Take The Lead is sharing your Power To Change Stories here, in our weekly newsletter, and in an upcoming ebook collection. Each week we highlight true, personal stories from around the world of how you are using your power to activate change. Together we can support each other in the mission to reach gender and racial parity in leadership across all sectors. Submit your stories here.
By Alexis La’Shay Smith. I was born with cerebral palsy, a physical disability that is a brain injury caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain during birth. As a result, all four of my limbs are affected. I am a student volunteer for an organization called Hey U.G.L.Y.(Unique Gifted Lovable You) where I monthly post videos on my YouTube channel called Advisable Alexis in effort to prevent suicide, which is caused by bullying.
Read MoreBy Eya Labidi. As a young teenage girl, I was passionate about personal development and positivity since childhood. I decided to devote my free time and energy to developing myself and working on my goals. Being a dynamic, dedicated, persevering, and determined person, my mission is to help others achieve their dreams, believe in themselves, believe in their capacities, find motivation, courage, and inspiration. Aiming to also help them find their true self, discover their strengths and talents.
Read MoreBy Geetika Singh. I often wonder how I would have survived without the power of a safety bubble that my
parents taught me to create around me wherever I went. When struck with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 17, I was almost devastated. I was not even a graduate then and had a whole life ahead of me. Type 1 diabetes meant taking multiple insulin injections daily, pricking self to check and monitor blood glucose level, eating the restrictive diet and exercising regularly.That is when my parents along with other family members taught me two simple yet powerful aspects to implement at all stages in life.
By Janet Phan. I am where I am today because of my mentors who created access and opportunities. When I came to this realization, it hit me hard. I needed to be the person that helped pave the way for others so their path to success can be easier than mine. When I thought about how I got to where I am, I couldn’t help but give the credit to my mentors who believed in me and took a chance on me. As a result, Thriving Elements was born.
Read MoreI’m expanding my research and consulting to take an account of the effects of systemic inequity on organizational efforts. The external context for diversity and inclusion in the United States has become more complicated in recent years, with a shift from subtle to overt expressions of bias and a rise in white populism. The January 6th insurrection at the Capitol is one example.
Read MoreBy Lisa Padilla. Last spring, my family and I used an old desk, painted it, made a sign that says, “Take what you need, leave what you can” secured it to our white picket fence in front of our home and added non-perishable food. The next morning The Melba Blessing Box was overflowing with donations of food and toiletries. It has continued to grow since that day funded by monetary and in-kind donations, we have partnered with local organizations to continue to supply basic needs and resources.
Read MoreBy Katara McCarty. From out of the realities of abandonment by my biological mother, being bi-racial and growing up in a Black home, I realized early in life that the color of my skin mattered. I became a single mother at 19 and found the courage to leave an abusive relationship. Today, I am a sought-after coach, author, and podcast host dedicated to cultivating brave spaces of belonging for Black, Indigenous, Women of Color (BIWOC). As a Black woman, I am committed to amplifying the richness of BIWOC and their stories, while also advocating for and providing emotional well-being resources for BIWOC, through my app EXHALE.
Read MoreBy Deborah Samuels. Bpeace is working with more than 100 small businesses this year and our goal is to help them grow and create thousands of new jobs so that families can feed their children, send them to school and hope for a brighter future. These businesses employ more than 5,000 people who in turn support 20,000 family members.
Read MoreBy Arlene Malinowski. I guarded the secret like it was a magician’s trick because crazy and unstable do not get to work at the Goodman Theater, do not get invited to fabulous parties, all that crazy and unstable get is judged. I understood the stigma of mental illness. I knew people would say, “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. What do you have to be depressed about? Other people have it a lot worse.” I knew because I had said it myself.
Read MoreBy Aidee Granados. Embracing my cancer, and not only surviving it, opened a window to radically improve my well-being, the way I love and the reverence I have for life. An improvement that has not required money as the main input, but willpower and a firm belief in myself. How to share that willpower? How to make others believe they can decide for a better outcome? The answer: it’s not the fight that drains, but the love that heals and renews everything.
Read MoreBy Paula Cullison. When you surround yourself with positive thinking people, great things will happen. An expression of gratitude goes a long way. Remember that family and friends are the flowers in the garden of your life.
Read MoreBy Maureen Muldoon. I often wondered what life would be like if we saw God as a girl, a fierce and flawless female? I wondered when we would dismantle the mythology of a widowed God? In my mind it was simple; gender inequality rested on the dogma that God was only male. I never believed it.
Read MoreBy Kelli Grant. The Pursuit of Justice: Unconscious Bias training recognizes and addresses shame through activities highlighting disparities in clear ways and are interactive activities that highlight privilege and stereotyping. Addressing shame creates a space for education. The education component is focused on historical and present-day race issues, with focus on issues in the criminal justice system.
Read MoreBy Janine Galati- Naccarato. Exercise makes it possible for me to move my brain into stillness so that I am able to read, write and have access to my creativity. It’s an ongoing dialogue between brain and body that helps move me towards wholeness.
Read MoreBy Dr. Shika Jain, MD. Only by fixing systemic inequities will we begin the work necessary to heal a broken system. We must lift colleagues from diverse backgrounds with intentional opportunities. Just because this is the way it has “always been” in medicine, does not mean this is the way it must remain.
Read MoreBy April Terry. We created a read aloud program for mothers and grandmothers at our state's only women's correctional facility. Our project provided the women with read aloud tutoring sessions to increase their confidence and ability to read while providing an outlet to connect with their children and grandchildren.
Read MoreBy Ziwei Qi. In March 2020, along with Dr. Hsin-Yen Yang (Communication Studies), and Dr. Tamara Lynn (Criminal Justice), we started the Center for Empowering Victims of Gender-based Violence at Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS. We have been systematically examining various vocational rehabilitation programs and creating feasible career counsels and training sessions addressing the needs of IPV and
human trafficking survivors.
By Neisha Terry Young. In June a student sent me the following message: “You taught me that my voice is something that needs to be heard and something that can change the world if I really put my heart into it. Go show the world what you’ve got. Go change it!”
Read MoreBy Simone Ispa-Landa. Many years later, I will hear someone describe a basketball player who “plays with heart,” and I will think how much I admire that. My grandfather is gulping tea from a deep mug. I am 11. We are at the kitchen table. My grandfather is telling me about the time that his mother pushed him onto a train – a train that was leaving Leningrad - one of the very last trains to leave Leningrad before the Nazis reached the outskirts of the city.
By Jhmira Alexander. Conversations I’ve had with therapists, coaches and mentors have helped to shape my perspective allowing me to utilize my faith in an effort to influence and impact social change. Who once served from a broken heart out of a need to see the world differently, now leads from a restored place hopeful that my influence, access and willingness will somehow change the world around me while activating others to find and pursue their own life’s purpose.
