Norfolk State University and Black BRAND have joined forces to help break through the glass ceiling.
The educational institution and nonprofit organization have launched Women Who Lead, a 12-week professional development accelerator. The program is for any person in Hampton Roads who identifies as a minority woman, is gainfully employed and earns less than $60,000 per year.
Aimed to lift up underserved and disadvantaged women in Hampton Roads, Women Who Lead is focused on supporting their careers and eliminating racial, skill and capital gaps.
“During the pandemic, we watched as organizations carried essential supplies, vaccinations, and information about the coronavirus from door to door in nearly every under-resourced community in Hampton Roads,” Blair Durham, Black BRAND co-founder and president, said in a news release. “Those initiatives were very effective. It’s time to do the same thing with opportunity.”
The program will reveal the region’s assets, provide professional mentorship, improve leadership skills, provide access to traditionally male-dominated industries and link participants with certification and other development programs.
One of the goals is to help uncover underdeveloped talent in the region and create a pipeline to career and contract opportunities.
Women Who Lead taps into elements from other programs in the area that have invitation or recommendation-only processes, including Lead Hampton Roads, Civic Leadership Institute and Portsmouth Partnership’s Lefcoe Leadership Fund program, but keeps its focus on those affected by discrimination and institutional bias.
Interested applicants must attend one of four 90-minute info sessions (July 10, 17, 24 or 31). To register, visit nsu.edu.wwl or blackbrand.biz/women-who-lead.
If you’re interested in becoming a Women Who Lead mentor, a three-hour orientation will be held on Aug. 8. The program begins Sept. 8 and runs through Nov. 21.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, [email protected]
