This Black History Month, I am sharing 28 stories of Black women who shaped me and showed me the way towards liberation. Because Black women are often not cited for their ideas, I thought this would be one way to give flowers to those who influenced me.
On Day 22, I would like to celebrate the work of Rhonda Broussard, founder of Beloved Community, and author of the newly released One Good Question: How Countries Prepare Youth to Lead (check out her book here: https://lnkd.in/dZx-VDKi)
Rhonda founded Beloved Community, an organization focused on supporting regions to further their collaborative journey for racial and economic equity, and by centering our most marginalized populations as we advance towards the beloved community. When I was a COO and in charge of our organizational DEI strategy, we used Beloved’s equity audit to better understand our strengths and areas of improvement. The coaching I received from Rhonda and the Beloved team was clear and actionable, and helped me identify areas of focus for the work ahead. Recently the Beloved team super-charged their equity audit and rolled out AWA, a free tool that helps to assess individual and organizational DEI capacity, set priorities, and build plans to support action and sustainable change. (https://lnkd.in/dXN9iSXt)
Becoming a full time entrepreneur was scary when I finally took the leap. I wasn’t convinced people would want to hire me. Rhonda was one of my first clients. I got to work with her on a cool project focused on management skills, something I am pretty passionate about. What struck me most about working with Rhonda as a consultant was how much *ease* there was in her approach to collaboration. She fully trusted my wisdom and my approach. She didn’t try to nickel and dime me. I felt like our relationship as consultant and client was reciprocal. That engagement changed what I expect from clients. Rhonda is one of those humans who walks her talk. She was an absolute delight to collaborate with.
I also admire how committed the people in the organization that Rhonda created are to working in true alignment with organizational values. Every person I’ve had the pleasure of encountering from Beloved Community is smart, kind, and intensely committed to equity and justice. When you’re in the room with the Beloved team, you get the sense that this group of humans could truly change the world. In a recent social media post, the Beloved team said, “We’re not just a Black-led, queer-led, woman-led nonprofit. The Black diaspora is baked into everything we do. We center Black freedom, Black joy, and Black liberation.”
Thank you, Rhonda, for being such a great example of leading in alignment and creating an organization that is committed to Black liberation!
Image Description: Rhonda is seated holding a mint green pillow. She is wearing glasses, a light blue top, and circle earrings.
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