Sharing How Early Experiences Shape Leadership: Fellowship panelist reflects on why representation matters
Learning from those who have come before and discussing shared experiences is a key component of the Youth
Worker Well-Being Project’s Emerging Leaders of Color Fellowship.
A recent panel discussion during the fellowship invited current leaders of color to share how their early experiences with oppression have shaped their leadership today.
Jill English, Chief of Community Equity and Inclusion for Child Advocates and a member of the Youth Worker Well-Being Project’s advisory committee, participated in this two-person panel discussion. She talked about how her childhood experiences with discrimination fostered empathy and a commitment to ensuring that she didn’t replicate those experiences for the individuals she works with and serves.
As a Black woman with 30 years of career experience in nonprofit leadership, Jill emphasizes the importance of connecting with other youth workers of color. She aims to provide representation where it may be lacking in their daily lives and seeks out ways to support them on their leadership journeys.
“It is important to provide them with a space of mentoring and hopefulness,” she said. “It is a connection that communicates to them that generationally, these things continue to happen. And the more we build together and commune together, hopefully we can change that trajectory.”
If you are a leader of color looking to expand your network, build community, and enhance your leadership skills, apply for the next Emerging Leaders of Color cohort by March 7.