For Sherry Sims, founder and CEO of Black Career Women’s Network, her 2013-born organization had a simple goal: Provide black women access to mentors in the workplace.
It was a problem that needed solving. After all, Sims and other African-American women she knew were often turning to other resources or avenues to get the support they needed to progress in their careers.
“The common denominator between all of us is that we all had the same experiences in the workplace,” Sims said. “I really developed a passion for wanting to work with the women, so I decided I wanted to create an organization or some type of platform where we could be heard, and we could get the support that we need.”
In Sims' case, her passion began taking root when she was living in Alabama. While she had built a successful career in corporate human resources, she was looking for a mentor who would provide advice on getting to the next level of her career. However, she wasn’t able to find one, and a LinkedIn group she created to foster connections wasn't much help.
A job transition brought her to Cincinnati, followed by another that landed her in a career coaching gig with Cincinnati Works, a nonprofit that brings employment services to those living in poverty.
"Our whole goal is [creating a] platform for women to express how they feel, their challenges and experience."
It wasn't long after becoming a career coach that women started calling Sims and asking her for advice. On top of that, she also found 250 women waiting to join the LinkedIn group she began a few years earlier, to find her mentor.
Sims knew she was on to something, and the Black Career Women's Network was born.
“We all get to certain stages of careers where we think about what’s next or how we get there," she said, explaining the ethos behind the BCWN. "We have to know there are support systems out to help us get clarity on what that looks like."
The BCWN offers just that to its members, from those in entry-level positions to women in the C-suite. Participants hail from all areas of the U.S., from the East to West coasts.
On top of career coaching, women who buy a membership to BCWN ($17.50 per month, or $5 monthly for students) have access to the Career Smarts Suite, which includes e-courses or local trainings and workshops. Non-members can also participate in the BCWN, via its Facebook group, by watching webcasts or listening to its podcasts.
BCWN also hosts an annual conference, where African-American women can come together to learn tools that they can take back into the workplace. The event includes 101 coaching, seminars, speakers who share their experiences and more. The conference has always been held in BCWN’s home city of Cincinnati, but in the future, Sims is considering holding the event in other cities where BCWN has gained a large following.
Ultimately, "Black Career Women’s Network is about providing clarity, strategies and solutions to African-American women so they can continue to move forward in their careers and find freedom and fulfillment to thrive and flourish in whatever they decide to do," Sims said.
It's making a difference. So far, BCWN has helped many women expand their network, either through meeting other women online or through events, resulting in promotions or career changes. Sims said one woman even got a $10,000 raise with the help of a salary negotiation expert she met through BCWN.
“I think the biggest success is that we keep it very open in terms of letting women know that we understand their plight because we’ve been there,” Sims said. “Team members talk from a very realistic perspective because we share our own experiences. Our whole goal is [creating a] platform for women to express how they feel, their challenges and experience, and ask how they can do things differently to overcome the challenges they’re experiencing. Transparency is hugely important for [allowing] what we do to work."
Sims wants the BCWN to keep working into the future, and its one that becomes increasingly bright as more women join the network.
Her specific goals? Sims said BCWN will try to establish a platform that caters to regions outside of the U.S., as the organization has also gained a following in Toronto, London, and Africa. She said BCWN will also expand career training with more high-level videos and try to expand their presence globally with conferences.
