A lively itinerary held by guest speakers and workshops for all who attended was sparked with vivacity on Saturday at Cuyahoga Community College on Metro Campus. Black Diamonds Women’s Conference took place the weekend of October 18th-19th, and racked in around 700 people. Attendees included both Tri-C students and students from all over the U.S.
Black Diamonds Women’s Conference is for African American females to learn ways to expand and cope with their emotional and physical health, gain financial knowledge and perspective and a wide range of educational opportunities that are held by workshops from professionals in a number of fields.
At 9 a.m. founder of Nola Movement, a Zumba and dance fitness class based in Cleveland, Nike Olabisi-Green opened the doors and turned up the music. Olabisi-Green took charge of her class Let’s Move! Beyoncé’s ‘’Homecoming’’ and Lessons to Create a Life You Love. Olabisi-Green took note of Beyoncé’s notably popular performance at Coachella 2018 that was released as a Netflix special this year and brought the inspired energy and dance moves from the concert stage to a Tri-C classroom. Olabisi-Green led the early class and quickly got everyone in the room moving. ‘’You can have, you can be, you can do anything you want in this life. And Beyoncé is a great example of that,’’ said Olabisi-Green.
She explained how discipline, physical and mental fitness are extremely important especially to the women at Tri-C ranging from 18-year-olds to mid-20-year-olds. She taught the class a zestful way to grab positivity but also the importance of practicing the act as much as possible – with the help of Queen B.
As mid-day followed, there were many gatherings to attend which made each workshop more intimate, but never the lack of motivation. Charmaine Davis-Bey led her workshop You Have PURPOSE: Manifesting Your Future. Davis-Bey works for the Ohio Department of Education based out of Columbus, Ohio. She took the day to attend Black Diamonds to share the importance of recognizing one’s goals. Davis-Bey gave everyone in her room a clear, white poster board. She then handed out markers and stickers. ‘’It is an opportunity to create a visual piece that helps you to see your goal and kind of work towards them,’’ said Davis-Bey. She called this piece vision boards.
All who attended her workshop walked away holding their dreams, aspirations, inspirational quotes and anything else that brought attendees joy artistically displayed on their poster board to feel refreshed and empowered at the end of the workshop.
To close Black Diamonds, keynote speaker Ramona Hood took the main stage. Hood is Vice President, Operations, Planning and Strategy at FedEx Custom Critical. She explained her journey through each stage of her work life that became a career at FedEx. Hoods shared with the packed room how having mentors, coaches, and a good network can really help you move forward and remember your path to your set goals. These kinds of people are valuable and important in the work field. Hood’s time at FedEx was something that came at the right time of her life, but little did she know it at first. She was fresh into motherhood and did not have a college career, but she shared how she made the best out of it and into something greater.
‘’There is something to be said about moving into positions and getting promoted quickly that you don’t get the practical experience that takes place with the job. And so, I know we all like to move fast and set goals and move them very quickly, but there is something about being able to lean on experience that you won’t get from your textbook. You won’t get it from any other place but from the experience itself,’’ said Hood.
Hood’s firsts takeaway played an important role in her life that inspired her to push boundaries later in life. She then takes the crowd on a journey on how she climbed the career ladder and obtains a college degree. She also shared a note on the importance of writing down your goals. This was something that helped her tremendously. She also expressed to the crowd how key it is to be authentic. We are ourselves and that is how we should be presented to the world.
This year marked the third annual Black Diamonds Women’s Conference at Tri-C. The conference is held over two days and is traditionally held at Metro Campus. Black Diamonds goal is to inspire African American women and girls with inspiration to meet their intellectual, educational and finical goals. This event gives attendees multiple chances to network professionally and learn productive life skills.
For more information on Black Diamonds Women’s Conference visit www.tri-c.edu/student-life/black-diamonds/conference/about.html or contact Rebecca Stolzman at rebecca.stolzman@tri-c.edu. You can also follow Tri-C’s student led newspaper The Voice on Twitter (@cccvoiceoh) and Instagram (@cccvoiceoh) for pre and post conference updates.
