What does it take to secure a corporate board seat? 

In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I speak with Christine Crawford, Former McDonald’s Franchisee Owner. Christine shares her journey to serving on multiple boards, including Avid Pursuits, which includes a digital marketing agency (Cyberwoven), and Illumyn by Him For Her, dedicated to enhancing the impact of private company boards through cohort-driven learning.

Christine and I discuss why diversity in boardrooms matter and how to get a seat in the boardroom.

• Know Why Diversity Matters: Diverse board members bring different experiences to the table, enhancing innovation and preventing blind spots in decision-making.

• Communicate Your Intentions: Aspiring board members, especially women and people of color, need to vocalize their interest in board roles with their network.

• Articulate Your Value: Be prepared to share your diverse experiences succinctly and effectively, focusing on the common threads that demonstrate your value to a board.

• Be Patient in Your Journey: Recognize that board placements take time. View your path as a continuous journey rather than a race.

• Embrace Continuous Learning: Start with smaller board roles to gain experience and insights that can lead to larger opportunities.

Thank you, Christine, for sharing your valuable insights on board diversity and leadership development. Your journey inspires others to pursue their ambitions and advocate for representation in corporate governance.

Also, if you know of corporate board opportunities in education, technology, or HR that could use a leader with strategic, talent, and marketing experience, please let me know. I would love to be of service.

#BoardDiversity #Leadership #WomenInBusiness #WomenOfColorRise #CorporateGovernance

Get full show notes and more information here:https://analizawolf.com/ep-92-how-to-get-a-corporate-boardroom-seat-with-christine-crawford

How can your identity become one of your greatest leadership strengths?

In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I speak with Shirley Collado, President and CEO of College Track. Previously, Shirley served as president of Ithaca College, executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at Rutgers University-Newark, and executive vice president of The Posse Foundation.

Shirley and I discuss how women of color can embrace their identity as a superpower and lead authentically in spaces that may not always expect them to. 

• Define Your Narrative Shirley drew strength from her upbringing as a first-generation college graduate and daughter of Dominican immigrants to define herself as smart, capable, caring, and worthy of leadership.

• Show Up in Fullness As a Dominican-American woman leading in higher education, Shirley defied expectations. She reminds us to embrace our identity fully, even in spaces where others may not expect it, and to use our voice to challenge stereotypes.

• Model Possibility for Others Representation matters. Shirley's trailblazing career as the first Dominican-American president of a U.S. four-year college shows younger generations that leadership can come in diverse forms.

• Embrace the Strength in Differences Shirley highlights the unique strengths that come from being different, such as adaptability, resilience, and problem-solving, which first-gen students often possess..

• Turn Perceived Deficits into Strengths What makes you different is what makes you strong. Shirley encourages reframing perceived disadvantages, like navigating multiple worlds, into assets that make you a more effective and resilient leader.

Thank you, Shirley, for sharing your incredible story with us and showing how embracing your full identity can empower you and others to thrive.

#WomenLeaders #WomenOfColorRise #IdentityLeadership #CollegeTrack

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-91-see-your-identity-as-a-superpower-with-shirley-collado-president-and-ceo-of-college-track

What makes a great sponsor?

In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I speak with Deb Grant, Former President of The GE Foundation, Chief of Diversity, and GE’s first Black female corporate officer. Currently, Deb serves as an Independent Director for Edelman and is the Founder and CEO of Corporate Playbook, a business consulting firm. She also leads Dining With Deb, a unique dining experience that brings professional women together to bridge racial, religious, and political divides through meaningful conversation.

Deb shares how sponsors played a pivotal role in accelerating her career—and how, at one point, her own sponsor nearly blocked her progress. Here are her insights on what makes a great sponsor:

1. Find a sponsor committed to DEI Deb’s sponsor was a senior White male executive leader who prioritized diversity in his leadership team. After receiving feedback on the need for more diversity, he sought out Deb, recognizing her potential, and invited her to work directly under him.

2. Ensure your sponsor gives you feedback Her sponsor helped her grow by meeting with her weekly and providing valuable feedback. He took the extra step of gathering insights from her colleagues, peers, and direct reports to give a well-rounded perspective on her strengths and areas for growth.

3. A good sponsor opens up opportunities Her sponsor entrusted her with high-profile projects and introduced her to senior executives, helping her expand her network and gain visibility with influential leaders.

4. A good sponsor sets you up for promotion He was deliberate in advocating for her promotion, socializing her candidacy with decision-makers and addressing any concerns in advance.

5. Beware of unconscious bias that may block your career When Deb’s promotion was under discussion, her sponsor—despite his support—remarked, “Deb is great, but she needs one more thing to develop.” An African American leader in the room intervened, pointing out that her sponsor was holding her to a higher standard than others. Thankfully, Deb received her well-deserved promotion after this realization.

Thank you, Deb, for sharing your powerful story with us and highlighting how intentional sponsorship can make a difference in accelerating careers.

#WomenLeaders #WomenOfColorRise #Sponsors #GEFoundation

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-90-find-a-sponsor-who-will-accelerate-and-not-block-your-career-with-deb-grant

In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I speak with Shawna Wells, Founder and CEO of 7Gen Legacy Group. Shawna helps Black Americans plan their legacy and establish intergenerational health and wealth.

Shawna shares her journey to clarifying her own legacy and how she built her business. Here are steps she took to create a business aligned with her vision of legacy and abundance:

1. Healing Practices to See Yourself as a Business Owner Shawna shares how it took significant healing to embrace her identity as a business owner. She developed daily rituals of space and writing, and shared her thoughts with her community for feedback and support. Shawna also reflected on her childhood, understanding that our relationship with money forms between ages 0-5, and how this shaped her initial resistance to anything to do with money.

2. Create Your Legacy and View Your Business as a Way to Fund Your Dreams Shawna became clear that her legacy for the next generation involved creating change—investing in her family, community, and projects like the Highland Project. By researching the costs of her legacy, she realized that she needed to run a seven-figure business to fund that dream. The question shifted from “How much do I need to get by?” to “How much do I need to change the world and redistribute wealth to those I care about most?”

3. Align Your Skills with Your Business Once you know the life you want and the impact you want to make, the next step is figuring out how your skills can connect to that vision. Understand the value of your work and create a pricing structure that supports your goals.

4. Build a Supportive Community Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who understand and support your journey. Consider your preferred connection style—whether through regular Zoom check-ins or in-person meetings—and find a community that feels authentic to you. This could be a mastermind group, conferences, or specific connections with people who are focused on building seven-figure businesses. 

Thank you, Shawna, for generously sharing your journey and advice on building a business rooted in legacy and abundance. She is a wonderful example of how business can also be soul work.

#LegacyBuilding #WomenOfColorRise #Education #Inspiration

Get full show notes and more information here:https://analizawolf.com/ep-89-build-a-seven-figure-business-with-shawna-wells-founder-and-ceo-of-7gen-legacy-group

What can we learn from the incredible journeys of women of color running for major leadership roles?

In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I had the honor of speaking with Dianne Morales, Founder of StillRising, who is dedicated to helping organizations drive real impact for marginalized communities. Named a "Latina of Influence” by Hispanic Lifestyle, Dianne brings over 20 years of leadership in education, social justice, and equity—and was formerly CEO of Phipps Neighborhood.

Dianne shared her powerful experience running for NYC Mayor in 2021 and the key lessons she learned:

• Representation matters: Though initially hesitant to run, Dianne knew that having someone from her community in a seat of power was critical.

• Claim your power: You don’t have to wait to be chosen. We can decide to step up and go for those top roles ourselves.

• Political power is key to real change: If we want to shift systems and advance equity and justice, gaining political power is part of the journey.

• Use the system while challenging it: There's a tension in working within existing structures while also trying to transform them.

• Speak your truth: Dianne wishes she had been more vocal during the campaign when her identity was under attack. She now recognizes the importance of standing firm in who you are.

Thank you, Dianne, for sharing your story and for your courage in standing up for your community. Your journey is a powerful reminder of what it means to step out, speak up, and lead with purpose.

#Leadership #Equity #WomenOfColorRise #Education #Inspiration

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-88-running-for-change-a-woman-of-colors-nyc-mayoral-bid-with-dianne-morales-founder-of-stillrising

How do you handle someone with power blocking your path to leadership?

In this episode of Women of Color Rise, I speak with Dr. Maya Bugg Faison, Founder and CEO of the Bugg Consulting Group and Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Vanderbilt. Previously, Maya served as CEO of the Tennessee Charter School Center and State Executive Director at Education Pioneers.

Maya shares her journey to becoming CEO of the Tennessee Charter School Center, a path filled with obstacles. Despite receiving positive feedback from her interviewers, she faced resistance from powerful board members who preferred a different candidate (a White male). They added additional interview rounds and hurdles to deter her.

However, Maya emerged victorious and became CEO. Here’s how she did it:

• Speak Your Truth: Maya grew up with supportive parents who encouraged her to name injustice. She directly told the board that the process was disrespecting her as a leader, reminded them they had encouraged her to apply, and made it clear she had other opportunities.

• Seek Other Opportunities: Maya didn’t put all her eggs in one basket. She ensured she had other options, including her current role and other job applications.

• Build Champions: Maya was intentional about building relationships. When she moved to Tennessee, she started with one connection, asking to be introduced to three more people, and so on. She tracked and cultivated these relationships, and some of these people later advocated for her as CEO.

Maya led the TN Charter Center for 9 years, making a significant impact on schools, students, and families in Tennessee. Thank you, Maya, for your leadership and for modeling how we can bring equity to ourselves, our students, and our communities.

#Leadership #Equity #WomenOfColorRise #Education #Inspiration

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-87-what-to-do-when-someone-blocks-your-path-to-leadership-with-maya-bugg-faison

How integrated are you with your body, mind, heart, and spirit?

For this Women of Color Rise podcast, I speak with Laura Saldivar Luna, CEO of Pinata Possible,  a transformational coaching practice committed to helping leaders access powerful breakthroughs to unprecedented possibility, well-being, and social good.

Laura shares how as she transitioned from being Chief People Officer at Teach for America, she needed to restore her wholeness before determining her next career chapter.

Laura shares advice about how to reconnect our body, mind, heart, and spirit:

1. Embrace space - Laura went from back to back meetings to an open calendar. While this was unchartered territory for her, Laura embraced not having a plan and having space to explore.

2. Be in your body - Laura found that reconnecting with her body meant moving her body. She found a dance class where she was surrounded by retired women who were fully expressing themselves individually while celebrating the collective.

3. Work with a coach - Laura worked with an executive coach to help her get clear on her goals for her health, wealth, self-expression, and love. These goals were based on how she wanted to feel during the experience of accomplishing her goals. For example, in her marriage, she wanted it to feel light and easy. So instead of saying things to be right, she would pause and ask, “Do I want to be right or do I want to be in love?”

4. Focus on the cracks - Laura looked at where in her life she wanted something different and pinpointed her marriage, motherhood, and health. She took responsibility for how she was showing up.

Laura is a wonderful model about how we can integrate all parts of ourselves to show up as the partner, friend, leader, and human we want to be.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-86-restore-your-body-mind-heart-and-spirit-with-laura-saldivar-luna-ceo-of-pinata-possible

Are you an introverted extrovert?

For this Women of Color Rise, I speak with Dominique Jones, CEO of Global Kids, a national organization educating, inspiring and activating youth to respond to global issues. Prior to this, Dominique held roles as the Executive Director of the Harlem Girls and Boys Club of New York and senior roles at the Food Bank of New York City and NYC Administration for Children’s Services.

A self-proclaimed introverted extrovert, Dominique shares that she used to think she needed to be someone else when she networked. Now she realizes that the key to networking is to be herself. Dominique shares tips to build genuine and authentic connections:

1) Acknowledge challenges - For women of color, we are taught that we need to be someone else when networking. We face unique challenges as sometimes one of the few or only in a room of people who do not look like us. At the same time, we have probably developed a unique skill of being multilingual, with the ability to speak to different people (people who don’t look like us or share experiences with us). We can use this skill to our advantage when networking. 

2) Be intentional - Know what you need and who you need to connect with. Before an event, map out the specific people you want to network with.

3) Be present and curious - Be ready to meet them where they are and ask and learn about their experiences. Find things you have in common, including interests and experiences. You can even disarm them with a compliment; Dominique says complimenting them on their clothes works on both men and women. The key is to be genuine.

4) Think about the interaction not as a one-time event and find ways to be helpful - This is probably not the last time you’ll meet. Dominique tends to ask, “How can I be of service to you?” This opens up discussions where you can validate them, offer suggestions, and share resources (including introductions or opportunities).

5) Be yourself and find ways to keep yourself energized - For Dominique, she’ll wear bright colors to lift her mood. She’ll also identify people she already knows who are attending an event so she can have something to look forward to.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-85-how-to-network-as-an-introverted-extrovert-with-dominique-jones

How do you conquer feelings of self-doubt?

For this Women of Color Rise Podcast, I talk with Zee Clarke, a breathwork and resilience expert and the author of Black People Breathe. Trained in India, she is a Harvard MBA that went from leading teams at Fortune 500 companies to teaching powerful tools to improve our mental health and well-being in the workplace.

Zee shares a practical exercise called WEBAV to boost your confidence and conquer imposter syndrome when you experience self-doubt.

• W = Welcome. 

• The first step is to pause and welcome the voice of self-doubt. Rather than squash it, allow the voice to be there and listen to what the voice is saying.

• E = Evidence gathering. 

• Make a list that supports what your voice is saying, and make a list of evidence that disproves it. For Zee, she once had a job where each morning, she worried that she would get fired. She then made a list of evidence that supported this thought and another list that disproved it. Most of the time, the list that disproves it will be much longer because it’s all in our head.

• B = Breathwork. 

• When we are in our heads, we tend to go into fight or flight mode. Breathing can calm your anxiety and also boost your confidence and help you use your voice.

• A = Affirmations. 

• Affirmations are most effective when you use your name and say it in the present tense. So instead of, ‘I will be amazing,” I should say, “Analiza is amazing.” The more frequently we practice affirmations, the more we can rewire our neural pathways.

• V = Visualization. 

• Olympic athletes practice visualization because research shows that visualization and actually doing the action stimulates the same regions in the brain. This is true whether it's work or outside of work. When we visualize, then that action becomes real for us in our subconscious, which then becomes real in our conscious mind when we actually do the thing. 

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-84-how-to-conquer-imposter-syndrome-with-zee-clarke-author-of-black-people-breathe

Do you want a pathway to build a more equitable world?

For this Women of Color Rise Power, I talk with Mildred Otero, President of LEE (Leadership for Educational Equity), where she is creating pathways for leaders to engage civically within their communities to end the injustice of inequity. 

This includes building leaders with inside power (policy leaders, elected leaders) and outside power (advocates and organizers in communities). When we have diverse leaders with inside and outside power, we start to see long lasting change for communities,

Mildred shares skills to developing our inside power to create change:

1. Spot where there are problems and find solutions - Notice when something doesn’t feel right and how we can problem solve and make things better by working and bringing along others. For Mildred, she saw at an early age how hard it was for her hardworking family to get basic services, so she found a way later in life to find solutions and bring others (in politics and other changemakers along).

2. See the gray - Most people tend to see the world in black and white. When we can see the gray, we are able to be open and curious to different perspectives and empathize with others.

3. Have self-awareness and humility- See yourself as a growing person who does not know everything and can learn lessons from others.

4. Being a woman or person of color at the table is a doorway to change - When we bring our unique identities and experiences to the table, know that the conversations and decisions change.

5. Connect to people as humans - When we connect to each other as humans and the childhood experiences that have shaped us, we can get to the root of where our beliefs were formed. We open up shared understanding and the possibility of changing our beliefs.

Get full show notes and more information here: https://analizawolf.com/ep-83-be-a-systems-changemaker-with-inside-power-with-mildred-otero