Events

Often time women of color candidates’ multiplicity of identities (race and gender, but also age,class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, ability/disability, and more) is overlooked, and themedia don’t cover these candidates’ unique and intersectional challenges in the campaign trail.The media focuses on the effect of either gender or race on turnout but rarely address both inrelation to one another. Born to Lead is an event made by and for women of color (WOC)candidates. The purpose of the event is to give WOC candidates the attention they deserve to celebrate their hard work, political ambition and intersectionality. In this platform the candidates share their motivations for running for public office and talk about their experiences in their campaign fields. Past alumnae found the event energizing and acknowledge how inspiring was to meet and connect with candidates who have had similar campaign experience.

Bashaal gatherings create spaces for women of all backgrounds and identities to come togetherand share critical information on leadership opportunities and challenges. African Diasporawomen are a long way from full representation in leadership positions including elected positions, board members and commissions, and C-suite in many companies. For women to advance in leadership roles, we need to activate social capital advantage through strong female support groups. Being in the space where women come together, share wisdom and stories,connect personally and professionally, exchange ideas and collectively problem solve, is transformational. Research indicates the important benefits of women-led networking for supporting women’s path to leadership. Ayada Leads seeks to improve the talent pool and provide a space for women to support each other. A network tailored to women with sharedexperiences is the best way to allow them to discuss and gain advice without judgement – this helps tackle the challenges women face in leadership positions. In this gathering-like in all our initiatives- the highlight is feminine leadership.

The Art of Political Storytelling in the Digital Age Training. Special Guest Facilitator: Lula Dualeh. Lula is a first-generation Somali-American Muslim woman in Charlotte, North Carolina; beyond her work as Director of Audeince Development with Black Enterprise, she is the creator of “iRunWithLula” a bi-weekly newsletter with over 20,000 subscribers to inspire the everyday woman. The training focused on the following key concepts: Identifying your story as your power. Finding a clear central message with three key issues that ground your story. Choosing a universal moment - how do you connect with your community? Articulating your why. Discovering why now more than ever your voice is necessary. Navigating different platforms to use your voice and the mediums best suited.

In this video, Sagal and Zaynab talked about Islam, Social Justice and Civic Engagement. A lot of times, people seprate Islam and social justice but "Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded." Al- Nahl 16:90.