Ladies First
The 15th annual Black Women’s Roundtable Policy Forum was a first-day session. Nearly 40 female leaders in top local, state, and national positions weighed in on the theme “Power of the Ballot: We Won’t Be Erased!”
White House Correspondent and Bureau Chief at The Grio, April Ryan, served as moderator. The format could be described as a “lightning round” where each person had 90 seconds to present their thoughts on how we need to prepare for the 2024 elections.
“We can’t just vote, we have to leverage that vote,” said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. “Our rights, our freedoms are under attack. The attacks are relentless, but we ain’t going back.”
Latosha Brown, Atlanta-based co-founder of Black Voters Matter, spoke about a different way to view the upcoming election season.
“We need to keep our eyes on the prize. It’s not about the candidates, it is about us,” said Brown.
Brown’s remarks led to a view that summarized this year’s roundtable: the 2024 elections are about democracy which is being torn down.
Elevator to the Top
“See Me in the C-Suite,” hosted by 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, provided pointers as one navigates a career to high-level positions in large organizations. Whether a Fortune 500 company, a national association, a nonprofit, or in higher education, the road is rocky.
“Take your personal feelings out of what you are experiencing,” said panelist Nzinga “Zing” Shaw, an adjunct professor at Fisk University. “Think about what you want to gain long term. Those are some ways I could navigate challenges in corporate America.”
There was agreement that the best way to demonstrate one’s value is to deliver the goods by assembling a great team.
“My big moments come when I hire amazing people and watch them really shine in a room,” said Danita Johnson, president of business operations at D.C. United. “When someone comes back to me and says, ‘I met so and so; they’re amazing!’ I’m thinking, ‘I hired them.’”
HBCUs Will Always Matter
The CBCF-ALC HBCU Brain Trust evaluated the challenges and successes of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The session was hosted by Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), who leads the HBCU Caucus in the House of Representatives.
A panel of three current HBCU presidents focused on upgrading buildings on campus and funding ongoing training for faculty and staff. They agreed that many students attending an HBCU do not realize their institution was built in the 1800s. Buildings are not sleek and modern.
Heidi M. Anderson, Ph.D. president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UNES), an institution that is 137 years old, received assistance from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund through the Partnership for Education Advancement program.
“The program helped us through COVID. We were the only university in Maryland that brought our students back with no interruption,” said Anderson.
The Partnership put in other resources at UMES that support increasing student enrollment.
AI Has Been Here for a While
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) hosted “AI for the Culture” featuring panelist Carlos Mayers, a 24-year-old iOS Software Engineer and tech entrepreneur, who encouraged everyone to think differently about AI.
“Think like an engineer. Everyone should enter the AI space thinking as a problem solver,” said Mayers, hoping to help attendees not to fear AI.
Another panelist brought up how AI influenced the past two presidential elections. The audience was reminded of foreign bots that would pop up on our social media platforms by panelist Mutale Nkonde, founding CEO of AI For the People (AFP).
“It’s not believing everything you see online. What we see online reflects what we have put on there,” said Nkonde. “In my research, I found that the Aryan Nation began in 1983 to manipulate what we see. What you are looking at online is an advertising platform. We must go offline to get knowledge.”
