Women's History Month blog Tour

Celebrate Women in Leadership Series
with Dawn McCoy

During the month of March 2010, Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks will highlight great women in leadership during Women’s History Month.

Rhonda: Thank you for allowing me to be a guest blogger today at Urban Christian Fiction. Today, in the Celebrate Women in Leadership series, I want to highlight Nannie Helen Burroughs.

What I most like about courageous Nannie Helen Burroughs was that she was a fearless woman ahead of her time. She was a civil rights activist, teacher, and noted orator. She was the founded the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, DC in 1901. She was a pivotal force who made an impact as a leader through religious and educational efforts, particularly for African American women.

First, Burroughs shared moral values, such as a solid work ethic to help young women become self-sufficient wage earners. In 1896, she joined other women to form the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) to promote political mobilization of Black women. As her political partisanship ripened, she became a much sought- after participant in that arena, particularly by the Republican Party.

Also, in 1900 at the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention in Virginia, Burroughs gave a speech, “How the Sisters Are Hindered from Helping.” Her speech gained her national recognition and led the served as a lightning rod for the formation of the largest Black women’s organization in the United States, the Woman’s Convention (WC) an auxiliary to the National Baptist Convention (NBC). Because of her hard work, leadership, and dedication, the membership of the WC grew dramatically, reaching one million members in 1903 and 1.5 million in 1907.

When Herbert Hoover was elected president in 1928, he chose Burroughs to head a fact-finding commission on housing. In 1909, she founded the National Training School for Women and Girls, which was renamed the Nannie Helen Burroughs School in 1964.

Nannie Helen Burroughs is often quoted because she was an amazing leader with unparalled courage. She once said that "What we need are mental and spiritual giants who are aflame with a purpose . . . We're a race ready for crusade, for we've recognized that we're a race on this continent that can work out its own salvation.”

TOUR GIVEAWAY: Blog visitors who leave comments OR radio callers with questions for Dawn are eligible to win an autographed copy of Leadership Building Block and a copy of the Effective Community Engagement CD.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dawn McCoy is author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider's Guide to Success. As one of the youngest elected African-American elected to the Sacramento City Unified School Board, McCoy shares seven leadership fundamentals in her book. Inspiring readers to be top in their field, Dawn shares her insights based upon twenty years serving as a nonprofit and government executive.

A motivational speaker, coach, and founder of Flourish Leadership Group, a leadership development and communications firm, Dawn is dedicated to transforming ordinary people into extraordinary leaders. In recent years, she has worked with organizations to develop their vision and create phenomenal results. Dawn has worked with hundreds of individuals to help them capture their spirit of leadership and truly become the effective leaders they were meant to be.

Visit Dawn online at FlourishLeadership.com.

Read an excerpt online and visit the tour schedule at http://bit.ly/LeadershipBuildingBlocks.