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S2E6: Black Women Leading in Nonprofit Spaces with Monique Childress

Black Woman Leading

Release Date: 12/16/2021

S8E10: Leading from Within show art S8E10: Leading from Within

Black Woman Leading

As we step into a new year, this solo episode invites you to pause, reflect, and intentionally define how you want to lead starting from the inside. Laura explores what it means to trust yourself as a leader and to draw from your internal vision, values, capabilities, and ways of knowing to guide how you want to lead in this new year. Rather than focusing on resolutions or external expectations, this episode centers alignment, self-compassion, and joy as powerful leadership strategies. You’ll be guided through reflection and forward-looking practices designed to help you flex your leadership...

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S8E9: Turn up Your Self-Celebration with Dr. Lakila Bowden show art S8E9: Turn up Your Self-Celebration with Dr. Lakila Bowden

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In this conversation, Laura welcomes Dr. Lakila Bowden to explore the transformative practice of self-celebration and the role it plays in helping Black women reclaim agency, joy, and permission to lead from a place of fullness. Drawing from key concepts in her book, The Sho’Nuff Principle, Lakila lays out a liberatory framework for centering ourselves without guilt, raising our expectations, and giving ourselves the recognition we often withhold. Laura and Lakila unpack the guilt, shame, and cultural conditioning that often arise when Black women center themselves, and what it looks like to...

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S8E8: Strengthening Your Leader Identity with BWL Alums show art S8E8: Strengthening Your Leader Identity with BWL Alums

Black Woman Leading

In this episode, Laura hosts an alumni panel of Black Woman Leading alums from the  Early Career and Mid-Career Programs (LaKeisha Williams, Jabina Coleman, and Valerie Black) for an honest, reflective, and deeply affirming conversation about what it means to strengthen your leader identity as a Black woman. Each guest shares her personal journey, from the early narratives that shaped her understanding of leadership to the mindset shifts, breakthroughs, and heart work that helped her step into a more aligned, confident, and purpose-driven version of herself. The alums discuss how their...

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S8E7: Practicing Whole Self-Care with Dr. La-Toya Gaines show art S8E7: Practicing Whole Self-Care with Dr. La-Toya Gaines

Black Woman Leading

In this conversation, Laura welcomes Dr. La-Toya Gaines, Founder & CEO of Family Matters Counseling and Psychological Services, to explore what it truly means to practice whole self-care—beyond the trends, beyond the myths, and beyond the surface. La-Toya expands the definition of self-care beyond activities and indulgence to include rest, boundaries, community support, emotional tending, identity work, and the practices that allow us to be fully human. Additionally, Laura and La-Toya examine the deep connection between the Strong Black Woman archetype and self-neglect. They unpack how...

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S8E6: Cultivating a Positive Team Culture show art S8E6: Cultivating a Positive Team Culture

Black Woman Leading

In this solo episode, Laura shares tips and insights for creating a positive team culture based on her work with teams around the world. She highlights both the “hardware” and “software” elements needed for a team to thrive and for people to feel a meaningful connection to their work.  She covers three key areas that must be addressed including foundational elements, enablers that optimize team culture, and then the role of leaders to help the team sustain a healthy environment.   We spend so much of our valuable time at work, so intentional efforts to strengthen our...

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S8E5: Creating Pathways Through Consulting with Kamilah Martin show art S8E5: Creating Pathways Through Consulting with Kamilah Martin

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In this conversation, Laura welcomes Kamilah Martin, Founder & CEO of Katalyst.  Given the recent stats about Black women exiting the workplace in staggering numbers, Laura & Kamilah explore consulting as an option for Black women in transition. The discussion also touches on the importance of community and support in navigating these transitions. Kamilah Martin shares her journey from a traditional career path to becoming a leader in consulting and entrepreneurship. She discusses the challenges and rewards of stepping into one's full power, the importance of self-discovery, and...

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S8E4: Recovering from a Layoff with Dr. Chinasa Elue & Dr. Karma Hill show art S8E4: Recovering from a Layoff with Dr. Chinasa Elue & Dr. Karma Hill

Black Woman Leading

In this conversation, Laura chats with Black Woman Leading® coaches, Dr. Chinasa Elue & Dr. Karma Hill, to explore the heart work of recovering from a layoff.   Assessing the personal side of this experience, they explore how integrated elements of misplaced identity, burnout, and grief might deepen the loss of employment for many Black women. They explore the power of community to support people through career transitions, and share small but meaningful practices that can help people manage stress and begin to recover from a layoff. About Dr. Chinasa Dr. Chinasa Elue is an...

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S8E3: Honoring Our Stories with Dr. Menah Pratt show art S8E3: Honoring Our Stories with Dr. Menah Pratt

Black Woman Leading

In this conversation, Laura welcomes Dr. Menah Pratt, scholar and author. Using Menah’s memoir, Blackwildgirl, as a powerful example; they explore how journaling can be a tool for self-awareness and growth. In Blackwildgirl, Menah shares her journey from eight years old to present day and her quest to reclaim the untamed, bold, and creative spirit of girlhood that was stifled in her rigid upbringing. She recounts her experience of unearthing 45 years of journaling to tell this story, and the transformative power she was able to reclaim from her own story. Building off her personal story, she...

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S8E2: Activating Joy with Dr. Pamela Larde show art S8E2: Activating Joy with Dr. Pamela Larde

Black Woman Leading

In this conversation, Laura welcomes Dr. Pamela Larde, social scientist, author, and coach, to explore the practice and science of joy. Based on over 16 years of research, Dr. Larde breaks down her Multidimensional Framework of Joy, built upon a foundation of well-being. She shares how joy connects to our communities and our approaches to liberation, citing current examples of how joy can serve as a source of resistance in times of political unrest, oppression, and significant sources of stress. Additionally, we explore how to reclaim joy after it’s lost and how to create joy practices....

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S8E1: Welcome to Season 8! show art S8E1: Welcome to Season 8!

Black Woman Leading

Welcome to Season 8 of Black Woman Leading, the podcast!  This podcast is an extension of the Black Woman Leading programs and events. In this episode, Laura introduces season eight of the Black Woman Leading podcast, focusing on the theme of 'Leaning Into Joy.' We’ll be exploring how to make space and create intentional plans for simple experiences of joy in all areas of our lives (yes, even at work!). Laura explains how finding time to care for and center our holistic needs (including our needs for peace and joy) are a critical part of our personal development AND our leadership...

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In this episode, our special guest, Monique Childress, non-profit strategy consultant and Principal of Horizon Advisory Group, shares about her community building work in support of  Black women nonprofit leaders.

We discuss some of the unique experiences of Black women in the nonprofit space, how Black women are persisting in spite of misdirected and inequitable philanthropy, and Monique’s insights on what’s needed for holistic resilience in this season.  Additionally, we tap into Monique’s expertise to learn how we can use a strategic planning framework to assess and map out our career journeys.

Monique also shares her story of how a moment of organic connection led to her collaborating and launching the Sista Nonprofit Network initiative, a virtual safe space for women of the African diaspora in nonprofit leadership roles. 

Guest Bio 

Monique Childress is the Founder and Principal of Horizon Advisory Group in Atlanta, GA, which provides organizational strategy services for purpose-driven organizations committed to supporting and improving the lives of underrepresented communities. Horizon’s mission is to help these organization leaders to define the path to their next horizon through strategic planning, organizational development, and facilitated stakeholder collaboration. She possesses ten years’ experience in organizational strategy planning and consulting for nonprofits, small businesses, and Fortune 500 corporations. 

Prior to Horizon, she held leadership roles in Management Leadership for Tomorrow’s Advisory practice and Accenture’s Talent & Organization Strategy practice where she worked with client executive and senior leadership teams on large-scale human capital strategy and transformation efforts. A Chicago native, Monique holds a BSBA from Washington University in St. Louis and an MBA from the University of Michigan. She has also completed additional professional training in Human-Centered Design with the LUMA Institute; Design Sprints with AJ&Smart; an advanced facilitation training on “Presencing Race, Gender, & Collective Healing”; and Diversity in the Workplace (certificate) through the University of South Florida. 

In her spare time, Monique teaches yoga, volunteers as Treasurer for the Atlanta Unbound Academy’s Board of Directors, and she is a mentor with Emory University’s Start:ME business training program.

Connect with Monique:

Resources:

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Now enrolling for the Black Woman Leading™ learning experience at http://blackwomanleading.com/

Learn more about our consulting work with organizations at https://knightsconsultinggroup.com/

Email Laura: laura@knightsconsultinggroup.com

Instagram: @blackwomanleading

Podcast Music & Production: Marshall Knights 

Graphics: Olayinka Ajibola

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