Courtesy of Norfolk State University
Some of the areaâs most powerful, successful and well-known women will help provide guidance to women who need advice and an opportunity to achieve their own success. Women Who Lead, a partnership between Black BRAND, Norfolk State University and Truist Bank, formally launched Thurs., March 9. The bank contributed $250,000 to the womenâs professional accelerator program.
The program will help women who are capable but are often left behind when it comes to advancement because they canât get their foot in the door, or they come up against a ceiling that keeps them from achieving. It is the visionary idea of Blair Durham, co-founder of Black BRAND, a nonprofit that serves as the Black Chamber of Commerce for the Hampton Roads and Dan River areas.
âWomen Who Lead is a pipeline for women with underdeveloped talent, theyâre not talentless,â said Norfolk State University President Javaune Adams-Gaston, Ph.D. âAnd what happens to you when your voice is silenced you begin to think itâs me,â she continued. âOur job is to say itâs not you. Itâs the system and weâre going help you get yours. Weâre going to help you find your voice. Weâre going to help you find your way forward.â
Women Who Lead will serve low- to moderate-income minority women workers managing multiple jobs to make ends meet and considering leaving the area in search of opportunity. A goal in helping the women who come to the program is to reduce the areaâs loss of talent and fill hundreds of open higher wage positions.
Said Michelle Ellis Young, CEO of the YWCA South Hampton Roads, âWe canât talk about supporting womenâs empowerment and economic advancement without really thinking about transformational change and what that really means to community.â She said that transformation starts with women. âWhen we invest in women, not just some women, but all women, we can speed the change we want to see. We can transform the family. The family can transform the community and then the community can transform the world.â
