18 minute read
The Next Generation: Michigan Women Forward Continues to Create Leadership Opportunities
Leadership skills, 21st century skills, a strong network and resilience—these are the four secrets to success that the state-wide organization Michigan Women Forward (MWF) has been striving to unlock for the next generation of women since its inception in 1986.
With o ces in Grand Rapids, Detroit, and Lansing, there are even more young women to reach and support throughout the state by giving them opportunities to excel as students, entrepreneurs, and citizens of their community. With a number of programs and initiatives developed over the past 30+ years, MWF has managed to make the dreams of many, from middle-school aged girls on up, come to fruition.
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“I had seen the work MWF had done and loved the direction they were taking,” Judy Welch, Executive Director, West Michigan, explained. As an entrepreneur, she wanted to help move other entrepreneurs and young women forward, which is why the Grand Rapids native took on the role o ered to her by President and CEO Carolyn Cassin to join MWF and open a Grand Rapids location. Welch joined the organization in December 2013 and opened the Grand Rapids o ce in June 2014.
Also coming from a nonpro t background, Welch has the expertise in ensuring that MWF teaches the young women of West Michigan the skills that make up the four secrets to success. ese include: developing a belief in themselves by teaching self-esteem, communications, and leadership styles; developing and utilizing 21st
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEATHER PICARDAT , COURTESY OF MWF
century skills, such as creative thinking, collaboration, working on diverse teams, analysis, decision-making, problem-solving, planning, and nancial literacy, to conceptualize a business enterprise and develop and pitch ideas; building a network of peers, intergenerational mentors, and university sta ; and learning how to set a compass toward a bright future and navigating through any obstacles along the way.
MWF is made up of several initiatives and programs that will bene t participants of all backgrounds. With the #WomanUp Entrepreneurial Initiative, the goal is to eliminate barriers to economic and social equality by developing a scalable model across Michigan, where women can start and grow businesses and give them access to capital and a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. is initiative serves a population of 79% low to moderate-income women and 61% of women of color, with most starting their businesses for the rst time. is falls in line with one of MWF’s overall goals of launching and growing successful businesses and qualifying them for traditional funding sources to support future growth. To date, MWF has provided $3.9M of support, 141 loans and 97 investments.
rough #BehindEveryWoman, MWF identi es and assesses issues that disproportionately a ect women and girls, developing a collective change agenda to ensure that social and economic equality become a reality in Michigan. In 2014, at the request of Kym Worthy, Wayne County’s elected Prosecutor, MWF accepted the challenge to raise awareness and funds to address the backlog of 11,341 rape kits in Detroit through testing, investigation, and prosecution, which continue today with the last of the kits being sent to a forensically accredited lab. As a result, the Enough SAID (Sexual Assault in Detroit) program was taken on by MWF and has raised over $2M of private sector funding and used to leverage over $10M of government support.
With #UGOGirls (Unstoppable Generation of Girls), programs are created and supported to develop leadership, foster social change and empower middle and high school girls. ese impactful programs focus on barrier-free opportunities for college and career, selfesteem, nancial literacy and social responsibility. MWF Continued on page 20
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has three signature programs that support the UGOGirls initiative. UGO Girls on Campus (GOC), a three-day residential program typically held at Calvin University for girls entering grades 9-12. e program includes courses in self-esteem, networking, campus tours, college prep skills and public speaking, with participation and mentorship from women professionals across all industries. Continued from page 19
UGO STEM Girls, a weeklong residential program typically held at Grand Valley State University for girls entering grades 6-8, includes STEM labs, team building exercises, social skill building games and Life Unplugged,
a simulation of the challenges of adult life, focusing on nancial literacy and personal nancial planning. UGOGirls for Change is designed to assist high school girls with decision making skills and to understand social change as it relates to community problems facing women and girls. e girls work on a social change project while engaging in meetings and activities on such topics as diversity and gender stereotypes, entrepreneurship, college preparation and career readiness, and social and emotional learning skills.
Finally, #HERstory Michigan Women’s Historical Center and the Hall of Fame, which merged with MWF two years ago, brings everything full circle. Both recognize the stories of women’s contributions to Michigan, further inspiring women and girls of today and tomorrow, explained Welch. “We have to look at the women who have been the trailblazers from the past to bring women to where they are today.” To date, 329 women have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, which has recognized these “superstars” for over 37 years. returning to Grand Rapids in the late 1980s to run her dad’s 17-location dry cleaning business for 19 years. She described her current role for MWF as the best stage of her career moving women and young girls forward. “I have always been passionate about it, as an entrepreneur, in working with children,” said Welch, who is married with two adult children, ages 33 and 31. “So, here I am.”
Moving forward, Welch sees MWF continuing to reach and invest in even more women entrepreneurs across the state. Having been successful with launching a $10M Community Impact Note to fund microloans in early 2019, under the guidance of Carolyn Cassin, MWF has used philanthropic contributions and money from the state loan fund to make microloans to women entrepreneurs through loan programs and pitch competitions over the past ve years. With the additional patient capital from the new o ering, MWF could invest in up to 1,000 additional women entrepreneurs, providing them longer terms to pay the investment back, along with technical assistance and support to help them succeed.
To learn more, visit: Michigan Women Forward (MWF) at miwf.org and the Hall of Fame at miwf.org/meet-mi-leaders/hall-of-fame/.
Welch has an extensive business and leadership background as a result of many successful career roles, which began after college and the time she spent working in Dallas and Denver over a 9-year period before
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BY DEVIN DUMOND
There are countless reasons why people create art. For some, it is cathartic — a way to process emotions or relieve stress. For others, art-making is an intrinsic part of who they are — it is as routine as any other part of their daily life. And still others create to express the human experience, communicate to an audience, or to capture a moment in time. For artist Chakila Hoskins, art is an extension of her faith.
“God gives all of us gifts,” she stated. “And once we discover them, it is our responsibility to share them with the world.”
is sentiment is truly her driving force as an artist. From the concepts and symbols behind the images to her methodical creative process, each piece she conceives is thoughtful and deliberate, with her beliefs always in the forefront.
“My work is pretty intense as far as content goes,” she said. “ ere are layers and layers; they all go back to the
ARTIST PROFILE: CHAKILA HOSKINS
“My work is pretty intense as far as content goes. There are layers and layers; they all go back to the same theme — spiritual life and spiritual journey.” — CHAKILA HOSKINS
same theme — spiritual life and spiritual journey.”
It is also out of this faith that Hoskins began to use braille in her art.
“If it’s my obligation to share my gift with the world, how can I not share that with the blind and visually impaired?”
We rst see the use of braille in Hoskins’ labyrinth series, which she developed during her undergraduate studies at Kendall College of Art and Design. is series centered around an allegory about a society of fraternal twins —one who has their sight, and the other who is visually impaired.
“ ey commune together in this labyrinth setting every day,” she narrated. “ ey would walk the labyrinth’s path and along the path were biblical scriptures — written in words and braille. ey would read each one and pray/ meditate. Once [they] get to the center, they stand there and receive what God has to deliver, and then walk out in Union with God.”
ese powerful abstract images showcase her talents as both a visual artist and storyteller. Consisting of three panels each, the rst contain the verses of scripture written in braille, and the next two panels show the labyrinth. e design of each labyrinth is based on her system of numerical symbolism, which later evolved to her use of animal symbols. A fascinating body of work, both personal in nature with its representation of her spiritual journey, and universal in her use of composition, symmetry, and pattern.
Hoskins returned to Kendall to earn her MFA in painting. It was then that she started working on a much larger scale and built her own wood panels to
accommodate the new work. Several of these large-scale paintings come to life with relief patterns of this tactile writing system using clay.
e process starts with a speci c narrative which is expressed through a poem. She used an online translator to convert the poem into braille, traced the dots from the computer screen, and then transferred the dots to the panels. From there, she rolled clay by hand into small balls and adhered each one individually to the panel surface. is process would take 30 hours or more and it all happened before any painting even took place.
While some may cringe at that level of tedium, Hoskins described her technique with the braille as meditative.
“My life is very intense; that was my time to block out all of that and just focus on what I love to do.”
e braille poems allow the visually impaired to “see what we see,” she continues, “it’s not a description of what it looks like, but what it means.”
More illustrative than the labyrinth series, this body of work is a more literal representation of her overarching narrative. Each piece centers around a main character
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(modeled by one of her three daughters) who is depicted in an ambiguous, but somewhat familiar, environment, often in double. She incorporates in the space architectural elements, dreamy elds of gray, and colorful visitors — animals that have speci c symbolic meaning. Consisting of two or three panels, Hoskins uses the diptych and triptych format as an homage to early theological paintings.
Hoskins’ work can be appreciated by any observer. Her skill with portraiture combined with surrealistic imagery result in emotional, contemplative pieces that leave the viewer re ecting on their own interpretations. It is within this space that the magic of Hoskins’ work happens — as if each piece awakens within the viewer a memory or journey of their own.
To learn more about Chakila Hoskins, visit her online at divineartistries.com
Devin DuMond is a Grand Rapids artist, entrepreneur, and professor who is passionate about cultivating community and empowering women. Find her online at hatchgr.com and grwomenwho.com.
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Tessa Keena, Senior Manager Hungerford Nichols CPA + Advisors
This is the second chapter in a series spotlighting members of our community who epitomize the Athena standards and live by its principles. Readers will come to know these women, the companies they are representing and the forward thinking employers who have a commitment to elevating women and fairly compensating those women for their contributions in their workforce.
The Athena principles: LIVING AUTHENTICALLY LEARNING CONSTANTLY ADVOCATING FIERCELY ACTING COURAGEOUSLY FOSTERING COLLABORATION BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS GIVING BACK CELEBRATING
Everyday Athena
STEPPING INTO THE WORKFORCE as a young single mother right out of high school, Tessa Keena’s journey to success has been unique, and she says, made possible by relentless support from those around her.
“I have always been very driven, I was academic and I enjoyed working hard,” Keena said. “As a young mom, I had a lot of family support, and some people don’t have that.”
Today, Keena is a senior manager at Hungerford Nichols CPA+ Advisors. Keena says she was able to earn her CPA with the support of her husband.
“My husband stepped aside, and instead of him working on his MBA, I worked on my CPA,” she expressed. “He knew that it would make more sense for me to do that rst. He stepped up to take care of stu around the house while I spent maybe two years studying.”
When Keena started at Hungerford Nichols in 2011, she was still pursuing her bachelor’s degree in accounting, which she nished in 2012. In her rst six weeks at the rm, the senior accountant she was working under le , and she was given the opportunity to take on the clients on her own.
“I was con dent enough to go forward knowing that I knew enough, but that I could ask for help if I could,” she said.
She describes a key moment in her career when a mentor at the rm advocated for her compensation to be increased; something that she, like many women, was hesitant to ask for.
“ at was huge,” she said. “We hear about this a lot, that women are less apt to go for something, where men are like, ‘why not?’ So him advocating for me — and there were others that advocated for me — has given me the ability to do that for others.”
Hungerford Nichols has cultivated a culture in which employees may set goals and thrive. Keena says that as a leader, this allows her to advocate for her sta .
ATHENA PRINCIPLE: FIERCE ADVOCACY
Keena practices erce advocacy by building the con dence of her sta , recognizing their accomplishments and allowing them opportunities to perform while being on hand to help if needed.
“ ey are early in their careers and they can still be successful, and it is about building their con dence,” she said. “A lot of times, they will say, ‘Well, I am just a young CPA and this client probably doesn’t want to work with me,’ and I will say, ‘No, you are our CPA, and that right there says enough.’ I want to help them build their con dence in who they are and help them get to the next level. I work to give them the con dence to work with the client, and step in to help when they need it.”
Keena shares that she recently heard a quote at church that resonated with her view of leadership: “ e more mature you are, the more sacri ces you make for the people coming behind you.”
“ at resonates so clearly with how I want to lead because I am still learning and growing, but I have been able to get to a point where I am able to sacri ce for others,” she said. “I want my sta to know that when I am here all day, I am at their disposal to help them and answer their questions and support them. Sometimes I have to stay late to get my own work done, and they may never see that, but that is a sacri ce I am willing to make so they may be supported so they can learn and grow and not feel overwhelmed.”
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