Announcing the 2021 Pay-It-Forward Leadership Award Winners!

Below are our final winners and the reasons they were initially nominated. We’d also like to thank this year’s judging panel, displayed below with their bios!

(Click here to see the all the wonderful nominees who were considered for this year’s award and for the award criteria.)

Tracy Reneé Williams

Vice President, Valence Community

Board President, TCU National Alumni

“Tracy Renee Williams is a strategic leader and dynamic facilitator. I worked with her in my previous role at YPO. She was always the go-to person when colleagues were dealing with tough situations. She gives feedback and holds leaders accountable by having tough conversations with diplomacy. She regularly gives back to the community and is serving as the President of the Texas Christian University (TCU) National Alumni Board and ex-officio member of the TCU Board of Trustees, the first Black alum to hold this position. Tracy is the Vice President of Learning and Development/Head of Valence Bonds for Valence Community, where she is leading the design and launch of a membership-based peer community that helps Black professionals realize their full potential as business and cultural leaders. Building upon Valence’s mission of creating new paths to professional success, Valence BONDS helps each member navigate his/her/their individualized journey via thought leadership, conscious dialogue, and peer accountability. Tracy supports inclusion not only in her job, but as she leads her team. She's a true advocate for others.”

Community Bridges provides opportunities for girls and young women to explore their identity, develop their self-esteem, build character, learn tools strategies for overcoming adversity and barriers, build their leadership capacity and become college and/or career ready.

“1. This past school year Community Bridges (CB) has helped me and many girls learn more about the career space. Through their Girl Boss Workshops, I was able to learn new tips to help me with my resume, future interviews, and what to do once I got the job. Additionally, these workshops were led by POC which empowered me and the other girls that were able to participate. As an incoming first-year college student there’s a lot to explore ahead of me. So, when CB was hosting their annual Career Summit- “Girls Leading Our World: On the Frontline” in May, I didn't just sign myself up but I invited my mentor as well on this virtual experience. We listened to stories from women in the medical field to government officials. Lily Qi, a representative of the 15th legislative district in the Maryland House of Delegates, left us to “do everything well and try to be excellent”- a new message to some and a powerful reminder to others. 2. When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived, a wide range of disconnection occurred across the country. The Racial Reckoning also began to take notice soon after the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Although millions of people took time out of their day to march and protest, others found it hard to voice their frustration to the right audience or in an effective way. Regardless of all these barriers, Community Bridges helped myself and eight other multi-cultural change-seeking high school girls find a way to communicate our concerns and converse ways to create a safer and more equal future. The Racial Equity Town Hall Meeting was held last summer and it was an event like no other. This was the beginning of the Racial Equity and Inclusion Committee (REIC). At the Town Hall, we hosted six local and state legislators. Our panelists included Takoma Park Mayor Kate Stewart and Shebra Evans, the President of the Board of Education. We spoke on the school-to-prison pipeline, the rise in sexual assault cases in Mountgomery County, and discussed experiences “centered around Black, Indigenous, and young womxn of color” in our school system. This support continued through impromptu Zoom meetings after the Capitol Riots and regular open-discussions current events that pertain to race. Through their Bi-weekly REIC we continued to keep the conversation going. Many students were able to hold a committee chair position and received grants to help fund future ideas. In an effort to continue to amplify BIPOC voices within our community next school year the committee will start a podcast focused on youth racial healing. The girls and I have also attended a 4-hour virtual workshop with Racial, Equity, and Leaders (REAL), an organization that “[strengthens] the capacity to build more equitable communities”. This experience improved our critical thinking and helped us become official community builders and racial equity workers. Along with furthering our understanding, CB has helped myself and other girls apply to internships in both STEM and Humanitarian fields. This has allowed us to share our ideas in new rooms and grow from insightful experiences. Community Bridges spends long hours and much effort creating a safe space for young girls in all levels of education to find creative and helpful ways to encourage change. This wouldn’t be possible if the team at CB wasn’t diverse themselves and as respectful and kind. I’m very thankful to have been a part of the CB community during my last year in high school and I plan on staying connected through their Alumnae program. This experience has taught me that racial equity and inclusion doesn’t stop here and is an ongoing process. Because of them I now feel more prepared to take on and lead.”

A Special Thanks to Our 2021 Judges!

Below are all our judges for this year. But first a little about how they were the picked and how they made their decisions.

1. Judges applied to be considered and were willing to volunteer their time to serving in this capacity. Judge applications were evaluated on who well they could represent a diverse group across different industries and sectors and personal demographic backgrounds, and who had a history of supporting women leaders.

2. The judges remained anonymous to the public and to nominees during the voting period.

3. Any conflicts of interest were disclosed and lobbying for consideration was prohibited.

4. Each judge was provided with submissions and a nomination form to vote independently from one another. Nominee names and images were removed and replaced with numbers. Judges could vote for their top two individuals and top one organization. For each individual and organization, they were also asked to indicate how many of the two award criteria each nominee met.

5. The winners met both the total number of votes as well as the total number of criteria per vote. Brancu & Associates did not affect the outcome of these votes - the winner was chosen completely based on the judges’ independent evaluations.

The judges worked diligently to rate each criteria and this was not an easy decision. We could not be more pleased with both the nominees identified for this award and the commitment to evaluating the criteria for this award so diligently. We thank each and every one of them!