We interviewed Quanisha Green, M.S.S. ‘15, 她是职业发展中心的新任副主任，也是非营利机构高管领导力研究所(NELI)的负责人。. She has an impressive background in social sector leadership, with over 20 years of experience in the field. After earning her M.S.S., she started her company Black Woman CEO, where she provides business coaching for Black women entrepreneurs. The GSSWSR is delighted to have her on the team!
作为专业发展中心的副主任，你能为你目前的职位带来什么?
I think one of the important things I bring to this role is my expansive network, 帮助中心扩大了与我有专业和个人关系的演讲者的联系. NELI has historically had two series of leadership programs, one for ascending leaders and middle managers, and another for more senior and executive leaders. Now, the vision is to have more stand-alone training. So, 我专注于为非营利组织和社会部门的专业人员提供额外技能的单次培训，以提高他们的领导力. 我已经能够利用我的网络带来一些新的培训，比如针对非营利专业人员的人工智能和思想领导力.
我也把自己的经验和知识带到了这个职位上，我知道如何成为一名优秀的领导者，以及作为一名专业人士获得晋升和发展所必需的技能. When brainstorming about what kinds of training we should offer, 我从整体上思考非营利组织和社会部门的领导者需要的技能，以提升他们的角色并影响他们的组织. One thing that we’re also organizing is a self-care series because that is a big issue. The series explores how people in caring professions also care for themselves, and the factors that lead to burnout. Someone I developed a relationship with through my entrepreneurship will lead this series.
Additionally, because I ran a business, 我的职责很大一部分是营销我们的项目，并思考如何完成这些项目, 尤其是我们新的独立项目，这些项目不像我们现有的NELI项目那样名声大噪，也没有校友. I’m using my experience in marketing, community organizing, 并有效地向人们传达这些研讨会如何帮助他们在职业生涯中取得进步. When I was in the nonprofit sector, I would tell people that my job was to sell change, and I think that extends to my work at the Center for Professional Development.
您提到您在加入职业发展中心之前从事过创业. Can you tell me about this work and how you got into it?
作为黑人女性企业家的商业教练，我的工作部分源于我在gsssr和雷蒙德·艾伯特(Raymond Albert)一起完成的硕士论文, my thesis advisor. I was interested in exploring the experiences of Black organizers doing social justice work. During my time as an organizer in the social justice field, 我遇到了很多黑人女性，她们告诉我不要把自己的生活交给组织，要更多地掌握自己的工作. 她们表示，由于工作场所的健康状况受到损害，她们的身体承受着压力，因此患上了身体疾病. 听到这些经历激励我追求创业精神，帮助其他黑人女性获得领导技能，在她们的职业中获得提升.
My master’s thesis focused on the experiences of Black women and their mental health. 我用我的个人经历来探索文献中关于黑人女性与领导关系的说法. Based on the research, I started my business, Black Women RISE, now called Black Woman CEO, to help Black women gain leadership skills and get promoted in their jobs. As I was doing that work, 有一部分人非常积极地寻求支持，成为黑人女性企业家. The literature showed that despite being highly credentialed and qualified, Black women are often overlooked for promotion in their workplaces. 当我开始创业时，我在各种场合从黑人女性那里听到的轶事也反映了这些经历. They told me that because of these experiences of being overlooked, they wanted to go out and start their own businesses. Because of this identified need, I extended my work to helping women become entrepreneurs, not just move up the ranks in their current jobs where they likely faced discrimination.
从我大二春季学期开始，我就在一个叫“快乐黑人女性”的组织工作.S.S. program that was also geared towards helping Black women with their entrepreneurship journey. This opportunity made me even more interested in business coaching for Black women. 如果我没有为我的论文做研究，或者没有审视我自己的生活，以及作为一名黑人女性专业人士，什么适合我，什么不适合我, 当我遇到帮助那些想要成为企业家的女性的机会时，我可能没有做好准备. A mixture of things got me into this work, 比如我所扎根的理论框架和我在社会工作领域的独立学习. I also participated in the Organizational Management and Behavior Certification with Darlyne Bailey, who was Dean of the GSSWSR at the time. After graduation, 我能够利用我的社会工作教育来探索这些主题，并为自己在组织发展方面工作. At the time, 我仍然与非营利组织和社会正义团体保持联系，但也能够探索黑人女性和企业家精神这一独特的主题，并围绕这一主题进行咨询和指导工作.
Did you know that you wanted to do community-based work going into the M.S.S. program?
Yes. Going into the M.S.S. program, I thought more at the mezzo and macro levels of organizations and systems. 我分析了更大的政策框架，并思考如何真正参与社会变革. 我把我的生意看作是社会正义的一种形式，因为它通过提高黑人女性的收入潜力来实现经济正义. As Black women, we lose about $1,000,由于偏见和歧视，导致工资不平等和就业机会不平等. 我想创建一项业务来弥补这些损失，因为这些系统的变化不够快，无法解决这些不平等问题.
对于那些想在非营利组织和相关部门从事更多宏观社会工作的在校生，你有什么建议吗?
对于学生来说，磨练自己的人际网络非常重要，尤其是如果他们想留在该地区的话. I think developing and investing in relationships is essential for all students, but especially macro students, and taking advantage of leadership development opportunities. 对于宏观社会工作者来说，在非营利领域追求职业生涯是很重要的，不仅仅是通过他们的课程来获得专业知识, 但也要致力于专业发展，获得在这个领域找到工作所需的技能. Macro social workers should learn how to tell their stories effectively, write a compelling resume and cover letter, and establish their thought leadership.
I think for macro students, 他们的职业发展可能看起来有点不同，因为他们没有像临床学生那样明确的找到特定工作的途径. So, they have to do the traditional job search. That’s where students’ networks can come in to aid the job search. Even though they have a social work degree, they’re now competing with all the other folks with master’s degrees, 因此，他们必须创造一个令人信服的故事，说明为什么他们的宏观社会工作学位比那些拥有公共政策或其他相关领域硕士学位的人更适合某个角色.