Erasing the Power Gap: Changing the Leadership Game for Girls of Color

by Raye Mitchell, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Women Lead Forward.In December 2016, the White House released the final progress report on ‘Advancing Equity for Women and Girls of Color.’ There are a lot of unknowns ahead with a new administration. A host of unknown intentions, dynamics, and undisclosed policies, and platforms, with and toward the notion of advancing equality for women and girls of color will test the system servicing the needs of young women and girls of color. However, we need not spend our time speculating on the new administration’s actions and intentions, because, now more than ever, it’s on us.We as women of color and our allies within the girls’ services community across this country already have the skills, capacity, foresight, knowledge, and ability to propel new initiatives that will erase the power gap for young women and girls of color as they rise as leaders. In this new normal to come, we can radically change the game for young women and girls of color by changing the paradigm and implementing innovative solutions and adoption of radical new thinking and leadership-training programs that abandon the old theories that keep our girls invisible and mired in the status quo.Based on research, interviews, and first-hand experiences, the New Reality Foundation, Inc, a grassroots organization, was founded over ten years ago to shift power and change the game for young women and girls of color as global leaders. Leadership development is an effective tool to empower girls of color. The notion of radical thinking, innovation, and the call for new models that shift power to young women and girls of color are beginning to enter the mainstream conversation as fueled by the innovative thinkers and power movers such as The NoVo Foundation.The year of 2017 becomes our collective opportunity to pivot away from describing the circumstances holding back women and girls of color in developing leadership skills to becoming a year implementing radical new action plans to change the game for our girls of color.The New Reality Foundation, Inc, a 501 c (3) tax-exempt organization will be launching new collaborative programs in conjunction with Dr. Raye Mitchell, CEO and founder of The New Reality Foundation, Inc, new book, Invisible No More: Radically Changing the Game for Young Women and Girls of Color. This work is not a call to action but delivers a plan of action.As part of building new platforms to train young women and girls of color as global leaders and experts in meeting the needs of girls of color, we have launched the www.TheWinningEdgeInstitute.com on January 20, 2017. While some people celebrate the inauguration of a new presidential administration, we in the girls’ service sector will be celebrating the resolve and inauguration of our new platforms to assert and own our own power.The Story, Cover and Book TitleInvisible No More. Radically Changing the Game for Young Women and Girls of Color as the title captures the resolve to be independent, highly visible in all matters pertaining to influence, power and leadership impacting young women and girls of color.As a title, the resolve is unapologetic affirmation that we as women of color will no longer be invisible in the girls’ movement for change and girls empowerment programs. Women and girls of color have power. We have courage and we have insights that need a platform of visibility in order to be effective leaders and drive our own destinies.The cover design as a concept communicates on multiple levels. On one level, it is the image of a young woman of color breaking out from behind a wall that has the whole of her face and person hidden behind a wall of whiteness.On a second level, communicates without words that perspective matters. It is the image of powerful set of eyes of a young girl of color examining the world and asks and answers the question “Whose eyes are you looking through when you view the world?”