WEDNESDAY – LEADERSHIP BLACK WOMEN LEADERS WITH STEPHANIE RAWLING-BLAKE
02 / 15 / 2023
This event will feature Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, former Mayor of Baltimore, and will bring the Black Community together to discuss the importance of Black men and boys in advocating for Black women political leadership , and the role of Black Men play in nurturing and developing Black girls as leaders.
Bio:
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake served as the 49th Mayor of Baltimore, MD, the largest independent city in America. She was elected by her peers as the 73rd President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) – the first African American woman to hold the post. A long-time active participant in national politics, Rawlings-Blake held the position of Secretary of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 – February 2017. She currently runs her own consulting firm, SRB & Associates and has worked with national clients including Hudson News, MasterCard, and Airbnb. Stephanie also served as a Political Contributor for ABC News, and commentator on several networks.
Rawlings-Blake made history by signing a landmark executive order to protect New Americans from discrimination within Baltimore, as well as increasing access public safety resources and City services for foreign-born residents. She successfully fought for a state-wide ballot initiative known as the “Dream Act”, which provides in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrant students who attend Maryland high schools.
Rawlings-Blake worked passionately with state leaders to pass Maryland’s Civil Marriage Protection Act which allows same-sex couples to obtain a civil marriage license. When the law took effect on January 1, 2013, she presided over the first same-sex marriages in Maryland’s history during a midnight ceremony at Baltimore’s City Hall.
Rawlings-Blake has been honored with numerous awards and accolades. In 2013 she was awarded the First Citizen Award by the Maryland State Senate, a top honor for dedicated and effective participants in the process of making government work for the benefit of all. The Maryland Daily Record selected her as one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” in 2007 and again in 2011. The National Congress of Black Women named her a Shirley Chisholm Memorial Award Trailblazer. And the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs named her one of Baltimore’s “Young Women on the Move.”