Charlotte Women + Girls Research Alliance Fosters Local Engagement With Critical Initiative
In a transformative gathering earlier this semester, the Women + Girls Research Alliance orchestrated the “Taking Space without Apology: A Women and Girls Leadership Café,” a critical initiative that united voices from various sectors of UNC Charlotte, including faculty, staff, community leaders, and students spanning middle school through college, drawn from the broader Charlotte metropolitan area. The purpose was to foster engagement with local organizations dedicated to establishing equitable and safe spaces for women and girls.
Michelle Meggs, the executive director of W+GRA, emphasized the significance of mental health and well-being, alongside economic mobility, in shaping the experiences of participants within the realms of education, home, and work. The discussions at this year’s Leadership Café underscored the ongoing need for peer support and mentorship for women and girls across diverse backgrounds.
According to Meggs, the Café provided a common platform for women and girls to gather, be heard, and learn from each other, emphasizing its role as a space where important conversations about economic struggles and mental health concerns could unfold without judgment. Susana Cisneros, a senior lecturer at UNC Charlotte, highlighted the Café’s role in giving adults an opportunity to listen to the voices of the next generation, boosting young girls’ confidence to speak up in a judgment-free and safe space.
As an affiliate of urbanCORE, W+GRA has partnered with the Urban Institute to contribute to research efforts that spotlight compelling findings, emphasizing the profound impact of centering on women and girls’ perspectives and identifying factors crucial to their success.
Key takeaways from this year’s Leadership Café include the escalating cost of living and wage stagnation, hindering access to essentials such as housing, childcare, food, and transportation. Additionally, workplace and health care discrimination, deficits in social capital, and structural barriers were identified as significant obstacles preventing women from attaining and sustaining living wage jobs, with women of color facing additional challenges such as workplace isolation.
The Café also highlighted the urgent need for nuanced, intersectional conversations surrounding the safety of girls in educational settings. These insights will guide future research initiatives by W+GRA.
Susana Cisneros stressed the role of research in reshaping the narrative of women and girls, and in collaboration with the Urban Institute, W+GRA is developing a roadmap for future research endeavors aligned with the university’s strategic mission. The recently awarded 2023-24 Seed Grant Funding will prioritize research exploring barriers and facilitators to economic mobility among women and girls in Charlotte, emphasize the link between mental health and overall empowerment, and commit to a racial equity lens throughout the research process.
The Women + Girls Research Alliance, a pioneering organization at UNC Charlotte, is dedicated to advancing the status of women and girls across critical domains such as employment, civic engagement, economic security, health, and ending domestic violence. Established in 2006, the alliance actively collaborates with various stakeholders to produce comprehensive research, support local organizations, and convene gatherings and conversations that drive improved outcomes for women and girls in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Rhonda Caldwell and Natalie Brown, key partners supporting W+GRA, highlight the Leadership Café’s role as a catalyst for personal and collective growth, overcoming barriers to positive changes.