Sharhonda Bossier is CEO of Education Leaders of Color (EdLoc), which is dedicated to elevating the leadership, voices, and influence of people of color working toward educational equity and poverty alleviation. Sharhonda is herself a former teacher, Black Lives Matter activist, and marathoner—and basically one of the most amazing people we know!
Sharhonda has a unique view on the challenges of mid-career professionals of color given EdLoc’s network of 600+ members in a variety of leadership roles across the social sector. She notes that a growing number of these professionals have proactively chosen to pursue their own endeavors because of the frustratingly slow pace of change in “predominantly white spaces and places.”
While these passionate social change agents are leading organizations and charting their own course, Sharhonda also points out that they lack the support to do so effectively. “Inequities don’t just go away because you might have a college degree,” she says. “Leaders of color need more continual support throughout their career—and that support has to be specific to their unique experience.”
Part of the support her organization provides includes navigating career transitions. EdLoc has a 5-step framework for the job search that maps closely to ours, with additional context and sub-steps for mid-career seekers of color:
We’re grateful to EdLoc for also sharing with our readers some of the pain points that its members encounter along these 19 sub-steps. If these resonate for you, you’re not alone, and the strategies in this book are your touchstones for overcoming them. (“LoC” = Leaders of Color)
