Event Description:
Join BlackFemaleProject for an inspiring and empowering experience at The Majestic Place: The Freedom Possible in Black Women's Leadership—a dynamic book talk and thought-provoking conversation with trailblazing Black women leaders across industries. This event brings together editors Dr. Wendi Williams and Whitneé Garret Walker, alongside powerful contributors, to explore the transformative impact of Black women's leadership. Together, we’ll dive deep into the urgency and necessity of their leadership praxis in shaping the present and future.
What You Can Expect:
🎤 Panel conversation with book co-editors
📚 Q&A and book signing
🫒 Light bites
👩🏽🤝👩🏾 Fellowship with other Black women
✨BlackFemaleProject vibe of connection and empowerment
About the Hosts:
Dr. Wendi Williams is a dynamic psychologist, passionate advocate, and inspiring educator who skillfully combines the realms of education and psychology to drive impactful scholarship and leadership. Her research and intervention projects illuminate the rich inner lives of Black women and girls, tapping into their profound knowledge and experiences to create culturally-responsive educational and psychological strategies.
With a robust portfolio of authored and edited works, Dr. Wendi has made significant contributions to her field, showcased through her engaging conference presentations, professional development workshops, and coaching practice. Her recent publications, Black Women at Work: On Refusal and Recovery and The Majestic Place: The Freedom Possible in Black Women’s Leadership, powerfully highlight the unique challenges and triumphs of Black women's work and leadership journeys.
Dr. Whitneé L. Garrett-Walker (she/her) is the Assistant Dean of Credentialing and Partnerships in the School of Education. Dr. W. Garrett-Walker is a Black, Indigenous (Natchitoches Tribe of Louisiana, enrolled member) and Queer wife, mother, and scholar born and raised on Raymaytush Ohlone Land. Whitneé has extensive experience loving, living, and working in the field of public education and spent over a decade as a middle and high school teacher, instructional coach, and school administrator in urban public schools in Oakland Unified and San Francisco Unified School Districts, respectively. Dr. Garrett-Walker is a triple-credentialed California educator who believes deeply in the power of critical hope, healing, and educational justice.
Nia Spooner is a former educator and current doctoral student in Educational Leadership and Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Nia earned her B.A. in Education from Smith College and her M.Ed from the University of Toronto. She is passionate about education and has extensive experience teaching in cross-cultural contexts. After completing her teaching practicum in Massachusetts, Nia was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship which brought her teaching career to Taiwan for one year, and she further developed her teaching and language skills as a middle and high school educator in Shanghai. All of her education, teaching, and lived experiences as a Black and Chinese woman have informed her scholarly interests. Nia’s current research focuses on Black women educational leaders’ experiences and culturally responsive leadership in education.
Location: Downtown Oakland near 19th Street Bart Station