Welcome to episode 15 of the Seven Eighths. For this episode, I sat down with Sonia Gupta for a conversation. A few of us know Sonia Gupta for her bold takes and stands.
Few of us know that Sonia works with individuals suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders to compassionately provide them with care and assistance in achieving their recovery goals. Sonia believes in human resilience and redemption, and understands that social change happens most powerfully in the connections between individuals. In previous incarnations, Sonia proudly served as a public defender, prosecutor, and assistant attorney general for the State of Louisiana. She also took a brief detour into tech as a software developer and developer advocate, which taught her that our social ills are best handled in the muck and mess of the analog world, without technology as a sterilizing mediator. Sonia has spoken about digital ethics at numerous conferences, and is an outspoken advocate against oppressive systems. When she's not actively working to improve her little corner of the planet, Sonia likes to hang out with her pup, cruise around on her bicycle, and enjoy all the perks of living in the beautiful city of New Orleans. My conversation with Sonia took fascinating turns and detours. We talked about the challenges of growing up as an immigrant child, how embracing or not embracing tech can be, the struggle to fit in and much more. Grab a space and just listen in.
You can find me: @femmenectar
Sonia: @soniagupta504
