Introducing Legacy Leadership 2024
Summer is officially here! We hope you’re eating an abundance of fresh fruit and daydreaming in the sunshine. (If you’re yearning for a beach getaway this season, consider booking a stay at Ocean Song, our restful retreat space on Tybee Island).
At SageD Consulting, we are leaping into the warmer season with our Legacy Leadership community. In May, we launched our 2024 cohort with five brilliant new Executives, and invited a new group of Upstanders and Emerging Leaders into community with our 2023 Executive cohort. We can’t wait to share these updates with you!
But first, a refresh: what is Legacy Leadership?
Legacy Leadership is an eighteen-month cohort-based leadership development program centered on the needs and experiences of Black women leading in the social impact sector. While most executive training focuses exclusively on specific skill development, Legacy Leadership looks at the experience of leaders holistically, delivering both an individualized and collective approach.
Our cohort model includes three types of leaders:
Executives: Impactful Black women currently in or preparing to enter a leadership role
Upstanders: Non-Black women committed to active anti-racism and increasing access and opportunities for Black individuals
Emerging Leaders: Brilliant, highly-motivated BIPOC young women enrolled in college
The Executive Experience
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A full day retreat, focused on centering new members of the Legacy Leadership community in our values and celebrating their brilliance.
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A twelve week Community of Practice, with a curriculum tailored for the specific needs of each Executive cohort
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A 360 leadership assessment from TalentTelligent, allowing Executives to receive real-time feedback on the effects of their leadership
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Nine months of individual leadership coaching from Atlanta Leadership Consulting, to address areas of focus from the 360 assessment
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Six months of capacity development work with an Upstander, who works alongside the Executive to achieve specific goals
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Twelve weeks of fully funded intern support from an Emerging Leader, to assist in reaching the capacity development goals
The Legacy Leadership Retreat
On May 9th, we kicked off our 2024 cohort experience with our annual Legacy Leadership retreat. Our five new Executives spent the day connecting with one another at Meena’s Manor, diving into our community values, participating in an organizational capacity review, and enjoying a traditional tea ceremony. To round off the evening, we invited the 2023 Executive cohort and previous Executive alumnae to join our new Executives for dinner, wine, and flower arranging.
Thanks to Mama Haylene (The Garden Queen) and Gwendolyn Washington (Phoenix Gardens) for the delicious lunch and dinner; Passion Planner, Simple Man Distillery, Patagonia, and The Lola for welcome gifts; BLVCK Lotus Herbals for the custom tea blend; Dom Beijos for wine; Ashley B. for photography; and Andrea Blanton (Food Earth Birth) and NAME for their facilitation of the tea ceremony.
We’re launching our 2024 community of practice in June! Stay tuned to hear more about our 2024 Executives, our facilitators, and our sessions.
Relational Capacity Development: Upstanders and Emerging Leaders
In addition to welcoming our 2024 Executive cohort, we have also successfully paired our 2023 Executive cohort with Upstanders and Emerging Leaders. Cohort members will work together over the summer to support each other’s leadership journeys in meaningful ways.
This year, we partnered with Seeing Whiteness to bring their programming to The Lola. Seeing Whiteness is a six-week learning circle program for white-bodied people that introduces a lifelong noticing practice, building skills and stamina to bring racial healing, equity, and liberation. We believe this practice is crucial to the holistic leadership development of white-bodied people in our community.
Our Upstanders are all Lola members who chose to participate in the Seeing Whiteness program, and who expressed interest in continuing their leadership development journey in collaboration with Executives. They will work alongside their Executive on specific capacity development projects that the Executive has identified. These include:
Recruiting a non-profit advisory board
Developing a consistent and effective marketing and branding strategy
Navigating an extensive business pivot
Emerging Leaders
Our 2023 Emerging Leader class kicked off their internships in mid-May! This year, our Emerging Leader class is more than 60% Black women, includes both graduate and undergraduate students, and represents four different Georgia universities.
In addition to the direct work experience and mentorship provided by their Executive, Emerging Leaders also participate in professional development sessions both with their host universities and with SageD Consulting.
Emerging Leader experiences are fully funded through our partnerships with participating universities and through generous donations.
Join us: Sistering Circles
Are you missing our Sistering series? Want to experience the Legacy Leadership community in new way? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
Starting Wednesday, June 5th and continuing all summer long, we’ll be hosting a weekly Sistering Circle at The Lola from 4:00-5:00pm. Together, we will engage in pleasurable rest over a signature tea blend from BLVCK Lotus Herbals and discuss some foundational texts for our shared SageD Consulting values.
Madear's Moment, SageD Consulting's custom tea blend, was created to honor Sagdrina's mother, who centered her tea practice as a vital component of her self care. Madear's Moment also contains notes of sage and lavender, honoring Sagdrina's father and sister, respectively.
Each month, we'll focus on a different core book for our discussion. Each book invites us deeper into community with one another through the discussion of our shared values. We encourage you to engage with these books before attending, but welcome all to join us (even if you've never heard of the book!)
June read: Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
July read: All About Love by bell hooks
August read: Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown
This event is free and open to the public. If you are not a member of The Lola, we encourage you to join us as our guests. RSVP here!
