“Feminist Leadership to me is essential (…) it’s not enough to just have women present, filling seats (…) we should be part of decision-making, and a decision-making that is critical of traditional systems, that is critical of how we have always done things, critical of the impact of our actions on women and all of society, and critical of power dynamics and how we use power. As a black feminist, intersectionality plays out in feminism for me, and I cannot extract one from another”.

Zakiya Carr Johnson, co-founder of Black Women Disrupt

Zakiya’s Bio:

Zakiya Carr Johnson is a social inclusion, diversity and equity expert and strategist with extensive experience in international development and over 20 years shaping public policy. Prior to founding O​ DARA Solutions, LLC​ and launching the ​Black Women Disrupt Initiative,​ she served as Senior Advisor and Director of the Race, Ethnicity and Social Inclusion Unit at the U.S. Department of State, co-chair for the White House Inter-Agency Committee on Gender-Based Violence Monitoring and Evaluation and Senior Technical Advisor for the Social Inclusion Trust Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank. As an entrepreneur, Zakiya understands the unique challenges faced by small and minority business owners. She creates opportunities for economic empowerment and investment for historically marginalized groups and builds bridges of understanding between communities. Zakiya is also an accomplished public speaker, who loves to cook and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

ODARA Solutions, LLC ​is a social impact consulting firm which ​invests in untapped talent to support economic empowerment and entrepreneurship, drive inclusive development and promote diversity and equity. We have partnered with non-governmental organizations, foundations, colleges and universities, companies and multilateral organizations to provide a range of services including capacity building, keynote lectures, strategic planning, resource development and support in conducting research and surveys.

Facebook: w​ ww.facebook.com/Odarasolutions

InstaGram: @OdaraSolutions

Twitter: @Odarasolutions