EP #120: Cheyanne Ratnam - Social Equity Champion, Entrepreneur & Sexual Abuse And Homelessness Survivor

Cheyanne Ratnam (@rising.phoenix7) is the Co-founder & CEO of the Ontario Children's Advancement Coalition. She is passionate about equity, developing inclusive and accessible anti-racist spaces and processes, and social innovation. As a social entrepreneur she has dedicated much of her life/expertise in child welfare, homelessness, and equity issues. She is passionate about youth homelessness, child welfare, SDoH, childhood sexual abuse, GBV/IPV, youth development, mobilization and ethical engagement, equity, anti-racism, & human rights issues. Her life experiences spanning various identities and histories sparked much of her life's work and recognition for her work.She joins Ara on this week’s episode of #TheTamilCreator to discuss how she’s impressively overcome several unfortunate life circumstances to come out on the other side (including being homeless, dealing with violence, and healing from generational trauma), why peace is expensive, Canada measuring wellness from an economic perspective versus New Zealand’s benchmark, being a target of human trafficking, why family is chosen, and so much more.Follow Cheyanne:- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheyanneratnam/)- Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rising.phoenix7/) Timestamps00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Cheyanne Ratnam01:49 - Cheyanne speaks on how her past led to her current life trajectory09:12 - Healing is a lifelong journey; her experience with it12:01 - Addressing the prison pipeline; prevention versus intervention20:23 - The long-term cost saving effect of mitigating homelessness22:53 - Affordable housing for the homeless/those who can’t afford a home25:38 - Cheyanne speaks on being a target of human trafficking30:37 - Starting the Ontario Children’s Advancement Coalition40:35 - Why pure intention is not enough for actual change46:12 - Her strategy behind being socially innovative and sustaining her life50:04 - Cheyanne speaks on being in survival mode since the age of 852:58 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self54:53 - Her definition of family; it being chosen59:21 - The personal legacy she wants to be remembered for1:00:53 - Creator Confessions1:22:27 - The Wrap UpIntro MusicProduced And Mixed By:- The Tamil Creator- YanchanWritten By:- Aravinthan Ehamparam- Yanchan Rajmohan     Support the show