Unapologetic Leadership: Dr. Nancy D. Young on Legacy, Faith and Breaking Barriers – ep.171

In this inspiring episode, host Melyssa Barrett sits down with Dr. Nancy D. Young, a transformational leader, speaker and author who made history as the first elected African American and female mayor of Tracy, California. Dr. Nancy shares how faith, resilience and unapologetic leadership shaped her path from Compton to public office, rising above adversity and racial harassment along the way.

They explore powerful themes from her book Unapologetic Leadership, including how to unleash your inner warrior, create your own table, and mentor future leaders with purpose. From community empowerment to DEI and legacy-building, Dr. Nancy reflects on what it truly means to serve, lead and inspire lasting change.

Melyssa Barrett: Welcome to the Jali Podcast. I’m your host, Melyssa Barrett. This podcast is for those who are interested in the conversation around equity, diversity, and inclusion. Each week I’ll be interviewing a guest who has something special to share or is actively part of building solutions in the space. Let’s get started. Dr. Nancy D. Young is a transformative leader, speaker and author, dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to unlock their full potential. As the first African-American and first elected female mayor of Tracy, California, she spent over a decade in public service driving results, fostering collaboration, and leading through complex challenges from Compton to uc, Berkeley, an MBA, and a doctorate in theology. Her journey reflects resilience, strategic vision, and an unyielding commitment to growth. With leadership experience at JP Morgan and Lamb research and extensive board service, Dr. Nancy d equips leaders across industries to rise with confidence and clarity. A dynamic keynote speaker, trainer, and mentor, she inspires action through platforms like Your Voice Matters with Nancy Young and mentor programs like the Student Discovery Program.

As mayor, she balanced Tracy’s budget, championed a $300 million investment in community development, and led through the COVID-19 crisis with strength and innovation. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, pastor, teacher, and coach. Nancy leads and inspires at various levels, drawing on the strength from ministry and family at her foundation, an advocate for documenting and telling history. Rather than her story. She’s authored seven books, including Conquering Fear and No More Chains. Dr. Nancy D is on a mission to cultivate fearless, unapologetic leaders who embrace their inner warrior and drive a lasting impact. Well, I’m excited to have you. I am so, so excited. Every week I say that to everybody, but this time, Dr. Young, I get to actually have a conversation with you on the podcast, which is awesome, and you have so many things that we can be talking about. So I just want to dive in because I know you have, I don’t want to limit our time, but I know you have lots of things to do. You are probably one of the busiest women I’ve ever met, and I just want to thank you for coming on to the Jali Podcast.

Dr. Nancy Young: Well, thank you for having me. I’m happy to be here.

Melyssa Barrett: Yes. So Dr. Young, you as the mayor of Tracy, the city of Tracy, broke Barriers as the first African-American mayor in our city, and I want to say from 1878, if I remember correctly. So can you take us back to the moment, what inspired you to run? What did it mean to you personally and to the community?

Dr. Nancy Young: Well, going back to elementary school, when I learned that I had a voice to be able to share at different tables and make a difference, whether it was at my school or at my church and everything, I began to get involved. And so when I lived in Compton, that’s where I primarily grew up until I was 13. I remember in junior high school trying to be a part of the newspaper team or on one of the student government boards, but I was blacklisted. I was blacklisted because my sister was dating a guy that the powers that be felt was out of her league. And it’s really because today we are still all great friends. The same guy David, because he was in my classes, he just dated my older sister. But when I moved to San Fernando, I met a young lady, Carolyn, and she had invited me to come to a city council, not a city, but a school council meeting at lunchtime.

And so I went in this classroom with her. Now, bear in mind, Compton, it was like 99% black. When I moved to San Fernando, I was like the only black kid or maybe one other black kid in majority of all my classes. So this was not a large percentage of blacks at San Fernando Junior High School. But when I went in that meeting, they would ask questions. I had ideas, and so people were curious as to what my ideas were. And then they asked me if I would run for ninth grade president for the next year. And I’m like, sure. And then the advisor looked it up and found out that I have to be at the school at least one full semester. Well, I didn’t get there until March. And so the elections I think were in May. And so they were already asking me to run, but I hadn’t qualified for it.

So the following school year, as soon as the school year began, the president was expelled from the school and the advisor called me in and asked me if I would take over as either president or vice president if the vice wanted to be president. So he decided he was going to be president that the vice did. And so I became vice president. And so that really just started really my appetite for really having a larger picture because by the time I got to high school and became student body president, we have 4,000 students at my school. And being at so many different events around the country, 4,000 is more than some cities have in them. And so when I moved to Tracy, I decided that I was in my late thirties at the time, and my youngest son was in kindergarten. My oldest was in high school.

My two middle kids were in middle school. I felt like I had a little bit more time to devote to my local community besides the church events and the youth things that I had already done. And I was working, that’s not get me wrong, I was working full-time for JP Morgan. I wasn’t like, I was just sitting around toileting my thumbs, but I had a little bit more time in that kids were more independent. So I started attending the council meetings just to see what was going on in my local community, a place that I planned on staying till retirement through retirement. And so when I sat there over four years, I actually just kept coming back every council meeting for four years. And as I sat there and I listened to the different things that they grapple with and the decisions that were being made.

And at one point it was all men. I was like, they need a female touch up there, and there’s just a different way that we make decisions and there could be a little more softness and understanding for the community. And so I decided I’m going to run. I’m to be council. I never thought that, I didn’t think anything about being mayor. I just knew that I could contribute something. And so I eventually decided over time that I am going to run for mayor. And so many people didn’t think that I could do it, but I was like, well, God is the one who’s leading me, not child. Nobody ever told me to run. And so if it was dependent on people, I don’t know where I’d be, but I have to depend on God. And so I believe that he could give me the favor to win, and he did.

And so to win this twice, I know twice, yes. And that’s the majority of the time that I could win. I still get people I run into at the grocery stores upset that I’m not there now. I’m voted for you. I was looking for your name. I’m sorry I turned out, can’t do it, but I’m going to say, can’t you just come back and do it? And I’ve met so many people around the country that are trying to have been trying to inspire me to move to their cities, to move to their state so that I can run and be mayor in their city. I’m like, I’m not doing all that. I know some people do. Some people move around and do that, but it takes a while to learn a community and to learn the atmosphere. And it’s not just to go around to be empower because there’s other things I can do other places that make a difference.

And that’s important to me because it’s all about ministry. And so it made a big difference in my family in that they’re like, wow, mom. But at the same time, it is been inspiring to be able to just walk into rooms, to be able to inspire little girls, to inspire people of color, of all different races because I crossed so many different barriers. It was a little white girl. I was walking through a neighborhood before and I said hi to her as she was getting in the car with her mom. And I went to the next door and put up a flyer, but I stepped back and I handed a flyer from my campaign to her dad. And so her mom wrote down the window. I was like, excuse me, can you come here a second? She said, my daughter just wanted to meet you, because she didn’t know that a girl could be a mayor.

And so she was just really inspired to know that she could do it. And from there, I have met so many different ones who served now in multiple higher levels even than myself have served and said they were inspired and didn’t even think that they could do it until they saw me. But they were encouraged that they could. So it means a lot of different things for a lot of people, but for me it’s being able to just show that you can break barriers, you can burst through things. You don’t have to be male to be a female leader. You don’t have to be mean, you don’t have to be harsh. You just have to be direct, and you just have to be a leader. And that comes in all different shapes and sizes.

Melyssa Barrett: Well, and it’s funny because I was going to ask you a little bit about how your identity kind of informs how you lead and serve. And I know you have a new book out called Unapologetic Leadership, unleashing Your Inner Warrior is the name of the book, and you sent it to me, thank you so much. And I read it all today. Oh my. Because I was like, oh. I mean, I started it and then I was like, oh, this is good. Let me keep going. And then next thing I know, I was a chapter 12, so it kind of reads almost like it’s a little bit of a memoir, but it kind gives you such a journey. But also it gives you this practical aspect of what you can do and how you do it in asking yourself the right questions. I really enjoyed it, I have to say.

Dr. Nancy Young: Well, I’m glad. Thank you. Because some, I’ve asked to do a pre-read format, and it’s a book, you know how many pages? Oh my goodness, I need an audio. I’m like, okay, lemme get the audio together. But that’s input, that input for that.

Melyssa Barrett: No, and I think absolutely you should do an audio book. I enjoyed reading it. It was kind of one of those books where you felt like it was almost like you were speaking to me. You were having your own master’s session to really talk about your journey. And one of the things, and I know this is a diversity, equity and inclusion thing, I’m always interested because there were so many things in your book where you talk about things like serving while black or your experience with affirmative action at uc, Berkeley. So I’m just trying to figure out, I mean, are there aspects of, I mean, I think when you talked about your own experience here in Tracy and some of the things that have gone on with you as a public figure, I’m not sure that many people would just continue on. I think in some cases there might have been some folks that would actually move out of the city. So I mean, how did you overcome some of those things? I don’t know if you want to talk a little bit about some of those, but I mean those are the things that cut to your core. We’re talking serious stuff, FBI kind of thing.

Dr. Nancy Young: And so the interesting thing is Sewell Black is the last section that I wrote. It’s not the last chapter, but it’s the last section that I wrote. I had already written the book. And so there’s a section that I talk about being sexually assaulted when I was a kid. And my mom was like, do you have to really put that in there? I’m like, mom, I already put it in. I sing because I’m happy. And that one was raped but not destroyed. That was a chapter title for that. But at the same time, I wanted to just deal with some things that I’ve dealt with in life. Because some things that people go through at whatever age, whatever stage, whether they’re in leadership or not, can be limiting and they can feel limited. They don’t have a voice to be able to speak out. But I wanted to show people can be damaged in different ways, but still rise above that and still accomplish things and encourage other people in different areas.

And for me, everything is about ministry. So serving while black and even dealing with one of the things that happened here, I had only been on the council seven months, and as swastika was left outside my door and my yard and also a shape of a penis made out of rocks, and then rocks were behind my tires. It is still an unresolved case, unfortunately. But the very next week that added onto that, it was a bag left in front of my house with seven dead rabbits in ’em with their throats freshly slit, the blood’s running out on the sidewalk. And the thing is that I remember I reached out to my mentor, one of my main mentors, and she was like, Nope, that never happened to me. Just leave me out of everything. And I was like, oh my goodness. I felt like, what am I supposed to do?

I mean, how am I supposed to handle this? And I said, I know people are looking at me and seeing how I’m going to respond to this. And even though things were frustrating, I can’t say that I felt terrified or scared. I was concerned. So mind you, my husband, every day for a while, for months, look, he looked around my car, made sure there was nothing attached to it before I left out for work early in the morning. And so we got cameras put up around our house. So just to do due diligence, I mean, it’s about being wise. When I lived in Compton, I didn’t carry myself any kind of way. I didn’t walk down any kind of streets. I remember one time I walked down this one street coming home from junior high school when I was at Walton Junior High. My sister is a year older than me, so she walked me the path we’re supposed to walk to and from school, but I needed to go home for something.

And the school was over a mile away from our house. So I wanted to get home as fast as I could so I can get something to get back to school. There was no calling parents back in the day. You just go home and you just do what you got to do and you go home, go back. And so I took a shortcut, which I thought was a shortcut home, and a lady came outside her door and she was like, excuse me, excuse me, little girl. Well, who are you? Where do you live? And I told her, she said, oh no, you do not walk down this street. We were the Montana Block Crips, but it was a different blood neighborhood. And so it’s not like I had on colors or anything, but she just knew I didn’t belong in that neighborhood. She said, it’s not safe for you.

Do not come down the street again. And so I’m like, okay. So it’s about being wise and what you do. It’s not about being scared, but being bold enough but wise enough to not do stupid stuff. And so for me, it was just about how do I carry myself and where do I go from here with this? So we tried to go through the legal route, through the police department, through the FBI, and then years later, it kept coming up from one of my council members. It never happened. It was a figment of my imagination, figment of my whole family’s imagination, figment of my neighborhood’s imagination, when all the different news channels were parked up and down the street to come and interview me. But it is what it is. I think it’s just part of the intimidation. It’s part of the thing to make you feel less than,

And the narratives and the lies that they choose to build around things like that. And so I’m like, this just happened to me. This happened to my family. So you can’t make it about a personal thing beside it. Me being a person of color, I remember when the newscaster first interviewed me, one of them, I was interviewed by a number of them. I asked them, I said, I thought that I get a burning cross. I said, did they not get this right because for the swastika, but the FBI did tell me that that was a universal language of hate. And so I was like, okay. So we just moved forward with that. But the thing is certain, while black, it’s not just these instances, but it’s the condescending things that are said that are done. And they try to not only say behind closed doors that you don’t matter, but even in front of you to try to talk down. And the thing is not having to respond as to try to defend that I have the right to be here, but it’s really just being a leader of just being there. It’s kind of like when I was getting my doctorate in theology, and one lady got to speak, and her whole message at this special service was all the scriptures of why a woman could speak. Why would you waste your time pulling out all those scriptures? You’re a woman. Just speak. Just preach, show them. You’re forced to reckon with who you are.

Melyssa Barrett: Yeah. Well, and I love the part of your book where you talk about you have the mic. It’s like, what are you going to do with it? I mean, there’s so many things in there. Stand in your sun. I mean, there’s so many things that I was like, oh, wow. So I mean, y’all have to read it. I don’t know. You’re going to have to tell them where they can get it because you have so many books, and I know there are so many things that people can pick up on. And I think it is so sad to think of you and your family having to go through something like that. I mean, I would think that it would be way back when this happened, but it’s like it’s actually happening in my lifetime. And it’s a shame that those types of things still happen. And I have to say, knowing you throughout that whole process, I don’t think I ever saw anything from you that was less than confident. So I’m not sure how you processed it all. To me. I think that’s so traumatic, not only for you, but then to have to be there for your kids and how you deal with all that.

But I’m glad that you were able to just continue to move forward and show your own resilience and leadership in that moment. And throughout the years, I mean, it’s been years. You are just doing your thing. So as mayor, because I mean, this was an ascension. You started as a school board you talked about, and then you came here to Tracy, you attended the city council meetings for years. You became a city council member, then you ascended to mayor, and I

Dr. Nancy Young: Was mayor Pro 10 for two years in between.

Melyssa Barrett: They’re pro te. Yes. Let me not forget. So what are some of the initiatives that maybe you have been really proud of? Because I know I have one of my favorite photos, I have to say, and I took it myself so I could say, this was you in front of the flag for Juneteenth. And then when you put up the Black History Month flag, I mean those are things you don’t normally see in a lot of cities, but are there initiatives, for example, that you have done that you’re particularly proud of?

Dr. Nancy Young: The thing is, when you have an opportunity, when you have the mic, you’ve got to say what needs to be said. And when you have the authority to make things happen, then that’s the time to stand up and do that and not just sit back. If you’ll sit back and wait. I remember Auntie Maxine, our congresswoman back in Los Angeles, okay, Watts, that was my mom where my mom grew up in wat. So she always called her Auntie Maxine. And I got to tell her that when I got to meet her in person. And so when she spoke at the African-American Mayor’s Conference, she said, so what are you waiting for? Who are you waiting to do something? So when you get in those positions, you need to find out all the things that you can do, all the authority that you have and make it happen.

And so for me, I remember when I first met Evelyn Tolbert and she agreed to be my mentor to run for city council. She asked me the different things. I was involved in the city, and she said, well, you need to get to know Tracy African-American Association because you are black and you need to be authentically black. And so I did. I sought it out and I ended up joining and have been active ever since. And the thing is that when we get into these different positions, we can’t just be like, well, I’m not a black leader. I’m just a leader. I’m woman and I’m black and I’m a leader and I love mentoring. I love youth. And so I need to call attention to the things that I can call attention to while I’m there. And hopefully it will stick that it continues to go forward.

Just like we just did the National Day of Prayer, because I’ve been pushing that for years. And so our current mayor has signed onto that. One of the things besides being making African-American History Month, black History month in February with the flag being raised during the whole month so that there’s a proclamation that goes for that. And then so there’s an awareness and there’s a focus on that. For the city of Tracy and Juneteenth in 2020, it became a really big deal, 2021, when they made it official. We’ve been talking about Juneteenth for years, but because I was in office at the time, it came, it was highlighted. So it’s like, wow, we’ve been missing out on this. Yes, y’all been missing out on this. This is an American, this is actually an American history moment.

Melyssa Barrett: This

Dr. Nancy Young: Is not just us set to the side, but we have built this country, and so we are celebrating our freedom within this country and it affects everybody around. So yeah, so it gave me great joy to be able to highlight that. But I looked for other ways of how we can really help our community come together in Unity. And so I was able to create what’s called Tracy Connects events. And so now there’s a Tracy Connects Day. I made it a proclamation when I was mayor. And so that is in September, and this year’s going to be September 6th. And so this is our fifth annual, and we’re able to focus on whatever we deemed to be most important. And so we started it through the Chamber of Commerce. This is how I started it, but now, as of January when I came out of office, I created a new nonprofit called the Young Connects.

And so in the Young Connects, we can do multiple things, not just the main event that we have focused on Tracy Connects, but we can also bring in youth education mentoring. We can do other connections, not just in the city, but across different platforms and across different cities. And so I just want to make sure that we have that opening. So we’re not limited. We were limited before, but now it’s expanded. And so this year we’re focused on foster youth and mental health. And so I’m really excited about that. We’re bringing on more partners every year. The STEM as a part of Tracy Unified School District is a part of it now. The San Joaquin city of, no, it’s COE, it’s the County Board of Education or something like that. So they’re joining on, and so we’re reaching out to some other areas around us.

The hospitals have joined on, and the city of Tracy we’re in the midst of preparing to do A PSA so that I have an actual agreement with the city of Tracy as well. We just want to make sure that we’re having all of this combined. But as a council member, before I was even mayor, I was looking for different things within our community for our youth to do and just having different amenities within our city. I knew we already had a lot of fields, and we had an aquatic center planned. The aquatic center’s been in the plan for like 20 years now at least. Okay, perfectly. It will come to pass soon. But what we did not have was any finances for gymnasium. I saw it on the capital Improvement project list, but there was no funding for it. There was funding one year, and then it fell off.

It fell off, fell off before it got to before I was elected. And so I asked for how can we bring in funds to fund a gymnasium? I had a son that played basketball. My next door neighbor played volleyball. These are all grown kids now. All my son who played basketball, he was a U at the time, he’ll be 30 years old this year. And so my next door neighbor, she’s been graduated college, she teaches at college now volleyball, but there was still never a place that they could play here in Tracy all this time. And so I went out to get a special measure put on the ballot, and I remember at the time my city manager told me that it would be political suicide to do that. He said, you’re running for reelection right now as a council member, and nobody’s going to vote for taxes in the first place to raise my taxes and to vote for you too if you’re pushing us.

I said, it’s how you message it. We have got to encourage our citizens to invest in themselves, to invest in our community. And so that’s what we did. We were able to get it on the ballot. The city couldn’t be behind it. So I had to do the work personally. I created a fire. My husband designed it, we duplicated it, and I asked for different people in the community to help me walk it. And it overwhelmingly passed. And so now we’re bringing in almost $300 million to continue to build the amenities that’s already in the forefront in others that are to come. So I’m excited about particular,

Melyssa Barrett: And we’re excited about it. We’re excited about it because all the kids around here are always like, there’s nothing to do. There’s nothing to do. So it’s wonderful to have all of that going on. I know you also are working on, I want to say it’s a multi-generational facility,

Dr. Nancy Young: The multi-generational rec center. This was originally the gymnasium. It’s the epicenter of even creating the measure. The measure was labeled VI remember when the, yes, I remember the voting people. When the register of voters gave it a letter, they gave it v and I met my city manager at the time. He said, this is going to be Victory, Nancy Victory. I’m like, yes, it’s going to be Victory. And so the multi-generational recreation center, we

Melyssa Barrett: Decided. But you’re working on the names now, correct?

Dr. Nancy Young: Yeah. So we decided to place it in El Pescara Park because during the height of COVID, that’s where, that’s the park where there the homeless were ENC camped. And so we wanted to repurpose that area to build it up. And so we chose that area to place this multi-generational recreation center. And so now it’s a time that the city just put out last week a list of a call for nominations. So there have been calls for nominations, for parks, for different things, but we don’t usually see anything about that. We don’t really hear about it. I don’t know that they’ve really ever publicized it as much as they’re doing it right now, and I know they’re doing it right now because they know that there are those interested and naming it after me. I do have to say though, that of course, when I asked for this measure 10 years ago, I did not nine years ago now, but I was not looking for anything to be named after me.

I was just looking for facilities to be able to fill the void, the need that we have in our community. But I see so many times that names get put on things that people may have done something nice, something good, but for this particular project, there’s been no one more invested in it than myself. And so maybe it did not come personally for me financially, but I am the source for bringing the finances forward. And so I am glad for those who have said and are presenting nominations for my name to go on there, Dr. Nancy Young. I think it’s important though for people to see not just Dr. Young, because that could be anybody, and that could be an Asian man. I want to make sure that people know that it’s a female, that females are doing things that are helping inspire within our community because it gives them a guiding point. Not saying that I’m the top of the spear, but I want people to go beyond me and to be able to know that they can do things and that they can be recognized. And so I’m excited about that particular opportunity. I just pray and hope that it all goes well.

Melyssa Barrett: Yes. Well, I know it will. I know it will. I think it just goes to the legacy building that you have, and there’s so many people out there trying to erase history, and I just love the fact that you continue to showcase history and create items that allow people to understand what history is being made. Because our history, of course, is American history. And so to see you, to have somebody walk into city hall and see you on the wall as a woman, a black woman who has served as our mayor is absolutely groundbreaking. And I know it encourages so many people because representation makes such a difference. So now that you have, and I can

Dr. Nancy Young: I just touch on that real quick because that’s one of the other things that I’m really excited about, the leadership wall

Melyssa Barrett: That’s

Dr. Nancy Young: Up in Tracy City Hall, because there’s never been anything in our city hall that recognize past mayors, our leaders. There’s always been a little plaque area that has a current mayor and the current people serving, but as we shift out, so does our pictures and so does our names. And last year when I was looking to see just what number Mayor I was, nobody had any clue. There was bits and pieces of stuff all over the place, but nothing collectively anywhere. So I began that research to find out just where I fell on that list. And so when I found out that I was like, you know what? We really need to have this up somewhere. We need to have some pictures. And so I began to go from, and I had an intern help me, and we went from city to city, and we looked online and we went in person and we looked at different cities to see what they had.

I had gone to Boise, Idaho for a conference, but in their city hall, they had a great, wonderful, wonderful layout of all the past mayors. And so I was able to contact the gentleman who put that wall together, and he gave me guidance and direction on how to create a wall myself. And so I went to our city manager. Of course, there’s no money and they’re not going to do anything. Of course, maybe it can go up online somewhere. So I decided to have a mayor’s ball. I was not going to have another mayor’s ball my last year going out. So I decided to have a mayor’s ball just so I could raise the funds for it. And so it was all about history, and so everyone knew that this is what it was for. And so thankfully we were able to raise all the money that we needed to have it done. So from start to finish, I started researching the end of April just for my presentation in May, but our wall was completely done and unveiled the last week of October of last year. So I’m really happy, our newest mayor, his picture’s up there now.

But not only did I do the mayors, but I really wanted to pay homage to my mentor, which is Evelyn Tolbert. And she was a council member. She never became mayor or even Mayor Proton. So I did a whole thing of council members just to make sure her name could go on the wall. And so it was a lot of research. It was a lot reading through hundreds of newspapers to find pictures of the past mayors. There’s only two that’s missing, and I’m hoping that some family member will see it and have something to be able to contribute later. But there is a QR code now on the wall, so it can continue to grow in history and we can continue to put new information. I’ve provided all the information that I could find in a spreadsheet. There’s a booklet that I made that goes with it too. It’s not only at City Hall, but there’s a replica of it at both the Tracy Museum, the Tracy Historic Museum, as well as the Semi Joaquin Historic Museum. And it’s supposed to debut one of their things, I think in June. I have to look to see. Oh, fantastic.

Melyssa Barrett: Yeah, let’s pause for a moment. We’ll be right back. Well, that’s awesome. And let me know, because love to at least let people make people aware of it. And let me just give a shout out to Evelyn Tolbert because she is amazing, amazing. Even now when I think about the history of Tracy, how much information she has downloaded into this community about the history of Tracy and what that was like, what was it like when the train station came here and all through history? I mean, it’s really amazing because when I talk to people now and I say something about what our history is, you get these looks like what? Because we have a little bit of a shadowed history here. But it’s interesting because now there’s so much growth, there’s so much diversity that we see coming in, and you have been one of those people that have really connected so many diverse audiences, whether it’s on the spiritual side, on the political side, I mean, how are you able to balance all of those things When people think about diversity, equity, and inclusion, you have both the polarization of the politics, but then the spiritual aspect as Pastor Nancy Young as well.

So how did they come together?

Dr. Nancy Young: It’s just one step after another. I have to, not to trivialize it, but I know last night I was so tired after sitting downstairs watching a cartoon movie with my grandson, but I was tired. And when I went upstairs, I’m like, I don’t feel like getting dressed in bed, but I know if I continue to do put one foot in front of the other, eventually if I don’t stop until I’m done, I will be in the bed soon enough and ever, ever, every stage I celebrate it. Yes. Now my shoes off. Yes, I have my pajamas on. Yes, I have my ponytail off and my bonded on. Okay, yes, my jewelry’s off. I’m almost to my bed. I’m almost there, got my coverage back, and I was excited I was in my bed, but I know that no matter how tired I was, if I just kept moving forward, I was going to get to my destination.

And so that’s everything that I look to do. Evelyn Tolbert, when I met her, and I remember she said that she loved to create things and create organizations that would help fill void. She said, I never wanted to be the lead of it. I want to put other people in it. I just want to make sure that it exists. And I remember talking to her. I was like, man, when she told me that, I was like, well, I would want to be in charge of it, but oh, no, no, no. I understood exactly what she meant. As you try to find things to fill the voids, then you want to bring in other people. It’s all about collaboration and all about helping push things forward. You can’t do it all by yourself. It’s exhausting to try to do that. So two of the plays that I know that she created, well from her creation was Our Town, Tracy. I was never able to be in that, but I know she’s done several iterations. Tracy r

Melyssa Barrett: Town,

Dr. Nancy Young: Tracy r Town, I was blessed to being black. And Tracy with your late husband, he was the director of it. And my daughter was also in that play. Now, the only thing about that is that he cast me as a 40 something year old, and I was 40 something years old, so I was like, there’s not a whole lot of extra acting. I’m up here trying to help other older actors, other peoples, to act old and tell ’em how to do this. I’m like, next time I want to be one of the old women and I want to be cantankerous. I want to be the one to tell it. It was, I don’t want to be the little soft person in the back. I want to be the feisty one. That’s me. That is you, right? The feisty one. Yes, I love it. It’s just finding the different things that need to be done, and you carry it as much as you can until you can undergird it with people that will have the vision to continue to move forward.

And I remember when I first met Bobby Bivens, of course, you know him from naacp, and he was just like, oh, you, Nancy, I like you, except you’re a Republican. And so it was just like, man, that was a really bad word. Well, I’m not even counting 2025, but I’m talking about back when he first met me 2012. And so the reality of it is there’s different tables for you to be able to be heard. And so I remember being able to invite other top Democrats to the tables where I was invited in because they trusted me, they respected me. So I have to just do a little caveat that when I signed up to be Republican, it was my first semester at uc, Berkeley, I looked around and I was like, if this is what Democrat is, I’m obviously something else. But over the years was people always just assumed I was Democrat because I’m black.

And I remember my mom when she realized I was registered Republican, she’s like, where did I go wrong? Where did I, oh, no, she’s not Democrat. But the thing is that just being able to be at those tables, even though now I’ve been declined to state since 2018 for seven years now, I’ve always supported who I thought was the best. Even when I was Republican, I had my whole law lined with Democrats. It depends on who’s the best, and no one should get stuck on any kind of title. They should be stuck on what’s good, what’s good for their community. So it’s opened up different doors to be able to talk to different people. And so where people respect me, I remember simple. It wasn’t simple, but it’s praise dance. I call myself the godmother praise dance, because I was praise dancing in 1981 when there was nobody praise dancing.

And so I made up my own worry stance. And so I didn’t know what it was called. I was just like, it’s a praise. It’s a dance, it’s a praise dancer. It’s coordinated. It’s not that when the spirit hits you, you’re just dancing all over the church. It’s a coordinated dance. And the first song I ever danced to was Patience. And it was by, I know the name of the album’s New Life, and I dunno why I can’t think of their names. So were out of Chicago, but they had come and run a revival in Los Angeles, and I bought their album, and I love that song. Her name was Pam, I can’t think of the last name still, but her first name was Pam. And so that was my first dance. And then I began to dance, but I couldn’t dance in the church.

I could only dance for my neighbors. My pastor wouldn’t allow that. And then a couple years later, she let me start. I had a female pastor, so I never felt limited, but I began to dance in our church. And then by the time I went to college, it was becoming more popular to do praise dance. And so when my husband and I started pastoring, we started pastor in January 96, and our particular church group that we’re part of Pentecostals Assemblies of the World, our district elder, I didn’t know that he didn’t accept praise dancing in his church. And so they had invited us to their church and we didn’t have a choir. And so I was like, well, I’ll praise dance. I had already prepared. I had my outfit with me, I changed it to my outfit, and I didn’t know that it was taboo to dance. And so I had to turn on the music Ready Boo, and I danced. And so his wife loved it, and so she was like, oh my goodness. He allowed it to happen because I was his treasurer for the organization. And so he trusted

Melyssa Barrett: Me

Dr. Nancy Young: And because he trusted me, he trusted the ministry in me because he thought that it was just entertainment.

Melyssa Barrett: But

Dr. Nancy Young: When he saw it as a ministry from me, he was able to accept it. And then he began to allow it in his church. So other people began to dance in his church. And so sometimes it’s just when somebody trusts you or trusts what’s in you or trusts the God in you, then it opens up doors that normally wouldn’t happen. And so for me, I come along with, I bring other people with me. What’s the fun of being by myself?

Melyssa Barrett: Well, and I love, one of the things you say you continue to break barriers is set up your own table. I know that was one of the discussions in the book, and I was like, oh, that’s kind of like bringing your own chair, but you’re like, no, the whole table, you can just set up your own.

Dr. Nancy Young: And that’s graduated for me because before I used to say, bring your own chair, move over, make space for somebody else to come alongside you. But I’ve learned in this position, I can create new teams, I can create new tables, and I can invite whole new team. I have my own nonprofit, I have other groups, other things. I don’t need to wait for somebody to promote me. Hey, I could be the CEO and president of whatever I want to be. I love it. And I can invite others to do it too.

Melyssa Barrett: Yes. Well, so now that you are out of office, because I know we’re running short on time, I know you are doing all sorts of wonderful things. You’re also speaking, how can people get ahold of you if they want to talk to you more? Have you come and do a keynote or any of those things? How can they reach you?

Dr. Nancy Young: Okay, so now my new business persona is I am Dr. Nancy d, and I have to just say my middle name is Diane, so it’s Nancy Diane Young as a kid, if one’s calling me Nancy D or and Rhode Ransom, our assembly woman, she always calls me Nancy D. That’s been her nickname for me since I’ve known her. And so I decided that I was going to use that as more of a persona besides young, but the doctor part, even though I’ve had my doctorate for nine years, sometimes it’s really hard still to say, and sometimes we have to just say things, remind ourselves of who we are. Other people see us. And for me, I just see my dancing all the time, man, whatever different people call me, that’s what I see, see me ask. But I know in different surroundings, I have to be able to stand into that authority that God has helped me to achieve in my life. Because it was a lot of work. It was a lot to get my Bachelor’s, to get my MBA and to get my doctorate.

Melyssa Barrett: And I believe anybody that has gone the distance and received their doctorate, you should be calling them Doctor all the time.

Dr. Nancy Young: Yes. And I do it for other people. I do it for other people. I remember when I was in New York and I was a part of a Bloomberg project, it was 40 mayors across the world and say, okay, we’re going to call each other by our first names. There’s not going to be no titles in here. We’re going to just take off all the masks. And it’s so great when, I mean, you just see just personalities, things that you never really see. And so when I talk to people in different groups, I’m like, just call me Nancy. We just want to be calling each other first name. And then I got to a group with Karen Bass and I was like, mayor. She was like, Karen, my name’s Karen. Karen. It was so hard. It’s easy for me to say I’m Nancy. But to do it for other people, it’s hard sometimes. But

Melyssa Barrett: Yeah,

Dr. Nancy Young: So I have a new website, it’s called I am dr nancy d.com. And so I have an email too, which is Nancy at I am Doctor. So it’s I-A-M-D-R-N-A-N-C-Y d.com. Awesome. And also, my books are on there. We’re in the midst. I have a draft up so you can find it online, not the draft of the book, but the website itself. And so we’re cleaning it, making a little more tight, making it more up to date, not so mid 50 ish kind of person running it, but we’re getting it all together so that people can find me more because those who know me, they already call my cell phone and email me. And so I’m excited about this new chapter, this new journey. I’ve always had a heart to mentor others, whether it was youth or whoever. I’ve helped other political people get into office, prepare for office, and other leaders in just different capacities.

So that is my desire to really reach back and help others to be better leaders. And so the book was supposed to be a memoir, but I decided I wanted to be a helpful book too, not just unapologetically Me, which I was going to name it before, but the Unapologetic leadership part and unleashing Your Inner Warrior because I want to use my experience to help influence and help catapult people forward. The book could be a lot longer, but I know a lot of people are not going to read that much. But I will make it into 12 different masterclasses so we can go more in depth to be able to help others. So as consulting as a coach, I always consider myself a mentor. I didn’t know Coach was the new name for it. So I’m coaching. And then also speaker. I’ve been speaking mainly for years as a minister, but I’ve spoken on panels and keynotes, a lot of different things. So I’m excited to be able to share and help in this season. So my contact information is on that website, but also I just gave it to you, the Nancy. Yes.

Melyssa Barrett: And we will make sure we put it in the podcast description so people can access the information. And I just want to thank you for, so I’m going to maybe give you the last word. If you want to maybe give some advice to the next generation, or you have so many girls that are dreaming of leadership roles, whether it be in politics, education, community advocacy, any words of wisdom you want to pass along. It’s just

Dr. Nancy Young: Never let anybody just try to talk you out of something that you know have in your heart that you want to do. Listen to others who can see the special thing inside of you. Because many times we don’t see it as clearly as other people see in us. So learn how to reflect that and take that, draw that in and go forward. Go forward with that. Don’t let anybody stop you. Don’t let anybody limit you. Don’t let anybody try to belittle you or talk them down or talk you down. Just rise up and say, still, I rise. I can still do it because God’s made me special to do only what I can do. Nobody else can be me, and I can’t be nobody else. I can be the best imitation of all, but I will never be the original of somebody else. And you can be the original for your life and your story.

Melyssa Barrett: That’s it. That’s it. I think. And I loved, I really enjoyed the book. I have to say, I’m not just saying that because you know me, I don’t have to say what I don’t mean, but I really enjoyed it. It was a quick enough read, but it was impactful. And so I do hope that people will pick it up, learn from it. You have so many great nuggets in there. And the book is really a, I don’t know, for me, it almost felt like a little bit of a love letter to your family, but there was so much practical information in there. I know you have more books coming because this is, I think your seventh book. You have three more in the works.

Dr. Nancy Young: Yes. I just need to do my final edits. And this one is not going to be released probably for next couple of months, but people can start to pre-order. And so it will be, it’s already completed because as you think, as time goes on, of course I have way more stuff that I want to add to it. I’m like, I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it. I’ll save it for a masterclass or a speech or something. I actually thought about adding another section that had to do isolation, and you feel like you’re the only one you feel like, and this has to do with being a black leader, but that you’re not. And so going to the African-American Mayors Conference and seeing that other people are going through things equally, or even worse, I feel horrible. My city council voted down to even send me there, and then the community member had to raise money to send me there. But other people are going through a lot more things and people try to take them out with lies and all kind of things. But I thank God that nothing stuck, stuck. People try to lie on me and take step, but I thank God for just a covering to be able to just let the lies be revealed so that we can move forward.

Melyssa Barrett: It’s amazing. I thank you so much. I’m looking forward to word for Warrior 365 day devotional. I’m ready for, it’s all about the warrior in me, right? Unleash. Yes, yes. Unleashing your inner

Dr. Nancy Young: Warrior. You could feel it inside. I got to get out. I got to say something. I know. Yeah.

Melyssa Barrett: And I think for a lot of people, it’s difficult to find their true voice. We’re so used to doing so many things that other people want us to do. So the hard work is always looking inside. And I think you give so many things in the book where you start to ask questions of yourself so that you can really learn about yourself. So I look

Dr. Nancy Young: Forward to, I’ve seen a lot about you. I’ve seen a lot about you since Peter is not here. You were already you, but I was just thinking about it when I was at another event and I saw you walking across and I was like, yeah, Melyssa has really stepped into Melyssa.

Melyssa Barrett: Well, when you can’t hide behind your husband, you just got to get out there and do it. So it has been a truly, this is my head nod to him, but I think it is so awesome for us to be talking about having this conversation, embracing the fact that inclusion is still necessary. And I just want to thank you for coming on and joining me for the Jali Podcast. I know you’re ready to get out of there and head to another meeting. So I am going to let you go and just say thank

Dr. Nancy Young: You. Well, thank you for having me, and hopefully just the words in action helps to really describe your whole diversity, equity, and inclusion we’re all important.

Melyssa Barrett: Absolutely. Thank you so much. Thanks for joining me on the Jali Podcast. Please subscribe so you won’t miss an episode. See you next week. I.