Leadership doesn’t come with instructions, it’s created piece by piece.
In this episode, Chastity Lord, President & CEO of the Jeremiah Program, reveals how she has built a career by embracing uncertainty, dismantling inequities, and leading with courage.From her early years as a first-generation college graduate raised by a single mom, to leadership roles at The Posse Foundation, Achievement First, and Color of Change, Chastity has shaped opportunity at every level. Today, she leads Jeremiah Program, one of the most impactful organizations for single mothers and their children, growing it by more than 300% in just five years.
Tune in to learn how to lead when no roadmap exists, why storytelling is a powerful lever for systems change, and what it takes to design leadership that thrives in a world without blueprints.
Key Takeaways:
- The Bin of Legos Mindset – Why great leaders find strength in uncertainty and create without instructions.
- Narrative as a Leadership Tool – How storytelling can shift systems, influence culture, and drive change.
- Building with Purpose – Lessons in equity, resilience, and reimagining what success looks like
- Legacy in Action – Building systems that create equity for future generations.
-
Highlights
The key moments in this episode are:
[00:00] Introduction to Beyond Barriers Podcast
[01:17] Chastity Lord's Leadership Journey
[04:02] Early Life and Education
[07:14] Career Beginnings and Mentorship
[12:31] Joining the Jeremiah Program
[14:38] Navigating Uncertainty and Leadership
[25:10] Finding Comfort in Discomfort
[26:07] Parenting and Leadership
[26:46] Feedback and Public Leadership
[28:34] Navigating Messy Leadership Moments
[39:10] The Power of Community
[40:00] Lightning Round and Final Thoughts -
Lightning Round
Q: What book has greatly influenced you?
A: Sister Outsider by Audre LordeQ: What is your favorite inspiring quote or saying?
A: Poverty isn’t the absence of money, it’s the absence of choices by Matthew DesmondQ: What is one word or moniker you would use to describe yourself?
A: What would Harriet do
Q: What is one change you've implemented that made your life better?
A: Go off coffee and alcohol
Q: What power song would you want playing as you walk out onto a stage?
A: All I Do Is Win by DJ Khaled -
Quotes
Poverty isn’t the absence of money, it’s the absence of choices and people who take advantage of them for it.
Chastity Lord
Don’t just run to where the puck is going, ask yourself how you can influence its direction.
Chastity Lord
When we’re too focused on being right, we lose the chance to be effective..
Chastity Lord
Playing small is not diminutive… It takes energy to play small. And so how do I allocate that
energy?Chastity Lord
-
About
Chastity has spent two decades dedicated to dismantling systems of inequity for marginalized communities. She deeply believes that generational poverty is a social justice issue and that families are the best owners and narrators of their lives. History has proven time and again that building infrastructure, leadership, and power formarginalized communities creates a contagion of long-term change.
Chastity’s professional North Star and commitment to equity and justice for the past two decades is influenced by her own personal experience as a first-generation college graduate. Prior to JP, Chastity served as Chief Operating Officer at Color of Change (COC), a racial justice organization with 7+ million members.
Prior to joining COC, Chastity was the Chief External Officer of Achievement First, a nonprofit organization that operates 50 public charter schools in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Brooklyn. Chastity also spent eight years at The Posse Foundation, a nationally- recognized and MacArthur Genius-awarded college access program devoted to public high school students who show academic and leadership potential, but may be overlooked by the traditional college admissions process.
She has a BA in organizational communication from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA in strategy and marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She is a 2012 Pahara-Aspen Fellow with the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Chastity was most recently the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. In the past year, she was quoted as a thought leader in top-tier outlets including Reuters, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, CBS Morning, and NPR.