Feminist leadership awards

Avalon Harold and Carrie Elizabeth Smith, the co-recipients of the 2020 Feminist Leadership award, are phenomenal feminists who are devoted to the work at the Women’s Resource Center and to advancing intersectional feminism. Please join the WRC in celebrating these magnificent women.

Avalon “Ava” Harold, an Economics and Finance double major at Loyola University, serves as the Associate Director of Administration and Operations Management. She assists Dr. Boyett in overseeing and tracking all the projects, programs, advocacy work, and creative developments at the center. She aids the director in the supervision of an average of 30 student staff members each semester. Avalon Harold

When Ms. Harold began working at the center her freshman year, Hadori Bukle, who served as the associate director at the time, saw so much potential in Ms. Harold that she was determined to mentor her to take over her position when she graduated. She also quickly impressed Dr. Boyett, who enjoyed witnessing Ms. Harold flourish at the center and become a fabulous leader and mentor. As Dr. Boyett asserts, “Ava is a brilliant leader whose work ethic is phenomenal and whose exceptional organizational and creative ideas have assisted me in expanding the center’s reach and strengthening its core.”

In addition to Ms. Harold’s work in operations and management, Ms. Harold has served as a moderator and contributed articles to the magazine. She and Ms. Bukle co-moderated the WRC’s annual Businesswomen’s Luncheon that it hosts during Feminist Festival every year. Ms. Bukle and Ms. Harold worked beautifully together to develop thoughtful questions that they posed to the panelists during the event. Ms. Haorld and Ms. Bukle

made a wonderful team, as they always have, and Ms. Harold has flourished in her own right since assuming the associate director position this year.

Ms. Bukle is quite proud of her former mentee and said, “Ava is a strong, natural-born leader. Her professionalism and passion allow her to lead organizations to success. Although productivity is important to her within the workplace, she enjoys spreading her bubbly personality to maintain high morale. Ava’s curious nature allows her to engage employees in reflective conversations, which provokes innovative thoughts and ideas. She is truly destined to be successful, and I am excited to see her thrive in a career in finance.” Ms. Thabata echoed such sentiments. “Ava is a natural born leader. She is a feminist icon, both kind and firm [and is phenonemal in engaging in difficult conversations and facilitating change.”

Ms. Harold has already taken many steps to establish a career in the business world. In the summer 2018, she completed her first internship at a financial advisory firm, where she experienced client reviews and meetings first-hand. The experience introduced her to wealth management as a viable future career path. During the Summer 2019, Ms. Harold accepted an internship in Lisbon, Portugal for a distressed asset valuation, buyout and management firm. She gained valuable work experience in a large company. Furthermore, Ms. Harold is an active member of Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity, and a newly inducted member of the College of Business’s honor society, Beta Gamma Sigma. She is also on the Dean’s List and has been awarded multiple scholarships for her academic success.

Ms. Harold is a wonderful mentor and has taken on several students at the WRC under her wing. Mentoring comes naturally to Ms. Harold as she has spent much of her pre-college life in her hometown of Los Angeles, California mentoring girls, advancing women’s sports, and giving back through community service. Every summer, she worked and continues to work at a YMCA sleep-away camp where she mentors girls ages 7 to 14. During her senior year at Notre Dame High School, she founded the first women’s lacrosse team and served as captain and assistant coach. Throughout her childhood and teenage years, she worked with her father, a chef, to provide food to homeless populations in Los Angeles. For her exemplary community service, she won Notre Dame High School’s Service Award.

Ms. Harold and Ms. Smith have brought their phenomenal skills, their brilliant minds, their incredible work ethic, and their creative ideas to deepen and expand the work of the WRC in a myriad of amazing ways. They have earned the great respect of their peers and the director. It would not surprise the director in the least if both Ms. Harold and Ms. Smith became national and even global leaders.

Carrie Elizabeth Smith began working at the Women’s Resource Center her freshman year. She deeply impressed Director Patrica Boyett with her creative ideas and exceptional work ethic that Dr. Boyett promoted her during the second semester of her freshman year to co-lead the Marketing and Public Relations team. Dr. Boyett promoted Ms. Smith again at the onset of her sophomore year when she named her the sole associate director of the team. A double major in finance and marketing, Ms. Smith has brought a wealth of skills to the position. Consequently, she has also assumed leadership positions in various mediums across Loyola. She served as a College of Business Senator for the Student Government Association, the Director of Public Relations for the Black Student Union, and the Campus Representative for the Princeton Review.

Ms. Smith is as creative as she is business-minded, so she also worked with another fabulous student leader at the WRC, Tyler Sanchez, to develop an intersectional feminist talkshow, At The Intersection. As the co-producer and co-anchor of the show, Ms. Smith has proven particularly skilled at developing interesting ideas for the content and for the marketing of the show. In addition, her experience as a dual finance and marketing major has made her a fantastic manager of the project. She always ensures the completion of all the administrative aspects, including working with Tyler the production manager, Kynnedi Horton, and the director and cinematographer Sophia Santiago, to develop proposals, treatments, and promotional videos.

Ms. Smith proved an ideal partner for this intersectional feminist program as she has spent much of her life advanding gender and racial equality. In her hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, Ms. Smith attended Atlanta Girls’ School for 6 years. During this time she served in student government, co-founded the club Melanin Matters, and interned at the ACLU of Georgia and Morris, Manning, & Martin, LLP. Her favorite accomplishment is cofounding Melanin Matters in 2015, a non-partisan club that helps students develop strong advocacy skills through discussions on topics such as womanism, cultural appropriation, police brutality, and human trafficking. With the help of her fellow peers, Ms. Smith was able to successfully bring Stacy Abrams to speak at one of her school assemblies. Additionally, Smith designed a month-long Black History Month curriculum that would be presented by Melanin Matters for the remainder of her high school career.

Upon her arrival in New Orleans, Ms. Smith continued to advance social justice. She enjoys volunteering with different organizations around New Orleans such as the Crescent City Cafe and the New Orleans Edible School Yard. She is also a member of one of Loyola’s most impressive and active student organizations, Lemon Pepper, which is a group of progressive and/or marginalized students who are dedicated to being prepared socially and professionally in intolerant spaces after life at Loyola. Lemon Pepper won the “Student Organization of The Year” Magis Award in 2019 for its outstanding dedication to service and for providing students with creative programming that addressed social issues.

Each year, Ms. Smith continues to expand her career and social justice activities. During the academic year 2020-2021, she will serve as a Residential Assistant as well as the Vice President for the Black Student Union. She plans to earn a real estate license within the next year and to become a Certified Public Accountant after graduating college in 2022. The WRC director and student staff certainly expect that Ms. Smith will continue to flourish at Loyola and throughout her life. “Carrie Elizabeth,” Dr Boyett asserts, “ is a consummate professional and always comes to every meeting and event fully prepared, carries herself in a refined, mature, and confident manner, and inspires others on her team to meet her high standards. Her amicable personality puts people at ease and makes them want to collaborate with her and engage in the development of creative ideas. I expect Carrie Elizabeth to soar to the heights of the business world and perhaps the political world as well. She has the brilliance, compassion, strength, and sophistication to lead.”

Ms. Smith also impressed many of her peer leaders, including Rula Thabata (former Associate Director of Programming) Hadori Bukle (former Associate Director of the WRC) until she graduated last year. “Carrie Elizabeth defines and embodies leadership,” said Ms. Thabata. “She has an eye for creativity and a vibrant personality bringing together pragmatism and empathy.” Ms. Bukle considered Ms. Smith among the top recruits to the WRC and marveled at her work. “Carrie Elizabeth is an exceptional worker and student who is determined to make an impact within the business world,” Ms. Buckle recalled. “Her grace and tenacity will allow her to break the glass ceiling while maintaining diplomacy with all participating parties in her industry. Without a doubt, she will succeed in any career she chooses. I cannot wait to see her strut her stuff in the workplace as the boss or as the fearless corporate lawyer.”