David M. Sengeh's "Radical Inclusion" details his determined effort to lift the ban on pregnant girls attending school in Sierra Leone, underscoring his commitment to inclusivity and social progress. Despite encountering strong opposition as Minister of Education, Sengeh persevered through dialogue and coalition-building. His advocacy successfully changed policies and challenged societal norms to ensure fair educational opportunities. Throughout this journey, Sengeh faced significant challenges and learned from diverse perspectives, realizing that not all affected groups initially supported his efforts—an educational experience in itself.

Influenced by his education at Harvard and MIT, Sengeh's experiences demonstrate how persistence and diplomacy can drive meaningful societal change. The book encourages readers worldwide to embrace inclusivity, confront injustice through dialogue and action, and offers practical leadership insights for promoting equitable education globally.

This is not the book it is selling itself as, which should be clear from the other reviews as well. If you want an "inspiring" story about the path toward a policy change in Sierra Leone, then this is for you. Might you pick up some things along the way? yes. Are they the reall point and focus here? no.

Sure, here is a 3-star review of Radical Inclusion:

Radical Inclusion is a fascinating memoir by David Moinina Sengeh, the minister of basic and senior secondary education and chief innovation officer for the government of Sierra Leone. Sengeh tells the story of his journey to advocate for the radical inclusion of pregnant girls in schools in Sierra Leone. He faced many challenges along the way, including opposition from his own family and community, but he ultimately succeeded in changing the law and ensuring that pregnant girls can now get an education.

Sengeh is a gifted storyteller, and he brings his story to life with vivid detail and emotion. He also shares some important insights into the concept of radical inclusion, which he defines as "the belief that everyone has something to offer, and that we are all stronger when we work together."

However, I found that Radical Inclusion fell short as a self-help book. While Sengeh does offer some practical advice on how to create more inclusive communities, I would have liked to see more concrete steps that readers can take to make a difference. Additionally, the book felt a bit repetitive at times, as Sengeh often returned to the same themes and stories.

Overall, Radical Inclusion is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in learning more about the importance of inclusion. However, I would not recommend it as a self-help book. Instead, I would approach it as a memoir that offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of a remarkable leader.

It seems to miss the next step to fall under self-help and reads more like a memoir than I was expecting. There are some interesting, informative, and thought-provoking concepts discussed in D.M. Sengeh's work. I have recommended this book to a few family members, work collegues, and requested that our campus library have a copy.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fascinating book by an intriguing changemaker. This is an important read for everyone who wants to listen better, be a changemaker, and/or understand resistance to change. I'm sure to reread this.

David Moinina Sengeh comes to the issue of Radical Inclusion with all of the credentials: education, experience, government position. The heart of this book on social Justice is a primer on addressing systemic issues within a culture. He uses examples from his life of advocating for pregnant students to stay. in school in Sierra Leone. As Minister of Education, he felt passionately about continuing education to allow women to succeed. He spells out the seven essential steps for creating an inclusive society that can be transferred to other situations. The reader must keep an open mind throughout the first portion of the book to get to the applicable steps. Important work for people who feel like there is no hope for change.

Sengeh uses a very concrete, large-scale example to illustrate the concept of radical inclusivity by taking us through the process of changing the way the country of Sierra Leone treats pregnant teens, especially in terms of allowing them to continue in school. He met challenges along the way by continuing to widen the array of voices he listened to, continually pushing the boundaries of inclusivity. He discusses some of his own struggles and learnings along the way. At times, he seems to get bogged down in the details but for the most part his story is relatable for anyone looking to expand inclusion in their own situation. I would have liked more direct suggestions to the reader (“this is how you could do this in your situation…”) but that wasn’t the author’s intention. Overall, an excellent illustration of radical inclusion in practice.

As a DEI practitioner IRL, I was curious about the contents of this book. The author's unique perspective provided great examples of how to approach the challenging issues that are present with DEIB in organizations. While it focused heavily on his story and that is important to learn about, I would have loved to read more about strategy.

This book is a great roadmap on how to approach change and social justice regardless of the setting -- whether it is within a company or a community. The author is in the government in Sierra Leone and was able to put a spotlight on the issue of pregnant girls being excluded from education and the impacts that caused on the individuals and the community at large. His roadmap for radical inclusion brings together all the critical steps for driving and sustaining change including the need to understand our role as the change agent and how to listen and learn and bring the right voices in to the conversation. Along the way his examples and stories really help illustrate how to create lasting change and get at the deeper systemic issues. He also effectively talks about getting buy-in from the key stakeholders. I also liked hearing how his experience working with the MIT Lab helped him understand including people with disabilities into the design of products and experiences helped give him insights into the importance of radical inclusion. The disability community has a saying "Nothing about us, without us" - and the radical inclusion roadmap infuses this philosophy throughout. This is a quick read and very practical and applicable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for an ARC and I left this review voluntarily.

Sengeh was a cabinet minister who thought a rule needed to change, appointed by a President who thought the rule should be upheld. This book is, primarily, his story of how he organized and led an alliance that made the change while he remained loyal to his President. It is a (gifted) politician's campaign book, but it's also a case study every activist needs.

"Radical Inclusion" is the title of other books that form a series. I've not read the others and can't compare them.

"Radical Inclusion" refers to a political strategy that I can't say I like. Yes, of course we want to include people who happen to belong to trending pressure groups, but also it's important either to include people who are outside those groups, the real minority types and the loners and even those who disagree with us, or to come to terms with the alternatives it is ethically necessary to leave open for them. For example, Sengeh worked to change a traditional rule that required teenaged girls to be expelled from school if they appeared to be pregnant. A rule based on the assumption that teenaged girls needed only encouragement to say no was failing to work for girls who had been raped, in some cases with the deliberate purpose of destroying their careers by ending their education. What if these single mothers ran into physical complications and needed to go home? What if they didn't have homes? It became the schools' and government's concern to provide lodgings for single mothers and babies near the schools. What if school was not serving them as well as home study would have done, and that was why they'd become pregnant in the first place? Sengeh has nothing to say about that situation. He needs to have.

Nevertheless, those who want to change and fix the errors the Radical Inclusion approach still admits can still benefit from using the basic strategies Sengeh used.