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 |
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