Black Women’s Leadership Retreat

 

The 2nd annual Black Women’s Leadership Retreat took place on November 12th through collaborative effort between the Women’s Center and the Program for Leadership and Character. Although the first iteration of the program took place over zoom, this year featured a day-long leadership retreat at Camp Hanes located in Stokes County, North Carolina at the foot of the Sauratown Mountain.

The planning committee of Raven Scott (Assistant Director of Programming for L&C), Erin Adamson (Interim Director of WC), and Bea Pearson (Student Programming Coordinator for WC) came together to create a space to discuss leadership while centering the voices and experiences of Black women. Although all programs are group efforts, the retreat would not have been possible without Bea Pearson who coordinated many of the programmatic logistics and led a leadership training session. Bea is a senior at Wake who has worked for the Women’s Center for three years as student program and communications coordinator.

The retreat featured a Call 2 Conversation about meaningful solidarity, sisterhood and joy. The program also included a PowerPoint night, fireside chat, group activities, excursions and three student-led sessions “Activism, Self-Care and the Power of Limits”, “Leadership, Whiteness and Civility”, “Black Women and Gender”. 

Participants reported that they felt a sense of community, gained valuable insight on setting boundaries and reflected on their personal identities in new ways after the Black Women’s Leadership Retreat. 

“My favorite part of the experience was just being around other Black women and having the ability to connect over similar experiences and sentiments surrounding our college experiences. “