PODCAST EPISODES

How does a Black female CEO create the learning environment for Black children to thrive? Anne Williams-Isom, the past CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, discusses how she showed up and carried out HCZ’s mission to break the cycle of generational poverty in Central Harlem. Previously, as the organization’s COO, Anne led a staff of more than 2,000 people and strengthened the organization’s use of data to improve services and outcomes for more than 28,000 children and adults. We explore Anne’s role as CEO of an organization tasked with educating young people of color and how she, as a professional woman, raises her Black daughters to show up and #breakconcrete. 

Topics Covered: 

• How Anne carried out HCZ’s mission to break cycles of generational poverty
• How Anne helped Black girls break concrete as a Black female educator
• How Anne equipped her staff with the cultural competence to work with Black girls
• The value of representation as a Black female CEO
• Anne’s leadership as a Black woman CEO
• Showing up authentically in the workplace
• Dealing with racism and sexism when leading a mission-driven organization
• How Anne talks with her children about race and their difference
• Anne’s next chapter following HCZ

Highlights:

• “The heart is a muscle and the more you use it, the more it expands.”
• “Authenticity is a journey. You constantly are searching for what it means to be your authentic Self in that moment, in that situation, under those circumstances.”

Connect with Anne: 

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anne.williamsisom

On Instagram and Twitter: @awilliamsisom

Follow HCZ on Instagram: @harlemchildrenszone

Follow HCZ on Twitter: @hczorg

Other References:

• Georgetown Law Center, Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood
• Monica Rohr, What can be done to stop the criminalization of Black girls? Rebuild the system, USA Today, May 15, 2019.
• The African American Policy Forum, Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected