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/)

Timestamps

00:19 - Ara introduces this week’s guest, Cheyanne Ratnam
01:49 - Cheyanne speaks on how her past led to her current life trajectory
09:12 - Healing is a lifelong journey; her experience with it
12:01 - Addressing the prison pipeline; prevention versus intervention
20:23 - The long-term cost saving effect of mitigating homelessness
22:53 - Affordable housing for the homeless/those who can’t afford a home
25:38 - Cheyanne speaks on being a target of human trafficking
30:37 - Starting the Ontario Children’s Advancement Coalition
40:35 - Why pure intention is not enough for actual change
46:12 - Her strategy behind being socially innovative and sustaining her life
50:04 - Cheyanne speaks on being in survival mode since the age of 8
52:58 - Advice she would give her 16-year-old self
54:53 - Her definition of family; it being chosen
59:21 - The personal legacy she wants to be remembered for
1:00:53 - Creator Confessions
1:22:27 - The Wrap Up

Intro Music

Produced And Mixed By:
- The Tamil Creator
- Yanchan

Written By:
- Aravinthan Ehamparam
- Yanchan Rajmohan