Go Bleeker, It's Your Birthday! ????
Nine years ago, Bleeker launched with the mission to put underrepresented talent in the driver's seat of their careers and cultivate a talent community that would nurture and propel people even further. Nearly a decade in, we've seen enormous progress from where we started with a vibrant Collective of 1,600+ members, a strong internal team dedicated to our mission, and a collection of world-class resources available to the Bleeker community to help achieve our collective and individual goals.?
?And our work could not be more timely; the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated socioeconomic inequities historically marginalized groups experience at every stage of their professional lives. We find ourselves at the center of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconstruct how we approach workplace culture and careers. We've responded to the challenge by building more equitable and accessible career support systems, enhancing our external partnerships, and growing the company's financial health. Now, more than ever, we're focused on innovative ways to realize our mission and have a more significant impact than ever before.?
?So thank you for joining us on this amazing journey. We've come a long way, but we know we're just getting started. We encourage you to continue contributing your perspective to the Collective and bring along someone new who might benefit from our resources! Bleeker's Collective is always open to all, with an eye toward improving both opportunities and outcomes for people of color and other underrepresented communities in particular.?
Let’s go,?
Jay Liddell, COO/CFO & Co-Founder
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This month is our 9 year anniversary. Join us in celebrating our Birthday and the impact the Collective has had in all of our lives!
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YOUR LEADERSHIP MOMENT:
Career Vibe:?Excited
We often think of trust when recalling those we DISTRUST instead of considering how we uniquely grow and build trust with ourselves and?others. Leading a new team or reconnecting with a current team can be an exciting time to work on building trust.
WHY IS TRUST SO IMPORTANT?
“Trust” means having a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. It’s the foundational component to a strong sense of self-worth, safety amongst team members, and teamwork and collaboration within organizations. Teams that operate with high trust significantly outperform those that don’t. do the work to cultivate it. The exciting part about trust is that it’s a learnable and practicable skill.
THE KEY COMPONENTS OF TRUST
Frances Frei and Anne Morriss, the authors of Begin with Trust, believe trust has three critical components:?authenticity, logic, and empathy.?People tend to trust you when they believe they’re?interacting with the real you (authenticity),?have faith in your judgment and competence (logic) and?feel that you care about them (empathy). Understanding which of these elements you need to strengthen, and where to take necessary action(s) is crucial for a leader to build trust. When trust is broken, you can usually trace it back to a breakdown in one of these three components.
TRUST COMES WITH PRACTICE
Building trust takes practice, and practice takes commitment. Trust isn’t static; it can be lost, and it can be regained. Practice building trust, take action to restore trust and stay committed to continuously strengthening your trust muscles.
Talk to a Thinking Partner today about how to lead with greater trust for your team. To find out more, contact our Collective Community Manager,?Sarah Vaughn.
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A Little Extra for your Career Vibe:
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COLLECTIVE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
Here's a member doing great things
Meet:?Stef Alicia McCalmon
Career Vibe:?Excited
Collective Member Since 2020
Stef Alicia McCalmon?is an award-winning entrepreneur, consultant, and marketer at the intersections of design thinking, media, and advocacy. She founded?Stef Alicia Made?in 2019 to address the systemic issues that impede social change, using innovative design thinking, storytelling, and accountability frameworks. She works across industries, with universities, foundations, political organizers, and non-profits, to inspire leaders to use their power and position to push for a more just society. Most recently, she was featured by?Business Insider?discussing her diversity, equity, and inclusion approach.
Stef is an expert in strategy, marketing, media, and education through progressive social, political, and cultural lenses. One of her longest-running client partnerships is with?Columbia University, where she has the privilege of improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the next generation of Black and brown entrepreneurs based in New York City.
Stef holds a BA in Sociology with a minor in African & African-American Studies from Duke University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She’s a New Yorker with Guyanese roots, and if you’re looking for her, you can find her taking absurdly long walks or watching food?documentaries.
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Did you know we have a Slack Channel? Well, we do! Meet others in the Bleeker Community. Get some career advice. Give some career advice. Read some great articles. There’s a lot to do. Join our Slack Channel Today!?
The new?Bleeker Connect Jobs section is live! Jump into the driver’s seat of your career and browse through some amazing opportunities. Apply right in?Bleeker Connect.
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UPCOMING EVENT THIS MONTH
New around here??
Find out all Bleeker and the Collective have to offer.
Join our Bleeker Collective Open House
Wednesday, April 20 at 1 pm EST
Get your fill of Community & Connections! Learn for yourself why Bleeker is the premier collaboration hub for BIPOC professionals who are passionate about advancing their careers and expanding their networks. This is a great way for all those interested in learning more about Bleeker and meeting other new Collective members. We look forward to seeing you there! Register Today!
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Interested in joining the Collective? Reach out here: [email protected]