Based on ongoing discussions with women of color (primarily with African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Native- American women), across the country whose opinions we valued, we learned that all of us felt it was critical for us as women to share our successes, triumphs and yes, our failures with our peers and younger women coming along behind us.
Thus, we developed a unique concept and forum to facilitate the collaboration, networking, mentoring, sharing, development and training of women and girls of color. While our personal and professional goals are perhaps the same as other women, our career challenges, family pressures, social obstacles and life stresses as women of color are very different.
Five major programs/activities have been or are being developed to address these concerns:
- The Women of Color Foundation (a 501c3, tax-exempt foundation organized in 2005), to foster networking and to provide personal and professional development, education and training to all women of color. Our predecessor organization was under the umbrella of womenofcolorevents.com, which hosted the executive retreats described below.
- “Connections, Community and Career: A Personal and Professional Development Retreat for Women of Color,” (an annual 3-day training retreat for executive women and college students of all colors held in Cleveland, Ohio in 2003-2009; Columbus, Ohio in 2006-2009; Cincinnati, Ohio in 2007-2008; and Chicago, Illinois in 2007 and 2009)
- Women of Color Leadership Development & Training Institute (an annual 1-day leadership development and training conference targeting a broader cross-section of women and girls of color, held in November each year in Cleveland, Ohio only since 2006)
- The ISIS Awards Luncheon (an annual event celebrating Women of Color and honoring: a “ Woman of the Year, ” a “Professional Woman of the Year,” a “Young Professional Woman of the Year,” and a “CongresswomanStephanieTubbsJonesCourageAward” during the Institute)
- The WomenSpeak™ Collaborative (a consortium of local, regional and national organizations focusing on the needs and concerns of, and programs benefiting women and girls of color)
- Speaking of Women (a newsletter, radio and TV show focusing on women and girls of color)
Because of the tremendous response to our programming and the resulting success stories based on participant and sponsoring organizations’ experiences, it is our intention to expand our annual training programs to include women of color in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Louisville by 2012. It is also our vision to host a national training and networking event for women and girls of color to be held in 2013.