TOP SECRET
A day in the life of a grassroots movement.
9AM: I’m on a train from D.C. to New York. Heading to a gathering of powerful women to learn about solutions in healthcare from:
Kiah Williams, Co-Founder of SIRUM – Making life-saving medications affordable and accessible.
Joanna Strober, CEO and Founder of Midi Health – Innovating personalized care for women through tech.
Kara Egan, CEO of Teal Health – Transforming women’s health with integrative care.
Also prepping for GirlTREK’s big climate walk on Sunday. If you’re in the New York area, RSVP to join us here.
10AM: Quick call with Morgan about keeping the faith. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
12PM: Storytelling meeting, planning for a MAJOR movement moment at sunrise in Atlanta on Saturday, October 26th. This will be a top secret, sacred, and seditious gathering. We agree that we have capacity for 1,000 women to join us. Agree to share a link to RSVP on Monday through a special text. If you want to be part of this special gathering where the energy will be undeniable and history-making, make sure you are on our text list. If not, click here to get added to the list.
12:30PM: All-Crew Call with GirlTREK’s national staff. Blown away by the depth of the work happening across the country. Got updates from Yolanda on her organizing with justice-involved women, Hailey on building coalitions with network organizations, and Chasiti mobilizing churches. Pam Jiner in Colorado shared the emotional and practical challenges we’re facing, reminding us how much love and care go into this grassroots movement. If you are pessimistic about the world right now and need to be encouraged, listen to a clip from the meeting here.
4PM: Quick call with our new VP of Philanthropy, Jamilia Shipman. She’ll be joining me in New York early next week and we’re game-planning on who we will meet with. In her first two months, she’s on fire, coordinating stakeholders to articulate the investment opportunity of this movement. If you're in philanthropy or know where we need to be, email Jamilia at jamilia@girltrek.org. It’s game time, and we’re ready to make the case for this powerful work.
7PM: Dinner in New York. Somebody was working overtime on the seating assignments. I am sitting in between two women from media companies who have the power to help amplify the GirlTREK story, one a Black woman leading a large digital newsroom and she’s a fan of the movement.
8PM: Having a total fangirl moment. Jodie Patterson, who I stalk on Instagram, is here. She’s the chair of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. I had a brief encounter with her years ago and was so enamored by her grace and style and wit and light that I went out the next day and bought the exact same outfit she was wearing. I tell her this story, grateful that the universe has orchestrated this encounter.
9PM: Dinner’s wrapping up, but not before the most adorable Hollywood actress gleefully tells me how much she looks forward to her GirlTREK emails, how she wakes up every morning saying, “What are we walking for today? What are we learning about?” How, from Marsha P. Johnson to Georgia Gilmore, she credits us for giving her a deep education, and she feels so connected to our sisterhood and movement. There’s tears in her eyes and then I realize there’s tears in mine.
10PM: I am exhausted. So many thoughts in my head. My hotel is across town, but I decide to walk. What better way to end a day such as this.
You can experience the magic of GirlTREK for yourself tomorrow live at 9AM ET on The Liberation Line. Each Saturday we have been walking in solidarity and learning about the issues that impact Black women as we lead up to the election. The number's the same. Dial: (646) 876-9923 Code: 734464325#.
Tomorrow, we are walking in solidarity with Black families, one of the most targeted and threatened institutions in our society. We are walking to uplift the love that has sustained us and the solutions that have kept us together. There’s no guest, just you, the Black women of this movement, the experts, sharing your testimonies, stories, and solutions. The lines will be open. Press *9 to join the conversation. And if you missed last week, where we went deep into poverty and the solution of guaranteed income through the work of Aisha Nyandoro, the founder of Springboard to Opportunities, you can listen here.
In solidarity,
Vanessa (and Morgan)