WeThrive: Meet a Leader from Cohort 8
Earlier this year we hosted another iteration of our BIPOC CEO cohort WeThrive. Co-led by Meme Styles and Sunjit Khamba, this is a brave space where nonprofit leaders of color come to develop their story and authentically share it with the support of a village of other BIPOC leaders.
This project came to fruition after Mission Capital and other partners commissioned the 2020 Race to Lead (R2L) Central Texas research project, conducted by our national collaborator the Building Movement Project. The report found that BIPOC executives need peer support, healing, and advice. Most nonprofit executive coaching cohorts are designed and normed on dominant culture strategies and structures and do not address needs specific to people of color.
We’ve been hosting WeThrive cohorts since the spring of 2021, and we are proud that the program continues to build support for BIPOC leaders in the Central Texas Nonprofit community. One of these leaders is Shane Woods, who attended participated in cohort 8. We can’t wait for you to meet her!
About Shane:
Shane Woods began her career as a middle school science teacher in the Fort Worth Independent School District. From 2019-2022, Shane acted as the Senior Director of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas STEM Center of Excellence, which is a 92-acre living laboratory where kids of all ages can explore and develop their competence and confidence in science, technology, engineering and math – all while cultivating essential skills such as confidence, resilience, leadership, risk taking, and problem-solving. In her newest role, Shane serves as the Executive Director for Girlstart, a nonprofit focused on empowering girls in science, technology, engineering and math.
Shane’s Story:
Decades before I took on the position of leading Girlstart, I was a 7th & 8th grade teacher in Fort Worth ISD (Independent School District). During my time in the classroom on the North Side, I looked in the eyes of girls who were being held back from opportunities by adults.
Year after year, I witnessed their glimmers of potential being extinguished by their own families. When I heard my girls say that their education had to end in eighth grade, I simply could not stand by and allow them to believe so little about themselves. So, I took on the crusade to educate the community about how education can lead children - especially girls - out of the cycles of poverty.
I know the true power of education because I have firsthand experience. As a middle school girl, I learned the importance of ignoring the limits adults place on children.
In sixth grade, I was told that, because of a test I was never offered, I wasn’t going to have access to the education my peers were receiving across the hall. I knew I was destined for more than worksheets and filmstrips.
Fortunately, I had an adult in my life who understood public education better than anyone else: my grandfather. He was a retired teacher and Director of Athletics. He listened to my passionate explanation about wanting to be in the class of geniuses and helped me arrange with my counselor to enroll in all honors classes the following year.
I ended my 6th grade year with flair because that year I won the Invention Convention. I know that I am determined and persistent. I will always use my indomitable spirit to help youth.
My life’s passion has always been to help our youth discover the world around them through science. Science opens the door of infinite possibilities for children who have historically been excluded or told that they are weird.
It amplifies their connection to the world around them and empowers them to make it a better place. During the time I walk this earth, I will always seek to protect the pilot light of childhood curiosity, so I can watch it grow into the fiery engine of innovation.
What has your experience been like with WeThrive?
In Cohort 8, I sharpened my skills in communication. I now know how to narrate my journey to the organization. An added bonus is that I was able to increase my network within Austin.
What strategic priority are you focused on, and how has WeThrive supported you and your organizational goals?
I am constantly telling the story of Girlstart. In four WeThrive meetings with Meme and Sunjit, I honed that story and saw how to tailor it best to fit the audience in front of me.