Understanding Our History

Understanding Our History was the opening plenary for The BIG Conference 2024 to frame the two day conference by our movement's historical context, its roots in black women's experiences and activism, and this through point into current guaranteed income work as well as the racist and misogynist motivations and intent behind many of the threats our communities and movement are currently facing. This conversation was an opportunity to take a first step in building a culture in our movement that supports these honest and direct conversations.

Featured Speakers:
Jhumpa Battacharya
Jhumpa is the Co-President and Co-Founder of The Maven Collaborative. She directly leads work identifying policy and narrative solutions to racial and gender income and wealth inequities and mitigating the harms of mass incarceration. She holds expertise in Guaranteed Income, narrative change and occupational segregation and is an avid believer in centering Black women and their families as a pathway to economic liberation for all.

Dr. Zea Malawa
Zea Malawa is a mother, pediatrician and public health professional committed to improving health outcomes for children of color. Upon completing her undergraduate degree at Columbia University, she earned a medical doctorate from UCLA and a master’s degree in public health from UC Berkeley. Currently, Dr. Malawa is the director of Expecting Justice, a public health program that uses systems change and justice-oriented approaches to dismantle racism and close the racial gap in birth outcomes. In that capacity, she directs the Abundant Birth Project, the first pregnancy Guaranteed Income program in the US. She is the Perinatal Equity Medical Director at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and Adjunct Faculty at UCSF School of Medicine. She also sees patients at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and serves as the Vice Chair of San Francisco’s First 5 Commission.

Khea Pollard:
Khea Pollard is the Director of San Diego for Every Child. She has several years of experience fostering collaboration, facilitating dialogue, and implementing policy to make improvements in health, human service, and criminal justice systems. Her skills include facilitating interagency communication, generating solution-focused dialogue, project management, and strategic planning.

Prior to joining San Diego for Every Child, Pollard was a Justice Program Manager for the National Association of Counties, serving County governments across the United States. Her work focused on the intersection of behavioral health, criminal justice reform, and racial equity, supporting counties to make evidence-based policy changes, providing trainings, implement quality assurance practices, and facilitate multijurisdictional information sharing to reduce the number of individuals with mental illness in county jails.

Moderated by:
Saadia Van Winkle
Saadia is a communications professional focused on issues of global health, immigration and economy. Her experience includes strategic media planning and execution, writing and project management. Saadia graduated with a Master's in broadcast journalism from one of the top programs in the country and among her professional achievements she has won a Unity Edward R. Murrow Award, organized and moderated a Congressional debate, covered the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, and interviewed several presidential candidates, including President Obama.


Learn more about The BIG Conference at www.theBigConference.org