HELLO
Simma Lieberman
She/Her
Meet the Leader
Simma Lieberman is an award-winning consultant, speaker, and author with 35+ years of experience helping organizations build inclusive cultures where people do their best work together. As host of the podcast Everyday Conversations on Race, she brings people together across race and culture to stop hate, eliminate fear of differences, and spread love across the globe. Known as “The Inclusionist,” she helps leaders turn commitment into results.
Restorative Leadership Interview Questions:
Question 1: What helps you stay creatively courageous when the world feels threatened/like it’s on fire?
Community- belonging to something greater than myself. I have been clean and sober over 41 years and the power of that community where I give and get love, gives me fuel I need to focus on creativity. Beliefs- I believe in a higher power greater than me so I don't feel like "it starts and ends with me." The repression, the autocracy and threats in the news, laws, social media, etc. could overtake me if I did not have the power of my beliefs and community. Also, hiking on all the trails around me and touching the grass. I am fortunate enough to live in a area with many trails, streams, and color.
Question 2: Describe a time when your imagination helped you move from fear into action.
This recently happened. When an executive order eliminated DEI diversity programs in the federal government, I lost much of my business and felt real uncertainty. I started getting afraid. Shortly after, I was invited to speak at a women’s conference aimed at bringing women of color and white women together. Drawing on work I had already done, I designed an all-day session where women shared personal stories, discovered unexpected commonalities and connections, and developed curiosity without fear. About 150 women took part, and many described the experience as life-changing. That response led me to formalize the approach as a new program: Seeing Each Other Fully: Race, Identity, and the Stories We Tell. I expanded that program and developed ones for different sectors. Including business, community organizations, boards of directors and more. I’m excited again about future possibilities.
Question 3: What does growth and holding space look like for you after a loss or rupture?
This is a very personal experience. When my partner of 18 years died, I couldn’t imagine how to go on. What helped was our community and the simple practices we’d already built together—showing up, sharing food, and observing holidays. We were part of a large, multicultural circle that treats friends like family. I’m Jewish and white; my partner was African American; our friends come from many backgrounds. They carried us. Our Muslim friends joined our Jewish mourning rituals and took my son to baseball games. Our Latino friends brought food and included him in Mexican and Puerto Rican celebrations. People sat with us, prayed with us, and kept us busy with care so we were never alone. Those everyday acts—rituals, meals, company—were the structure that moved us through the worst days. Her death also sharpened my commitment to social justice and to bringing people together across race. She was outspoken and active in anti-racism work. Continuing my work in diversity, equity, and inclusion is how I honor her and carry her mission forward.
Question 4: How do you protect space for imagination in your team or community?
For over 25 years I have been part of D2K—Diversity 2000, a multiracial, cross-generational, cross- cultural dialogue and innovation group. We create the conditions for creativity and shared dreaming through Open Space Technology. Every year we have a four-day retreat away from the city. We begin with one guiding question (overall theme), co-create an agenda wall, and let participants host breakout sessions. People move freely between conversations, which keeps energy high and surfaces ideas that don’t show up in traditional meetings. We use simple agreements—curiosity before critique, speak from personal experience, respect time—and each session ends with a small next step someone can try within a week. Between sessions, we include art and music: collage tables, poetry, drums, and shared playlists. Those practices open different parts of the brain, give quieter members new on-ramps, and connect us through culture as well as content. The result is practical imagination—new conversation circles, cross-race collaborations, and experiments people carry back to their communities. I’m always amazed at the ideas and solutions I’ve gotten. We use this process during the year when we meet in smaller groups.
Question 5: What rituals or practices help you (and/or your team/community) name what hurts while still holding on to what’s possible?
In our D2K community, we don’t tell anyone how to grieve; we support each other and, when invited, participate in each other’s grief rituals. We make space for everyone to speak without interruption, to share joy, and to be free of judgment and unasked-for advice so people feel safe sharing what they need. We use group meditation led by a Buddhist member and Native American drum ceremony led by Native American members. People bring their cultural, religious, and musical rituals; Jewish, Muslim, African-American, African, etc. We convene in small groups where people speak without interruption and receive feedback only when they ask for it. We use a talking stick to help us listen. We also share food and fun. These practices let grief be present, invite honesty, and keep hope alive together. When we don’t feel alone and isolated, we have room for creativity, love and hope.