YWe Talk

Orange Chair Series

What is it?

YWCA Central Alabama commits, communicates, educates, and advocates every day to further our mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.  

The YWe Talk Orange Chair Series provides a platform of exchange to discuss important topics and issues facing women and people of color. We take a seat in the chair next to influential and motivational speakers who inform the community as we amplify voices that are often unheard.  

Through dialogue and healthy conversation, YWCA Central Alabama is able to build bridges in spaces of indifference, as well as share in the lived experiences of women and men in Central Alabama.  

The events are free and hosted from noon until 1 p.m.

Register Now »

Watch on Demand »

 

Sponsor the Series

We are excited to offer our partners an opportunity to support this series. Together we can take tangible steps as a community to bring about social and racial justice and address important issues in our community. Contact our Development team at 205-322-9922 ext 315. Sponsor Orange Chair Talks »

YWe Talk Spotlights 

September 24, 2021  |  Empowering Women of Color in the Workplace

(YWe Talk Orange Chair Series Webinar Sponsored by Alabama Power)

In the shadow of the pandemic nightmare, another scary story began to unfold. The “she-cession” saw nearly 3 million American women – the majority of job loss in 2020 – leave the workforce. In December, the rates of long-term unemployment for Asian women, Black women and Latinas hovered around 40%. Now, Empowering Women of Color in the Workplace comes into focus as women attempt to reenter the job market and as those who remained employed struggle with long existing inequities.

This issue raises questions. Are there gender and racial biases that exist as norms in your corporate culture? Can employers support women in ways that uplift them, so they can elevate under their own power? Is it enough to hire women of color in acceptable numbers? Does meaningful empowerment lie in giving women of color a seat at the decision-making table, actively listening to their perspectives and positioning them for growth and leadership? Let’s discuss it. This is YWe Talk!

Speakers

  • LaShea C. Reaves, MHR, Vice President - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager for First Horizon Bank (Orlando, Florida)
  • Anita Clemon, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CAAP, Assistant Vice President for Institutional Equity, UAB Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Mindy Santo, Mentor Coordinator for Momentum Leaders
  • Tar’ Kesa Colvin, MBA, founder/CEO, Influence NOW Media & DREAM4 Impact consultant
  • Louise Duncan, Program Manager, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Alabama Power Company
  • Yazmin Cavale, co-founder and CEO, GLOW
  • LaRhonda Magras, CEO, YWCA Central Alabama

FREE EVENT, 12-1 p.m. (CDT)
Registration is Required for this In-Person Event »

 

Other Upcoming Talks

  • October 2021 - Suffering in Silence: The Traumatic Effects of Domestic Violence
  • November 2021 - Boots on the Ground (Honoring Veterans)
  • December 2021 - Save Her: Preventing Suicide Among Pregnant & Postpartum Women

Look here for mission-related topics that we'll post soon. Topics are subject to change.

 Previous Talks 

Faith & Racial Justice

August 13, 2021

YWe Talk: Faith & Racial Justice featuring John Archibald, a 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Shaking the Gates of Hell: A Search for Family and Truth in the Wake of the Civil Rights Revolution, and The Rev. John Cantelow III, Senior Pastor of Birmingham's Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, where the funeral of three of the four little girls killed in the infamous Sixteenth Street Baptist bombing was held.

 

Ready for School: The Pandemic Learning Loss

(YWe Talk Orange Chair Series Webinar Sponsored by Vulcan Materials)

May 21, 2021

It’s being called Pandemic Learning Loss. Yet, disparities in early education due to racial inequities, child poverty, and learning gaps among homeless children have long been pervasive problems in ensuring children start elementary school ready to learn at proficient levels. COVID-19 introduced additional issues with learning loss, and early research shows the academic gap could widen. Kindergartners and preschoolers may have missed crucial learning opportunities that affect a child’s ability to learn on grade level when entering first grade. How do we recoup those losses or at least mitigate the damage among homeless, high poverty and minority children? Watch on Demand » 
 

 

 

From Declarations to Change: Racism as a Public Health Crisis

April 23, 2021

As our nation faces the intersecting dilemmas of COVID-19 and racism, YWCAs around the country are using the April 22-25 #StandAgainstRacism campaign to dissect racism as a public health crisis. YWCA Central Alabama invites health care and women's leadership advocate Alethia M. Jackson and public health researcher Dr. April P. Carson to discuss the economic and social determinants of health and how racism impacts public health outcomes. Public health is central to racial justice work and is critical to uprooting systemic inequity in communities of color. Jackson is Vice President, Federal Government Relations and Head of Advocacy at Walgreens. Dr. Carson is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. They will be joined by YWCA Central Alabama CEO, Dr. LaRhonda Magras. Watch on Demand »

 

Black Women Trailblazers

(PNC-Sponsored YWe Talk Orange Chair Series Webinar)  

February 12, 2021

Representation matters. What better way to inspire the next generation than by highlighting prominent and successful local Black women leaders?
 
Ensuring access to education, generational wealth building, and mentorship are key to continuing the success and well-being of the African American community, especially for the next generation of young Black girls. Because women of color experience unique challenges, this week’s discussion focuses on ways to pass the baton forward at the intersections of race and gender. Watch on Demand »
 

 

Hope & Healing: 2021 Activism with Jamira Burley

(Launch of the YWe Talk Orange Chair Series)  

YWCA Central Alabama's first YWe Talk Orange Chair Series launched with the YW's CEO Dr. LaRhonda Magras engaging in conversation with Jamira Burley, activist and millennial youth whisperer. The virtual discussion examined the impact of eventful 2020, looked ahead at 2021 and delved into how acting locally can effect change nationally.  Watch on Demand »