2019 Education Series

Join the Queen Makers for a series of discussions about Black Women's leadership and movement building. Each panel features powerful Black Women leading this work in Chicago, including current South Side Giving Circle grantee organizations. Light bites will be provided at the sessions. RSVP is required and registration is limited. REGISTER NOW for the final panel of the series this year, September 27 at 8:30am in the Loop.

Panel One:

Investing in the Leadership of Black Women & Girls

Friday, April 26, 2019

In 2017, women occupied just 22 percent of seats on the boards of the companies in the S&P 500 index, with African-American women holding only 120 of the 5,406 board seats. Among the leaders of Fortune 500 companies just 32 are women; 3 are African-American; and not one is an African-American woman. While these lists are just one of many ways to measure leadership, it is clear that additional investment in black women and girls leadership is needed to close gaps in pay, advancement, and leadership. Join us for conversation about local efforts to invest in the leadership of black women and girls and how this timely moment in Chicago's history, when we will elect an African American female Mayor, can open a new conversation about how black women lead.

Speakers: Kelly Fair, Founder, Polished Pebbles; Tina Hone, Chief Impact Officer, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago; Sherida Morrison, Founder, Demoiselle 2 Femme

Panel Two:

Building Movements that Center Black Women & Girls

Friday, June 21, 2019  -  6:30pm to 8:00pm Build Coffee, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave Chicago, IL 60637

Description: The current political moment has been a chilling reminder to many of the how race, class, and gender are discussed as separate identities that ignore the intersection of black female experiences. Policies and programs that address race center black men and boys, conversations of gender center white women, and conversations of class center the white middle class making it imperative to create intentional space for black women and girls that builds a vision for and centers our lived experiences.

Speakers: Christian Snow, Executive Director of Assata’s Daughters Scheherazade Tillet, Founder of Long Walk Home

Online registration is now closed. You may check in at the door when you arrive. 

Panel Three: The Future of Black Women's Leadership

Friday, Sept. 27, 2019  -  8:30am to 10:00am Forefront, 208 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 1540 Chicago, IL 60604

REGISTER HERE

Description: How do our neighborhoods shape the opportunities that we seek? How can we support black girls to excel in new fields such as STEM? Join us for a conversation between sociologist Ruby Mendenhall and Girls Like Me founder LaKeisha Gray-Sewell about the relationship between where we grow and our ability to become economically independent and how programs like Girls Like Me are helping young women find opportunity no matter their location.

Speakers: LaKeisha Gray-Sewell, Founder, Girls Like Me Project, Inc; Ruby Mendenhall, Associate Professor, African American Studies of Sociology, University of Illinois