Dear Embodied Leaders, Organizers, Allies, Supporters, and Friends,
For sixteen years, BOLD has been my commitment. In 2010, it was an idea, a small project that became a space for leaders and organizers to be taught and coached, a space to practice and question. At the start, I spent months interviewing Black leaders and organizers around the country to learn how they felt about this idea and what gaps needed to be filled. BOLD grew into a capacity-building organization and resource specifically for Black leaders and organizers to have a space where they could be their full selves—vulnerable, curious, and certain. I was among the group of visionaries who aimed to create BOLD, and now, sixteen years later, those of us in that room can claim satisfaction.
It is with great feelings of pride, hopefulness, and certainty that I am leaving my role as the founding Executive Director of BOLD on March 30th, 2026. The time for transition and change has come. During my tenure with BOLD, I have had the honor of working with hundreds of Black Organizers and Directors from across the country doing visionary work. We have laughed, cried, danced, sang, and everything in between that we experience when family gathers. I leave BOLD feeling a sense of accomplishment and gratitude for each of you who said yes to requests made by BOLD. I want to say thank you to each of you for supporting BOLD with your time, knowledge, money, and other resources. Your support has provided us with the resources we needed to make it this far on our journey, including completing our transformation into BOLD Training Institute (BOLD) last year — a container that more fully encompasses our work going forward.
Since 2012, the BOLD team has grown to 11 staff members who hold down our operations and programmatic work, and our teaching and organizing team, who guide participants into accountable relationships and grow leadership and organizing skills. Throughout this project, folks from our somatic community did the heavy lifting. Thanks to each one of you for keeping BOLD grounded in the body, our deepest knowing, and where each action and inaction stems from.
Collectively, our greatest act has been acquiring Maroon Space – a dream manifested by our first cohort (thank you!) and inspired by our 2018 trip to Haiti. Our 105 acres of land in Georgia is our home and our offer to others to rest, strategize, and get back to our ancestral agrarian roots so that we emerge fortified and able to continue the fight. We hope to see you out there soon!
Though I retire from BOLD’s leadership team to pursue my next act of commitment to our people and this work, I will continue to accompany BOLD as a founding board member. I am grateful that BOLD remains in the hands of experienced and coordinated leadership who have been committed to BOLD for years. I leave BOLD feeling grateful for every board member who kept us compliant, but most importantly, kept us visionary. I remain centered, believing all of our dreams can come true for the next generation.
I look forward to seeing each of you through new opportunities to connect. Thank you to each of you for the different ways you were a part of this journey. I ask that you each continue your commitment to BOLD, our community, and to Building Powerful and Coordinated Movements to Meet This Moment.
Black Love,