A24, a company that "that prides itself on getting filmmakers the tools they need to complete their visions" has partnered with Google Deepmind. In 'What You Need to Know About A24's Partnership with Google DeepMind' Jason Hellerman writes that "it behooves them to at least explore what AI has to offer and if it could help any film under their umbrella achieve greatness."

In the RECONCILIATION framework, L is for Leadership. I broke down this heavy topic into ten parts, with some of the parts already included in the overall RECONCILIATION framework: Learning, Empathy, Acknowledge, Determination, Empathy (yes, again!), Respect, Silence, Honesty (Candid), Integrity, Patience.

A24's willingness to explore what AI has to offer is a sign of the company's willingness to learn. Hellerman reminds us of the statement that the company issued: “We’re working side-by-side with DeepMind’s researchers to learn, iterate, and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows...This is about learning and helping pain points in workflows behind the scenes." I think this statement also shows the company's empathy and respect towards artists: "...we want to dictate what tools get built for artists, so they have a voice in shaping them rather than having tools handed to them."

In "Venice AI becomes a unicorn with $65M Series A as its privacy-first AI platform takes off" we can see further examples of Leadership. Erik Voorhees, the founder, who has previously founded crypto companies, displays empathy towards users by saying: "I don't think people should have their identity recorded to catch an occasional criminal." He also displays respect: ""We're optimizing for freedom and actually respecting users as adults, which is, I think, rare these days."

In 'Ideas are cheap, Organizational change isn't' Salim Ismail pointed out that: "Technology has never been the bottleneck. Leadership has."

The D in Leadership is for Determination. In 'Leadership Trait Determination: Why and How to Build It' there is a list of some leaders who had determination. All are male and except for Martin Luther King, the rest are Caucasian.

Recently, while working on another project, I came across an interesting video titled 'African Women's Leadership through the ages', a talk by Filomena Steady who, according to her achievements which were listed at the beginning of the talk, is definitely a leader in her own right. From minute 19:19, she takes us through a journey that highlights African women leaders and rulers. She mentions Cleopatra and Nefertiti from ancient Egypt, Queen Nzinga of Angola and Congo, the Candaces of classical Ethiopia in the Kush Kingdom, the Ashanti Queen Mothers of Ghana, including Nana Yaa Asantewaa of Edweso, and Madame Yoko of Sierra Leone.

In her talk, Filomena Steady does not neglect to mention, from minute 21:20, that: “Although some African women leaders challenged colonialism, some of the political positions of women guaranteed in indigenous systems were often undermined. Some women Chiefs and Queens were dethroned or demoted and the authority transferred to…chiefs created by the British. Western-style political parties became dominated by men, ignoring the guarantees of female representation evident in some indigenous political systems."

Just yesterday, on 4th of July, I watched a video by Julia Stege titled 'Authenticity cannot be scripted! Nor can it fit in a niche!' From minute 7:48, she recalls how she said to a certain lady that: '...in the 1600s if you were a woman sharing that kind of thing they offed you...they did the dunking thing, they burnt you at the stake or whatever for being a witch and then this woman said yeah they also didn't have women leaders...And that's good reason why we didn't have women leaders cuz they offed us when we knew anything or if we stepped outside of the norm."

Earlier in the video, at minute 4:12 she talks about authenticity: "...authenticity doesn't fit into a prefab box...I learned that down at private school, too. I didn't fit into the box at all...the prefab box is not where leading edge trailblazers hang out...you need to take a risk...you don't even really know if it's going to work. You cannot know in advance...You can't protect yourself from possible failure...what about just doing your own thing and creating your own sphere, of possibility to reach your people?" (Hello, Afrogothers!) "What if you just go up online and start sharing extemporaneously from the heart?"

I now share with you, extemporaneously from my heart, an A.I. fashion show, dedicated to a very special and impactful female leader in my life: My Mother. Mourning and Memory: The Mama Collection.