About B-WEL

Our vision is a future in which Black women not only occupy positions but also spearhead transformative change across all sectors on a global scale. We support Black women to effectively leverage their power, access a connected community, and partner with allies to catalyze collaborations to drive systemic change. We are a global initiative dedicated to increasing the numbers, improving the experiences, and magnifying the impact of Black women in executive leadership roles.

Join our Mission

Collecting, Collating, and Curating
‍Black Women’s Wisdom

By mapping and documenting the challenges faced as well as the successful strategies, tools and tactics that Black women have developed, B-WEL is investing in the next generation of leaders and supporting institutions globally to build a more inclusive leadership bench. We believe that Black women’s experiences offer useful insights to inform much needed institutional transformations.

connecting community

B-WEL accelerates both the individual and collective leadership growth. We achieve this by establishing a self-sustaining, intergenerational, transnational, multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary, and global network of Black women executives. Our curriculum, delivered through a prestigious year-long Fellowship and standalone learning experiences, is meticulously crafted to cater to the unique needs of Black women in executive leadership.

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catalyzing collaboration

B-WEL is a platform that connects individuals and institutions to design and action transformative change agendas. Believing that Black women do not bear the responsibility for ending racism and patriarchy, B-WEL is engaging allies and catalyzing individual and institutional collaborations to ensure that a diverse bench of global leaders is available to surface contextually relevant innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Why B-WEL Matters

The Challenge

Black women hold only 1.6% of VP roles and 1.4% of C-suite roles in the US.

The Loss

Such underrepresentation has led to a loss of $107 billion in economic activities from 1960 - 2019.

The Evidence

Studies have shown that companies with diversity in leadership roles have 25% higher profitability.

How We Operate

Fellowship

Through a rigorous selection process, we identify exceptional Black women with a proven impact track record from around the globe.

Resources & Mentorship

Fellows are given access to resources, custom leadership courses, and mentorship.

Resources & Mentorship

Groups of Fellows work together on actionable 'Change Agendas' that are implemented and scaled.

The Program Structure

Multi-generational Model

We ensure that each participant, regardless of their career stage, both gives and receives value.

Thematic Cluster

Participants are grouped into clusters focused on specific problems affecting Black women.

Engaging Allies

We enlist allies from outside the Black women community to contribute to the mission.

DRAG

What We Do

Fellowship

Scouring the globe and searching across sectors, we identify exceptional Black women with a proven impact track record and support them to leverage their power to drive systemic change.

Generating New Knowledge

Centering Black women leaders’ experiences, we mine Black women’s wisdom to surface key insights that challenge conventional wisdom on identifying, growing, and harnessing the potential of talent.

Actioning Change

Engaging allies, B-WEL catalyzes collaboration between individuals and institutions that are committed to driving meaningful change. From addressing bias within the executive search sector to increasing the diversity on Boards of listed companies, B-WEL brings together partners to turn community and insight into actionable change.

How We Do It

Engaging Allies

Ending racism and patriarchy is not Black women’s responsibility. B-WEL is a safe and honest space that engages allies, catalyzing collaborations between institutions and individuals committed to addressing the systemic barriers to building more diverse teams.

Exploring Blackness as a Global Identity

We are curious about how the intersection of patriarchy and anti-Black racism shape the human experience in different parts of the world and whether the strategies, tools and tactics that Black women develop in one part of the world can be adapted to different geographical or professional contexts.

Inter-generational Partnerships

Honoring that intergenerational partnerships are at the heart of Black communities around the world, we ensure that the three generations of Black women participating in our Fellowship both give and receive value, regardless of their career stage.

OUR NETWORK

defined by our
community

Meet Our Fellows

Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg

founder & executive director

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The B-WEL movement is changing the thinking of the current and next generation of black leaders.

Danielle Wood

B-WEL Fellow, 2023

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B-WEL focuses on people at the cusp of something new and something different who need support to catalyze progress. There is no other program that offers support in this way.

Amina Doherty

B-WEL Fellow, 2023

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Almost There

Amplifying Black Women’s power

Collecting, Collating, and Curating
‍Black Women’s Wisdom

connecting community

catalyzing collaboration

defined by our
community

Make a Difference with B-WEL.

get in touch

Loading

Almost There

Amplifying Black Women’s power

Collecting, Collating, and Curating ‍Black Women’s Wisdom

connecting community

catalyzing collaboration

defined by ourcommunity

Make a Difference with B-WEL.

get in touch

Collecting, Collating, and Curating
‍Black Women’s Wisdom

defined by our
community