The Power of “WE”

“I’ve been in back to back meetings all morning, but there was no way I was missing this!” said Chaka Felder-McEntire, founder and executive director of Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Program as guests gathered in the Arts Council’s sandbox community space this October. 
The meeting she refused to miss was a brain-storming session on what the next phase of the Girls of Color Mentoring Network would and could look like. Over three hours, a dozen community leaders came together to identify ways to best impact the future for young women of color in Greater New Haven. 

Created in 2022 by the Community Fund for Women & Girls, the Network fosters collaboration among mentoring programs as they each connect girls and young women of color with role models and mentors. Executive directors, staff and dedicated volunteers who work in or with mentoring organizations learn from each other, share best practices and strategize about how best to reach the girls they mentor. 

What the Fund for Women & Girls has enabled among these groups goes far beyond funding. By coming together regularly and sharing ideas and programs with each other, these leaders have developed what The Foundation’s Director of Program & Evaluation Kara Straun calls “collaborative programming” — joining together to serve more girls with more expansive offerings. Having a space to learn about what other organizations are providing to the population you also serve is invaluable. 

Network members were also prominent at the H.E.R. (Healing, Empower, Resilience) Summit hosted by the Governor’s Prevention Partnership and the MENTOR Black and Brown Girls National Movement this August. The event brought together 38 mentoring programs serving girls age 12 to 17 from 21 communities across Connecticut.  “The need for strong mentors is a challenge, not only in Connecticut but across the country,” notes Network member Brittany Baines, associate director of mentoring grants and community engagement for the Governor’s Prevention Partnership (and founder and CEO of Phenomenal I Am, Inc.). “We are always looking for adults who are willing to devote their time and experience to a mentor relationship.” 
 

Baines knew the impact of connecting the Connecticut chapter of the MENTOR Movement with the Network for the H.E.R. Summit would be powerful. The Network responded by bringing girls from their programs to the Summit, hosting a workshop showing the impact of mentorship and importance of self-advocacy, talking about their unique programs with attendees, sharing resources, listening and learning about the experiences among all the groups.  Network member Adriana Rodriguez, executive director of Spanish Community of Wallingford (SCOW), emphasizes the importance of listening before anything else. “We need to listen to our girls and our community, take that feedback, and then build those partnerships that are going to best meet their needs,” says Rodriguez.

Finding the best partners is a big part of what the Network does. In April of this year, Network members collaborated with CT STEM Academy to host the second Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) event at SCOW, especially critical since women, particularly women of color, remain overwhelmingly underrepresented in these fields. The young women had exercises in coding, robotics, rocketry and other STEM enrichment projects, and were introduced to inspiring women of color with careers in STEM who provided powerful role models.

“These girls are exposed to a dynamic environment of learning, seeing their own future potential, meeting extraordinary women,” notes Yvonne Jones, founder and CEO of Network member organization D.E.S.T.I.N.E.D. to Succeed, Inc., reflecting on the event. “You can just see their confidence soar as the day progresses. And that happens only through the power of ‘WE!’”