Giving Compass' Take:
- In this article, Olusade Green, a racial justice activist, was interviewed about her mission to expand racial representation in politics.
- How can funders support diversity in other sectors?
- Learn about an impact investing strategy increasing diversity and economic inclusion.
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During a 2017 Congressional internship, Olusade “Sade” Green was frequently the only person of color in the room, and tied the lack of Black interns directly to a lack of representation at the higher levels. "When you don't have that many interns of color, then you don't have that many on your legislative staff. You don't have that many elected officials — it's all a pipeline," Green said. "I realized that one of the biggest issues I wanted to focus on was expanding that pipeline."
So, in 2019, Green organized the Leadership Brainery's National Impact Summit at Harvard Law School. The leadership event brought together a diverse group of almost 100 college leaders to connect and inspire a new generation of political advocates through networking, job recruitment, and scholarships. "I organized that and developed that in order to expand the political pipeline for first generation students and students of color," Green said. "A lot of my activism has been around increasing racial representation and decision-making power for people of color."
She now works at a national public policy firm as an issue campaigns and movements associate, and is staying involved in online advocacy for movements like Black Lives Matter and #EndSARS before her next career move. Green is looking forward to law school, a run for public office, and a continued career advocating for Black voices at the highest levels of politics.
But behind the scenes she's also paying special attention to her true passion: writing. Her honors thesis for Amherst's English program was a series of short stories featuring women and girls of color, with a focus on the power of representation in literature.
"I see writing as a form of activism," Green said. "When I was a kid, I wrote because I wanted to create stories where it was Black girls as the main characters. I wanted black girls to see ourselves."
Read the full article about the racial justice activist fighting for racial representation in politics by Chase DiBenedetto at Mashable.