Creating Safe Spaces for the Black Community w/Sheena Collier & Latesha Byrd
About this event
Safe spaces are created for underrepresented groups to be 100% themselves. These spaces are imperative to the success and support of diverse communities, not only in the workplace but outside of it. Join this Black@INBOUND event to hear how community leaders Latesha Byrd, Creator of Career Chasers Club, and Sheena Collier, Founder & CEO of Boston While Black have grown these spaces for Black professionals. From networking and resources to events and belonging, their impactful programming is a masterclass in being more inclusive. Learn how you too can support your employees by developing a culture where they can thrive.
Speakers
Latesha Byrd
Career Chasers Members Club & Byrd Career Consulting
Career Chasers Members Club & Byrd Career Consulting
Latesha is the CEO & Founder of Byrd Career Consulting, a talent development consulting agency serving organizations and top talent at the intersection of career empowerment, diversity, equity & inclusion and leadership development.Byrd Career Consulting helps companies drive employee engagement, retention, team performance and creativity through coaching, curriculum and consulting to build equitable and safe spaces for diverse top talent through tangible and effective culture engagement, recruitment and advancement frameworks and strategies.She is also a Google Digital Coach for the North Carolina region in partnership with Grow With Google, leading the initiative on providing entrepreneurship training to minority business owners to help them grow their business and bridge the digital divide.Latesha has been featured in Forbes, Vogue Business, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Black Enterprise, Cosmopolitan, Money, XO Necole, Monster, and The Muse providing guidance on career and diversity in the workplace.Her area of expertise is in Executive Coaching and Talent Development with a focus on Diversity & Inclusion Strategic Visioning & Alignment, Career Mapping, Leadership Development, Upward Mobility and Navigating Workplace Culture. She partners with professional organizations, nonprofits, universities and corporations to deliver workshops/training for global audiences. Her clients range from tech startups to Fortune 500s such as Zapier, MeetEdgar, Honeywell, SAP and Pinterest. As a Certified Life and Career Coach, she loves helping working professionals break through to their career potential. She launched the Career Chasers Members Club, monthly membership and virtual coaching experience for ambitious women of color who want to land their dream job and create a career they love, with over 600 members across the US, South Africa, London, Nigeria, Ghana and Sweden, Netherlands (11 countries & counting and over 20 industries!). She is also an Adjunct Faculty at the North Carolina A&T State University with the College of Business & Economics. Recently she received the 2019 Young Alumna Award for the Belk College of Business at her alma mater, UNC Charlotte.
Sheena Collier
Boston While Black & The Collier Connection
Sheena Collier is a super-connector, convener, and planner with over 15 years of experience in community organizing, partnership building, strategic event planning, and program development. As Founder and CEO of The Collier Connection (TCC), she designs innovative diversity, equity, & inclusion initiatives and events to help companies engage employees, customers, & suppliers of color.In 2020, Sheena founded Boston While Black (BWB), the first membership network for Boston-based Black professionals, entrepreneurs, and students who are seeking connection and community. Through programs, events, and a digital community, BWB connects Black people who are active in their local neighborhoods, working at the most innovative companies, building the businesses of the future, attending the area’s universities, and shaping the culture of the region. Boston While Black is creating a city where Black people want to live and work because they have the spaces, tools, and relationships to find their tribe, grow their network, navigate the city, and have fun.Sheena's previous roles include Director of Economic Opportunity at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston Promise Initiative Director at Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and Senior Associate at Collaborative Communications Group. She is a 2020 recipient of the Harvard Club Boston's Most Influential Women award; 2020 recipient of YW Boston's Academy of Women Achievers Sylvia Ferrell-Jones Award; 2018 recipient of the GK25 - Who is Who Millennial Leaders of Color Awards; 2017 and 2018 nominee of the Ad Club’s Rosoff Awards; and a 2016 recipient of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award. Sheena received her BA from Spelman College and her Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a proud board member of Jeremiah Program Boston, Union Capital Boston, and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, advisory board member of Boston Harbor Now, an investor in the Boston Ujima Fund, and member of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA).