intuition to maintain a sense of wonder and free-spiritedness.
The conversation veers towards talking about power structures and hierarchies and we wonder, is it possible (or will it ever be) to use technology to decentralize social structures? Can (or should we) hack reality?
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230: Using Tech + Policy For Good with Corey Ponder
April 14th, 2021 | 1 hr 10 mins
Corey Ponder talks about what it means to support Black lives, having conversations around allyship, developing empathy, and using the intersections of tech + policy for good.
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224: Better Allies with Karen Catlin
March 3rd, 2021 | 1 hr 9 mins
Karen Catlin talks about being a better ally and everyday actions to create inclusive workplaces, why it’s important to venture beyond homogenous networks, and ways we can help mitigate gender disparity in the tech industry.
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208: Who Tells Your Story? with Janeen Uzzell
November 11th, 2020 | 57 mins 26 secs
COO of The Wikimedia Foundation, Janeen Uzzell, talks about empowering communities to tell their stories, how to create Wikipedia pages, staying connected as an organization, and encouraging and influencing editor participation.
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203: Algorithmic Auditing and Accountability with Matthew Zhou
October 7th, 2020 | 1 hr 2 mins
Matthew Zhou talks about the intersection of technology and social science, algorithmic auditing and accountability, data surveillance, speaking out against racial inequality in the workplace, getting involved in politics on a personal level, and healthcare informatics and thinking about health disparities.
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178: Data Science and Sponsorship with Emily Robinson
April 15th, 2020 | 59 mins 49 secs
Data Scientist, Emily Robinson, talks about her journey into the data science field, the idea of passion, dealing with failure, the ideas of sponsorship vs mentorship, and the fact that companies should be training their senior people to be mentors.
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Special Edition: COVID-19
April 9th, 2020 | 53 mins 7 secs
In this special episode of Greater Than Code, several of our panelists have a candid conversation about the current COVID-19 situation, how it has been affecting them personally, and how they believe it will affect the tech industry as a whole. Discussion topics include how it feels both to be working and unemployed during the pandemic, productivity while quarantined, the effect on WFH and conference culture, the current political climate, and human resiliency in the face of the unknown.
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176: Career Karma with Ruben Harris
April 1st, 2020 | 52 mins 35 secs
Ruben Harris talks about Career Karma, the benefits of being underestimated, how the fire lit inside him, the origin of Career Karma and how they secured funding, the Career Karma team, and what’s on the horizon for Career Karma.
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174: Resilience
March 18th, 2020 | 41 mins 18 secs
The panelists discuss the importance of resilience; not only in the tech industry but in life itself. They apply resilience to leadership, discuss the difference between resilience and sustainability, relate it to leadership and diversity and inclusion, and discuss the price we pay for not prioritizing resilience.
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168: Appolition with Dr. Kortney Ziegler
February 5th, 2020 | 1 hr 1 min
Dr. Kortney Ziegler talks about the Appolition app: an app that helps users turn spare change into bail money for those in need across the USA. He also talks about his involvement with Trans*H4CK, and his future plans and endeavors for when he leaves tech.
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166: From Software Engineer to Management with Phil Wheeler
January 22nd, 2020 | 1 hr 2 mins
Phil Wheeler talks about making the move from software engineer to into management, how he came into the GTC community, commonalities between the US and NZ, the life science software experience, determining if one should get into management, the parallels of management and parenting, working from home or the office, overcoming impostor syndrome, empathy for managers and employees, and his thoughts for the future.
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163: Cause A Scene with Kim Crayton
January 1st, 2020 | 1 hr 4 mins
Kim Crayton talks about continuously validating her space as a black woman, how the system was built to harm and oppress black women, white feminism being bullsh*t, being a strategist, #causeascene, price asymmetry, her six-step process, strategies for developing other technical skills, and defining racism.
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161: Making Space with Bärí A. Williams
December 18th, 2019 | 1 hr 27 mins
Bärí A. Williams talks about intersectionality and culture, gentrification, being born and raised in Oakland, connecting to your roots, unintended consequences, who’s job is it to educate school children about bias, diversity or inclusion, and taking space or making space.