Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn L. Brown
Hi Dawn L., thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey as a non-profit professional began 25 years ago in New York City and I have been driving forth initiatives that directly impact my communities since then. I graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater and a Masters Degree in Drama Therapy. I actually thought I was going to be a Broadway star, but after one too many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while auditioning I decided to find a flexible fulltime job. Somehow, I acted my way into working as a Program Manager for an afterschool program and fell in love with the work. I realized that my purpose was not Broadway, but supporting young people who look like me and live in similar communities as the one I grew up in. That passion for supporting youth and families from marginalized communities is what has driven me to continue this work many years later.
In 2020, I was proud to join EmpowHer Institute to continue the phenomenal mission that our founder, Betty Lamar, set out when she founded the organization in 2003. Through her personal experiences with being pregnant as a teenager, Betty realized that her community could directly benefit from having a program that supported young women in LA and their ambitions to graduate high school and eventually pursue college. For the first 17 years of EmpowHer, they focused on teen dropout and pregnancy prevention. When I came on as the CEO, I assessed the needs of our girls right now, and I wanted to evolve the vision to encompass a wider purpose of breaking generational cycles from a holistic approach.
So, today, the EmpowHer Institute operates as a fully functioning social justice-based organization that partners with Title I schools in Los Angeles to teach young girls how to navigate the world and become their most successful selves through a plethora of hands-on programs. It is such a huge passion of mine to serve our girls and I appreciate the unique experiences I am able to create for our EmpowHer participants.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Non-profit work is so rewarding, but there are certainly some challenges that come with it. One of the most consistent challenges I face as CEO of the EmpowHer Institute is determining how I can best serve all of the girls of color in our community.
Black woman led nonprofits and organizations serving marginalized communities have the most difficult time raising funds for sustainability. The recent attacks on social justice organizations that explore the intersection of race and gender have been very difficult. When you layer on having experienced significant microaggressions and misogyny throughout my career, it can be a lot to hold. I have found that having a strong support system to support me and a Board of Directors who are willing to understand and bravely forge ahead with our mission has been the most impactful in navigating these challenges.
EmpowHer Institute initially started by teaching entrepreneurship to high schoolers. As they were planting roots, our founder realized that there were so many traumas and challenges that the girls had gone through so much personal trauma that it was hard to focus on the skills and curriculum that the program was trying to teach. So, the organization decided to pivot to start earlier, serving middle school girls and focusing on social emotional development in order to help them heal from trauma and become prepared to take on challenging concepts such as entrepreneurship and social justice advocacy and career and college readiness as our girls grow.
Now eventually, these middle schoolers become high schoolers, and they love the program so much that they want to stay involved, this is how the EmpowHer Leader’s Academy was born. With 100% of our high schoolers not only graduating high school but also being accepted into college, as the cycle continues, they still want to be involved with the program. So we have found a way to keep that relationship going with them by adding the Women’s Academy. Then, while having a conversation with a few of my colleagues about the microaggressions and misogyny they were experiencing at their nonprofits and the need for more support for Black Women nonprofit leaders, I decided to launch our Black Women Nonprofit Leaders Forum as a part of the Women’s Academy. This allows us to support girls and women at all stages of their lives, from middle school through adulthood.
This is a role where I am constantly adapting and evolving to best serve the participants of our program. We conduct multiple listening sessions throughout the year for the communities we serve and we make adjustments to our services and curriculum based on their needs. It’s so beautiful, because our organization is all about helping girls embrace the power of the voice they already have. Our girls start with a whisper and they leave with a shout. You can’t then ignore that shout. So when they say, “This is what I want, I need you to do it,” as a leader I feel called to follow through on that.
We’ve been impressed with EmpowHer Institute , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
One of the things that is so unique about the EmpowHer Institute is that we are actually the only nonprofit organization in the nation that has programs that are fully integrated into the school day. We partner with 13 Title I schools and one community site to provide social-emotional learning courses that are credited, so not only are the girls gaining new skills but they’re actually getting credit for the courses as well.
We have always been on the cusp of innovation as an organization, and with me coming in as the new CEO, that was extremely important to me to always be ahead of the game and not follow the trends, but create them.
I come from a social justice background, primarily in examining the intersection of race and gender. To introduce our girls to a broader worldview, we kicked off the first and only of its kind EmpowHer Social Justice STEAM Camp. This camp trains middle and early high school girls in an immersive marine biology experience. Not only are they trained in marine biology, but they are learning college-level concepts while living on a college campus. At the end of the program, they can receive scuba diving and sailing certificates in addition to a host of other skills the curriculum offers. We are developing a workforce that will ultimately be able to be socially conscious in utilizing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to solve some of the world’s greatest problems. Ultimately our goal is to flip the narrative that women are underrepresented in STEAM careers, which are some of the most lucrative careers in the world. We want to create a successful new workforce of women who are well-rounded and undeniably skilled and ready to become our next generation of leaders.
While we are shaping the future of women, we are also nurturing the women who are currently doing the work to change the world. We created a non-profit leaders forum for Black women. It’s the first and only of its kind and it supports black women nonprofit leaders and beyond in healing from misogynoir. This calls out an issue that many have ignored for so long in the nonprofit space.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
This is a unique time to be a woman. This is a unique time to be a girl. This is a unique time to be a woman of color and to be a black woman in the world.
As an organization, facing significant challenges right now, just trying to sustain because of the misogynoir, misogyny and racism that exists, you have to have tough skin and be bold enough to not participate in your own oppression.
You must have a very clear vision and a long-term plan of how you’re going to execute that vision. For every challenge you encounter, approach it fearlessly and confident enough to know that even on your worst day, there is a reason behind the work you’re doing and you know that you can create real change in the world.
If you don’t have a plan, a real true investment in change or a “why,” just get out now. Non-profit work has many sleepless nights. I encourage you to go into mission-driven work that energizes you to create innovative and unique solutions that the world needs. That is where you’re going to make real change.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://empowher.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empowherorgla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmpowherOrg
