ABOUT US
The Women of Color Foundation is a 501c3, tax-exempt foundation organized in 2005, to foster networking and to provide personal and professional development, education and training to women and girls of all colors.
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. 2020 marks our 18th Anniversary!
Seated, left to right: Bernadette K. Mayfield, Frechic Dickson, Alexandria Johnson Boone
Standing, left to right: Cheretta Moore, Jennifer Coiley Dial, Simone E. Swanson, Rodney L. Brown, Paula T. Newman
*not pictured: Aria J. Thomas, Maria Bonilla Boss, Tracie D. Hicks, Brad McWhorter and Christopher M. Rimmer.
Connections, Community and Career: A Personal and Professional Development Retreat for Women of Color”
An annual training retreat for executive women and college students of all colors held in Cleveland, OH, 2003-2019; Columbus, OH, 2006-2015; Cincinnati, OH in 2007 and 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.
Stellar Awards Luncheon
An annual event celebrating Women of Color and bestowing: the Woman of the Year; the Young Professional Woman of the Year; and the Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones Courage Award during the Annual Leadership Development and Training Institute, 2006-2019.
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.
Women’s Prison Outreach Initiative
A ground-breaking, unique collaboration with the Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) in Marysville, Ohio. The ORW is the 4th largest women’s prison in the United States.