Purpose, Politics, and Well-Being with Kim Manning

“Good leadership is, yes, about listening. It's about understanding. But it's also about creating contexts in which people can become activators and create new possibilities for themselves. I feel like I am succeeding when the people around me are fulfilled and engaged and self actualized.” In this episode of the MindSpace podcast, Dr. Joe speaks with Kim Manning. Kim is a professor, researcher, and principal of the Simone de Beauvoir institute at Concordia University in Montreal. She is also a community organizer, an advocate for transgender rights, and a politician. After transitioning from her research in Chinese politics and Maoist ideology, Kim became involved in social action research, namely an advocate for transgender rights and the dignified treatment of that community. She began her journey because of a transformative experience she had with a gender nonconforming family member. That experience led her to play an integral part of passing Bill C-16, legislation which looks to extend Canada’s Human Rights Act and Criminal Code to protect gender expression and gender identity. Kim recently transitioned to a career in politics, which she sees as the pursuit of her highest purpose. She is currently running to be the federal Liberal party’s nominee in the Montreal riding of Outremont, where she feels she can best serve her community. To find out more about her political campaign, please visit kimmanning.ca. For more on her academic work, please visit her Concordia profile. Joe and Kim discuss: - Her personal experience with a gender nonconforming family member that inspired her to become an advocate for the transgender community - Her role in supporting Bill C-16 and confronting its critics, including Jordan Peterson, the U of T professor who got a lot of attention for his views on the Bill. - The excitement and challenges of her political campaign - How her family, her sense of purpose, her meditation practice, and even Zumba classes(!) help her maintain a modicum of balance in her crazy life.