Announcing Our Leading Us Toward Liberation Honorees

In October 2023, we asked our community members: who are the innovative changemakers who have touched your life and the lives of your community members? Who are the women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who have fought for their communities and have yet to receive their flowers?

We received 86 nominations of incredible unsung heroes and beloved community leaders in the Greater Boston area. We assembled a Selection Committee of BWF staff, board, grantee partners, and community members to conduct interviews, research, and select our honorees. Our Selection Committee spent six months getting to know the nominees, their commitment to our collective liberation, and their impact on community. We prioritized individuals who have not yet received any awards or press, founders of one-of-a-kind organizations, and disruptors tackling racial, gender, economic, and social justice issues with an intersectional lens. These 40 honorees — our Liberation Leaders — emerged as some of the most innovative changemakers trying to create new systems for our communities to thrive.

We are so excited to present our 40 Leading Us Toward Liberation honorees!

Learn more about each of these incredible leaders on our website, and be sure to stay connected with us on social media as we uplift their work!

We hope you'll join us in rolling out the red carpet for these 40 Liberation Leaders!

Asha Abdullahi Executive Director of Somali Parents Advocacy Center for Education	Dr. Valerie Batts Founding Director, Senior Consultant, VISIONS, INC.
Jamila Batts Capitman Mental Health Counselor/ Youth Development Specialist/ Drama Therapist	Dara Kwayera Imani Bayer Co-Director of Cambridge HEART
Stefanie D. Belnavis Founder | Perinatal Movement Psychotherapist + Creative Wellness Practitioner for A Bucket For the Well LLC., Founder | Kinesthetic Storyteller + Portrait Photographer for The Diahann Project and Founder | Perinatal Photographer for Birthlooms	Keturah Brewster Executive Director of I Have A Future
Ivelisse Caraballo Founding Member and Executive Director of CPLAN	Cherie A. Craft Founder/CEO, Smart from the Start, Inc.
Angella Foster Director of Member Engagement and Outreach at Matahari Women Workers Center	Jamila Gales Founder | Executive Director of Girls Reflecting Our World
Krystal Elizabeth Garcia Deras Dance Movement Therapist	Dr. Perpetual Anastasia Adjwoa Baiswa Hayfron Humxn, Altruistic Hedonist & Black Feminist Scholar
Denise Barbosa Lane Co-Founder and Executive Director of Raising Multicultural Kids	Lisa Lazare Executive Director of Educators for Excellence
Pamela Aimee Leins Executive Director of the Boston Education Fund	Beth Leventhal Executive Director of The Network/La Red
Dorotea Manuela Organizer & Activist	Denise Matthews-Turner Co-Executive Director of City Life/Vida Urbana
Sandra M. McCroom President & Chief Executive Officer of Children's Services of Roxbury	Sam Montaño MA State Representative
Liz Najjar Executive Director, Shadida Solutions	Radha Natarajan Executive Director of the New England Innocence Project
Nickey Nesbeth Founder & Executive Director of Boston Girls Empowerment Network	Chioma Nnaji Senior Program Director at the Multicultural AIDS Coalition and Founder / CEO of Ocha Transformations
Clare Louise Okalany Chief Operations Officer - ACEDONE CDC	Miriam Ortiz Director of Education and Training, Just A Start
Kishana Osei Executive Director of the Massachusetts Women of Color Network	Camila Amanda Rojas Pineiro Pagan Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Beat The Odds
Stacy Reed-Barnes CEO & Founder of Stacy's Joy Consulting LLC	Aziza Robinson-Goodnight Founder and Co-Director of Repair America Collective
Shanique Rodriguez Executive Director of Massachusetts Voter Table	Ruth Rollins President and Founder We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project
Ivanna Solano Founder of Love Your Magic	Joanne Christine Suarez Founder and Executive Director of Prospera Institute
Andrea Swain Chief Impact Officer, Boys & Girls Club of Boston	Olga Tacure Executive Director of Women Encouraging Empowerment
Magalis Troncoso Lama Executive Director of Dominican Development Center	Tiffany Vassell, RN Manager of Community Engagement & Communications of the Neighborhood Birth Center
Dr. Fatima A. Watt Chief Executive Officer, Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children	Anuradha Yadav Founder and Executive Director of Women of Color Entrepreneurs