By Jeanette Smith, December 15, 2020.
The year 2020 is coming to an end. Rising above a dismal start to a new decade, a circle of 15 exceptional women selected among a pool of 150 strong and talented applicants created a new and safe space throughout the sequential meetings that made up the inaugural cohort of the Anna Faith Jones and Frieda Garcia Women of Color Leadership Circle.
“If you knew you were fully supported, what would you do?” Talissa Lahaliyed, an Associate of Programs for The Boston Foundation peer-led by asking questions like these for the six months of virtual sessions with the intention of addressing the unique challenges the 15 face in today’s rapidly changing society— empowering a force of individuals through unity to develop professionally and attain leadership goals.
Unity is found by incorporating each person’s diversity, having diverse perspectives to get through those hurdles that allow you, the team, and the organization to be successful. Each session built upon the next, stitching together a new fabric that these women collectively recreated for all in their position.
What is their position? Bior Guigni, Executive Director of Boston Youth Wrestling— a leader and woman of color is rising to become a regional leader and CEO of Beat the Streets New England. She and the other 14 each are leaning on their collective leadership to support and to encourage the dearly needed but sorely overlooked self-care that leaders overextend to their families and staff, depleting their reserves for themselves.
Growing an online “sister garden” of helpful tools, experimenting with boundary setting and having courageous conversations is just the surface of what the 15 cultivated together in order to instill a greater sense of self and harness their feminine power.
To read more about the birth of the Women of Color Leadership Cohort click here. We are thankful to The Boston Foundation for sponsoring us with this initiative and many other helpful resources.
Over the coming month, you will dive deeper into our organization, Boston Youth Wrestling, and follow our journey into 2021 with a rebirth of our branding. Click here to sign up to our newsletter so you don’t miss these exciting updates!
They came together to share their experiences virtually. A defining career and personal moment for the WOCLC group is captured here. Bior Guigni, Executive Director, is on the bottom row, one stop from the right.
