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 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.
By Deborah D. Douglas. The trick about the story of the Civil Rights Movement is we think that it was so long ago—at a time we can barely even imagine. But a lot of us on this earth now, we’re a part of that movement or have family members who were a part of it. And frankly, some our families may have opposed the movement, and we can grapple with that because it’s relevant right now.
By Monique Reed PhD RN. My purpose is to advocate for social justice and equity in nursing education and historically oppressed populations. I recognize that my educational privilege affords me the power to develop a cadre of nurses trained in equity and anti-racism to improve health outcomes in marginalized populations.
By Michelle Valiukenas. Knowing that I had to do something, I quit my job and dedicated myself to The Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation, launched in September 2018. If I could not parent Colette in the way I had expected, I could parent her this way.
By Wrenetha Julion. As a Black professor and Department Chairperson in a predominantly white College of Nursing, I am inspired and proud to support students and faculty of color who, persevere and flourish despite questions about their intelligence and competence.
Read MoreBy Cimajie Best. Here I was being driven by my wound of American racism, while that had never even crossed this child’s mind. He was leading in the spirit of paying it forward, of giving back. He doesn’t know it but he shifted my entire perspective that day.
Read MoreBy Dr. Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman. Community leaders work with a playbook that allows them to describe key components of trials and encourages sharing personal experiences that inform healthcare decisions.
Read MoreBy Bora Laci. We live in a world where you must look a certain way to be identified as an immigrant and that is not true. We all have our own story, and we should all be able to share it.
Read MoreBy Amy Merrill. When the pandemic hit, our team recognized a silver lining: ‘safe at home’ orders created opportunities for medical professionals to realize their potential as agents of change, step up and begin serving patients remotely, with pills shipped directly to homes.
Read MoreBy Elissa Yancey. I’ve learned about caregiving, life and death. Today “grab happy” is more than a catchphrase to me; it is a life and leadership tool I share every chance I get because it allows me to reconnect with my Mom, to smile and to reflect on the value of her healing advice.
Read MoreBy Georgia Dawkins. My journey is about purpose. I wrote “Everybody Knows: The Power of Being in Position” so anyone who reads it can see the vulnerability of my walk.
Read MoreBy Stephanie Knezz. Using vulnerability to forge human connection is the most powerful tool I have found as an educator to make impactful change in students’ lives, and it is worth every minute of class time and every nervous heart flutter.
Read MoreBy Luna Ranjit. After one particular incident where being childless overshadowed all my accomplishments, I started writing to move through my anger and sadness. But for almost four years, I did not have the courage to share it widely. Earlier this year, conversation with some friends in Kathmandu convinced me to release it into the world, and write a Nepali version as well.
Read MoreBy Janice Phillips. Little did I know at that time that the words, “You have potential” would ignite the confidence in me to change my situation. For once, I saw a glimmer of hope through the eyes of my beloved social worker who believed in me.
Read MoreBy Huma Yasin. It’s not just me – it’s so many of us operating in a collective. In spite of the odds, collectively, we march, protest, rally, write letters, demand policy changes, and work towards a more just world. Hope is a four-letter word but it's also the air we breathe to stay afloat.
Read MoreBy Joli Robinson. 2020 has taught me how to honor my feelings, redefine strength, and share my vulnerabilities knowing that in doing so I am bettering myself and helping support my tribe.
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