Our Program Manager’s Recap of Take The Lead In Chicago
By Abigail Hollie
Photo by Emily Ling
In August, RIDC attended the “Women of Color Take the Lead” conference in Chicago, cofounded by Alison Mariella Désir and Martha M. Garcia in 2022. “Take the Lead is the first-ever running-industry retreat centering the experience of women and femme of color with the mission to validate, support, and lead change they want to see in the running industry” (Take the Lead).
The retreat commenced with a dinner and opening reception featuring Naira Bills's poem "Allegory of the Activist.” It encouraged everyone in the room to ask themselves the question, what beyond your color and your work makes you who you are? This was followed by a family-style meal and cocktail hour, and a game called Wordaful created by Liz Hernandez. A few women came in groups, a few came by themselves, but everyone was welcomed at a table. The game sparked conversations around emotions, kindness, success, relationships, and other subjects that delicately guided attendees through deeper connection.
When I first arrived, I was fatigued from a weekend of travel and flight delays. I found a gift in the welcome email that said “casual attire is welcome,” so in my cozy airport outfit I thought I would just pop into the dinner for a quick hello and then head to bed early. Well, about two hours later, I realized I had gained more energy from the reception than I came with and was surprised when our fantastic emcee of the retreat, India Cook- Calloway, announced that the evening was wrapping up. Maybe it was the genuine conversations that didn’t feel taxing but felt inviting, or that I didn’t have to add the labor of feeling overly observed because I wasn’t the “only” woman of color walking into the room. The reception set a tone of openness, vulnerability, and gratitude that resonated throughout the rest of the retreat.
The next day began with a panel and Q&A on “Professionalism as a Racial Construct,” held at the Bank of America Tower and inspired by Leah Goodridge’s award-winning article. It was moderated by Alison Mariella Désir (cofounder of the RIDC as well as Take the Lead), and the panelists included Erica Edwards, Camille Tate, and Song Nguyen (an RIDC board member). This panel covered topics such as the myth of the model minority, the wide disparities among AAPI communities, the necessity of BIPOC human-resources representatives in a white-women-dominated field, operationalizing DEI in the corporate space, and the additional toll of catering to implicit biases when defining professionalism for women and femme of color (WOC).
The day continued with a panel on “Finding Your Alignment,” moderated by Alison Mariella Désir and featuring panelists Ruba Sbeah, Verna Volker, and Kaitlin Rodriguez. Ruba started off the conversation with a quote that became a mantra for retreat attendees, “Everytime I pack away a dream, it somehow comes back to me,” that emphasizes how the path to your ideal destination is not necessarily linear. They explored maintaining alignment through core values, mindfulness, positive self-talk, family, heritage, and prayer. My major takeaway was that self-care and persistence are vital!
Sponsor representatives from CEM (Dianna Parkman), NYRR (Erica Edwards-O’Neal), On (Sahra Kaboli-Nejad), Strava (Camille Tate), and Superfeet (Linda Balfour) discussed their companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, stressing the need for a community-driven approach and challenging the workplace at a systemic level. Erica left attendees with three great questions to take back to their own brands: Who might benefit from our action or inaction? Who might be burned from it? Who will be left out entirely?
“This was my first time attending Take the Lead and I was blown away from the moment I walked into dinner on the first night. This was the first time in my career (honestly in my life) that I have been in a room filled with Women of Color. By the end of the retreat, I walked away with a powerful network of contacts and new friends with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise. I look forward to participating in Take the Lead and supporting the development of these safe spaces into the future.”
The day wrapped with breakout sessions before a casual happy hour and dinner. The sessions I attended were “The Unsexy Side of Entrepreneurship,” presented by Onika Shabazz of Heat Athletic and Jessica Murphy of BibRave, and “Building a Racial Equity Strategy,” presented by Sahra Kaboli-Nejad of On. Check out this video of me sharing my favorite part of the retreat, inspired by the networking these sessions facilitated!
Day two of the retreat was cut short due to my travels, but not before I caught the wonderfully coordinated focus session titled “The Power of O.N.E.” facilitated by Tiffany Smith, CEO of Camber Outdoors, and LaCheryl Ameer-Bey, program manager of Camber Outdoors. LaCheryl channeled her inner teacher and led us through an interactive presentation on the value of mentorship and sponsorship. Tiffany showed us her motivational powers as she inspired the room to manifest their own success and take their personal brand to the next level.
The retreat wrapped up with the workshop “Improv in the Workplace,” fostering laughter and camaraderie. You can see the energy in our final group photo shared on the Take the Lead instagram. Despite starting off the retreat with some sleep in my eyes and a bit of jet lag, I left feeling energized and enthused about the future of the running industry being held in the hands of this group. I came out of this experience with new friendships and a sense of sisterhood. Spaces like these refuel us at the RIDC, and remind us why our work in this industry is so necessary.
