How do you move from being well-intentioned to actually doing the work and making a change?

That question is at the heart of Malia Lazu's life, both her early work as a political organizer and founding executive director of mass vote,

to our time is the EVP and regional president of Berkshire Bank,

where she evolved the $13 million bank's focus to prioritize community impact.

It's also the driving force behind Malia's new book,

From Intention to Impact,

A Practical Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Malia and I talk about what happens when your theory of change evolves and how a person who isn't 100% bought in on the idea of capitalism

ends up creating change inside the financial sector.

Malia, thank you so much for being here.

Thank you so much for having me.

Malia, when I read profiles of you, it often begins talking about this childhood in Hawaii, which was a perfect place to be multiracial.

And I have to wonder if there is ever truly a perfect place to be multiracial.

As perfect as you can get, I think Hawaii comes close because so many people are multiracial,

right? So I went to school with people who were Tongan, French, Filipino, Japanese, Cambodian.

And you would just have that mix.

And like, no one would question it.

And no one would be like, where'd you come from?

And so race isn't brought up in that same way.

And then I moved to Boston and someone asked me, stop me in the street and was like,

what are you mixed with?

And I was like, what did you say?

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