Women of Color in Leadership Webinar

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Decades of research have demonstrated the workforce gender gap, both broadly and among leaders specifically. This is especially true for women of color, who account for only 4 percent of the C-suite level positions in the U.S., despite making up 20 percent of the country’s population.

Our Women of Color in Leadership virtual event aims to equip the next generation of female leaders with unique insights to help them find their seat at the leadership table. We have a powerful lineup of inspiring female leaders who will provide insights and best practices for women of color to succeed in today’s complex leadership roles. Join us and our panelists as we discuss hot topics such as leadership journey, imposter syndrome, authentic leadership, and mentorship programs.

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Moderator

Ashley Kirklen

Ashley Kirklen is an anchor and reporter for WLWT News 5. You can watch her every weekday evening on the NBC station at 4, 5:30 and 7. Before coming to Cincinnati, she worked in Georgia and Michigan. Before starting her journalism career, Ms. Kirklen taught English in South Korea. She is originally from Gary, Indiana and grew up in Indianapolis. Ms. Kirklen is also a proud Graduate of Indiana University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications. Ms. Kirklen is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Our Panelists

Maralee Gutierrez Cruz

For over 20 years, Maralee Gutierrez Cruz has been a noteworthy leader in the nonprofit and advocacy space. Through her commitment to serving others, she has worked to ensure that communities both here and abroad, have access to the vital resources they need to thrive.

Prior to founding Comunidad in 2018, she worked as the Director of a faith-based non-profit serving a Latino community in Alexandria, VA; she liaised with the Cameroonian government to advocate for vulnerable communities; and, later consulted the U.S. government on efforts to combat human trafficking. Influenced by career experiences and world travels, having lived in four different countries across three continents, she developed a unique perspective when it comes to serving alongside communities with limited or no access to resources. She prioritizes community empowerment by locking arms with local leaders; she believes that when provided with a platform, local leaders can transform their neighborhoods. These experiences influenced Maralee’s founding of Comunidad. Maralee holds a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Central Florida and completed a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from Georgetown University. She is fluent in three languages and currently resides in Falls Church, Virginia.

Ashley Jenkins

Ashley Jenkins is the Human Resources Director of the Americas Sales Organization at Meta, currently living and working in the New York City metropolitan area. A native of Chicago, Ashley received her BA in Sociology from DePaul University and her Master of HR & Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has spent her career spanning a handful of companies and industries – prior to Meta, she was a senior HR leader at The Hershey Company and held various HR roles at Microsoft and Aon.

Ashley is an advocate for service – she’s a proud 17-year member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (a public service organization), serving on several youth-focused committees and leading programming initiatives. She’s combined her passion for global travel with her enthusiasm to serve and has volunteered in several schools & group homes in South Africa, Trinidad, Kenya, Morocco, and Ghana. Ashley’s life experiences have fueled an alignment with the values espoused by The Literacy Lab – she wholeheartedly believes that it is our inherent duty to unlock opportunities for Black & Brown children and that we must combat the systems that perpetuate inequity, especially in education. She feels fortunate to be able to champion these values – albeit for employees of color – in the workplace as well.

Ashley is inspired by her partner who serves as an Assistant Principal in a Bronx, NY middle school – witnessing his everyday work invigorates her excitement to further the Literacy Lab’s mission! In her free time, she loves to workout, travel, and frequent new restaurants.

Dr. Heather Jenkins

Dr. Heather Jenkins is the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining The Literacy Lab, she was the Chief People & Equity Officer at uAspire where she was responsible for ensuring that uAspire’s people, equity and organizational culture work is done with a people-first mindset to drive retention, inclusivity and sustainability. Heather has 21 years of experience working for equity and access in education including: teacher and administrator at the K-12 level; non-profit leader; diversity and equity consultant for secondary and postsecondary institutions; public and private school college readiness education consultant; and a mentor to students of color and economically marginalized youth. She has a BA in psychology, an MS in education, and a Ph.D. in sociology of education. She is the proud mother of two young women, one a 3rd grade teacher and one in graduate school for mental health counseling.

Casey Ariel Richardson

Casey Ariel Richardson is a published author, tech founder and business development consultant. Casey spent a decade in finance with Bank of America, where she was Vice President managing a $20Bn portfolio of term and intraday credit exposures for pre-IPO, middle market and large corporate technology clients.

In the wake of the global cry for racial equity and systemic justice during 2020, Casey founded BLAZE GROUP LLC. Today, BLAZE provides more than 7,000 Black female entrepreneurs with access to knowledge, capital and mentorship – resources that group continues to have limited access to, despite being the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the United States. BLAZE GROUP has an on-demand online course portal called Blaze Knowledge Academy, a socio-business app for Black female entrepreneurs on Android and Apple called TablexTribe, and hosts a semi-annual global event called the Blaze Virtual Summit. Notably, this summit was honored for Best in Business & Finance (Virtual & Remote) for the 26th Annual Webby Awards in 2022.

On the commercial side of the business, BLAZE provides business development consulting to social enterprises across the globe. A key project for Casey has been providing fintech expertise in Africa, having structured a first-of-its-kind inclusive asset financing product for Hello Tractor Inc., called PAYG. In 2022, the PAYG program provided $5MM of tractor financing to agripreneurs across Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria (40% of which are women).

Casey is the author of Pain Unseen: The Truths That Lie Beneath My Strength, a beautifully raw memoir that aims to break the cycle of silent suffering. Her book is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook on Amazon, iTunes and Audible.

Casey is a graduate of the University of South Carolina Honors College (where a brick is laid in her honor). In February 2023, Casey was honored with a brick on the university’s historic Horseshoe, recognizing her societal impact and story feature in the documentary film, “The Backbone”. A native of Gadsden, SC, Casey now splits her time between Oakland, California and Nairobi, Kenya.

Dr. Manisha Maskay

Dr. Maskay has over 40 years of experience in public health, medical nutrition therapy, health education, and facilitation of positive change in health behaviors. She is devoted to promoting all forms of literacy to enable people to live their best lives. She has held leadership positions in health care, academic medicine and public health. She has also taught undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, and has provided direct patient care. She retired from her position as Chief Program Officer at Prism Health North Texas, Dallas in 2019. Prior to that she served as a Public Health Administrator at Columbus Public Health, Columbus, OH, and before then as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of Clinical Nutrition and Health Education Services at the University of Chicago. She has received commendations for her contributions to public health and academic medicine. She is currently involved in a variety of volunteer activities. Her diverse background, leadership and administrative skills, and collaborative abilities, have been key to the strategic development and growth of integrated service delivery and promotion of health equity by addressing social determinants of health and the whole person.

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