The WoCLP Advisory Board
History and Context | Proposal created in November 2016
In 2001, the Women of Color Leadership Project (WoCLP) was founded as a mentoring and support system to train and prepare women of color for leadership roles within the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA). Since Layli Maparayan, the first WoCLP co-chair, began the program, the WoCLP has trained approximately 580 women of color and non-binary people of color from across the United States of America, Canada, Asia, and Europe - growing from training one cohort of twenty participants per year to two cohorts of 20 per year. Former participants have gone on to serve in different leadership roles throughout NWSA, including president, vice president, and as the co-chairs of a variety of caucuses and interest groups, including the Women of Color and Lesbian Caucuses.
Since its inception, the WoCLP co-chairs and participants have depended upon the support of a network of former WoCLP co-chairs and participants. The grassroots network typically assists with selecting and training WoCLP co-chairs; reading applications and selecting cohort participants; assisting co-chairs with their leadership in curriculumdevelopment and selecting readings and resources; and, providing hands-on support on the day of the Project. In addition, former WoCLP co-chairs have stepped in last minute to facilitate the program in the case of emergencies and other contingencies.
In forming an Advisory Board, the pilot council worked to make explicit what has formerly existed as an informal network, and what constitutes the way the labor of the WoCLP is accomplished each year. As members who are currently serving in these grassroots organizing roles, we view this Advisory Board to essential to the ongoing success and continuity of the WoCLP. Because the Project was birthed out of the activism of the members of the Women of Color Caucus, we feel a special obligation to ensure that the vision, support, and mentoring for the program continue to originate from women of color in the association—and specifically the WoCC. This is also the way we intend to be accountable to the original vision of the Project, which was to provide women of color with the necessary tools to participate at all levels of leadership in NWSA.
While the Advisory Board is envisioned as a more formal and explicit entity, it is critical to recognize that this does not change the grassroots nature of the way past WoCLP co-chairs have sustained and nurtured the program over decades. The Advisory Board does not constitute a new way of doing things related to the project. Rather, it recognizes the invisible labor of women of color who sustain the Project through their personal and political commitments to mentoring and supporting women of color. The Advisory Board also ensures that decades down the road, there is a process and structure by which grassroots organizers can be empowered to carry the Project into the future with support from the Executive Director and National Office team. Most importantly, the Advisory Board ensures that the Project remains accountable to the vision of the members of the WoCC, which is the primary body of representation for women of color across the NWSA. Finally, we hope that the board will assist in ensuring the consistency and quality of the program over the years by providing the necessary support to existing co-chairs each year.