This episode goes somewhere we didn't plan, and we think that makes it one of our best yet.

We sat down with Jarah Euston, co-founder and CEO of WorkWhile, a fast-growing app-based staffing platform connecting 80 million frontline workers with flexible shift opportunities. Jarah grew up in Fresno working retail, got burnt out building software for tech people, and decided to build technology for workers instead. It's a compelling vision and a genuinely interesting conversation about flexibility, AI, and what the future of work could look like for hourly employees.

But after that conversation wrapped, we learned that WorkWhile had recently settled a second major lawsuit with the San Francisco City Attorney's office for misclassifying workers as independent contractors. So we spoke with David Chu, the San Francisco City Attorney, and asked for his side of the story.

What you'll hear in this episode is both interviews back to back. First, Jarah's perspective on building worker-centered technology, and then David's perspective on what happens when "flexibility" becomes a cover for avoiding worker protections.

Together, these two conversations raise a question that feels urgent right now: Is it possible to build a genuinely worker-centered future of work, one with flexibility, innovation, and fair treatment? Or are we just repackaging old inequities in new apps?

Visit us at InclusionGeeks.com to stay up to date on all the ways you can make the workplace work for everyone! Check out Inclusion Geeks Academy and InclusionGeeks.com/podcast for the code to get a free mini course.

It's February 2026, and everything is happening all at once. In this unfiltered bonus episode, we try to make sense of the polycrisis… from billionaires losing it (looking at you, Benioff), to the Epstein files, to AI potentially developing consciousness, to Tesla pivoting to humanoid robots. We dig into why the people with the most power and money seem to be the most broken, how institutions (including Felicia's own alma mater!) are choosing money over morals, and why this might actually be the reckoning we've been overdue for. Plus: Reggie Watts' optimistic AI theory, the case for dismantling the patriarchy, why capitalism is the connective tissue in all of this, and an honest conversation about aging as women in a world designed to make us hate our wrinkles.

Let’s get into it!

Visit us at InclusionGeeks.com to stay up to date on all the ways you can make the workplace work for everyone! Check out Inclusion Geeks Academy and InclusionGeeks.com/podcast for the code to get a free mini course.

We're catching up with Chris Haigh, founder of True Change Associates, to discuss the dramatic shifts in DEI work over the past few years. From the surge of interest post-2020 to the current backlash, we explore what it means to do this work within a capitalist framework and whether it's even possible to create real change from within existing systems.

Chris shares Dr. Carmen Foster's powerful framework of the time-space continuum, a reminder that today's challenges are a blip in the larger arc toward justice. We discuss language shifts, the persistence of this work despite market pressures, and what the future might hold 10 years from now, including the role of AI in creating equitable workplaces.

This conversation is both a reality check and a beacon of hope for anyone navigating the complexity of DEI work in 2026.

0:00 - Intro and Felicia and Rachel chat about the state of the world
13:30 - Catching up with Chris: Where in the world & what's new
22:15 - DEI as an industry: Can it exist within capitalism?
32:40 - The 2020 surge and subsequent backlash
42:50 - Language shifts: From DEI to "culture" and "belonging"
48:20 - Islands of psychological safety: Doing the work where you can
55:10 - Companies still doing the work (quietly)
60:54 - The time-space continuum: Taking the long view
62:40 - Future of work: AI, humanity, and what's next
65:35 - How to connect with Chris & True Change Associates
66:48 - Wrap-up

Visit us at InclusionGeeks.com to stay up to date on all the ways you can make the workplace work for everyone! Check out Inclusion Geeks Academy and InclusionGeeks.com/podcast for the code to get a free mini course.