Get Involved – Willie’s Warriors 2023 Cohort – CFW | Chicago Foundation for Women

Meet the 2023 Cohort

CFW is proud to announce the 2023 Willie’s Warriors Leadership Initiative cohort. The 21 Warriors represent a cross-section of Black women leaders from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and industries.

Over eight months, the Warriors will gain a better sense of themselves as leaders and develop skills related to systems change, economic empowerment, communications, and strategic alliances, while building a close-knit support network with their fellow Warriors.

Christina Armstrong

Program Director of Youth Mentorship & Compliance

Pamela Bozeman

Chief Operating Officer, New Moms

Crystal Braboy

Chief People, Equity, and Culture Officer, Planned Parenthood of Illinois

Danielle Brown

Police Officer, Chicago Police Department

Tasha Brown

Midwest Director, Small Business Majority

Karli Butler

Director of Community Leadership, Evanston Community Foundation

Bianca Cotton

Associate Director, Public Allies Chicago

Courtney Everette

Courtney Everette

Development Specialist, O'Koon Psychology Group

Anjylla Y. Foster

Research and Project Manager, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Porshé Gardner

Senior Administrator, A Long Walk Home

Darice Goodwin

Associate Clerk of the Criminal Bureau, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County

Tasasha Henderson

Special Assistant to the President, Grand Victoria Foundation

Saroyan Hill

Senior Manager, Operations, Discover Financial Services

Lola Jenkins

Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Family Partnership

Wanjiku Kamuyu-Anderson

Chaplain, Advocate Christ Medical Center

Kourtnee Palamore

Manager of Family Support Programs, City of Chicago: Department of Family & Support Services

Dedra D. Ries, MPH

Director, Community Engagement and Health Equity, University of Illinois Cancer Center

Dr. Femi Skanes

CEO/Lead Consultant, Leadership EDGE, LLC

Dorian Spears

Partnerships and Strategy Lead, GET Cities

Walidah-Tureaud-Willies-Warriors

Walidah Tureaud

Manager of Community Relations, UChicago Medicine's Urban Health Initiative

Debra Vines

Founder & CEO, The Answer Inc. Autism Awareness & Support Agency

Christina Armstrong has facilitated, developed, and managed transformative programs, events and content for children, youth and adults for close to twenty years. She has engaged hundreds of individuals in socio-emotional learning, civic engagement, restorative practices, the arts, health and wellness, college and career readiness, tutoring and mentoring.

Christina is currently the Program Director of Mentorship & Compliance at Public Allies Chicago, a national movement committed to advancing social justice and equity by engaging and activating diverse leaders. She coaches and creates training for developing leaders and oversees all aspects of the Public Allies Youth Mentoring Program.

Additionally, as a Circle Keeper and Restorative Justice Practitioner, Christina holds spaces for community building, dialogue, conflict transformation and healing. Christina has provided consulting to schools and nonprofits on implementing restorative practices and restorative justice.

With a passion for racial and gender justice, she has participated in Saving Our Lives, Hear Our Truths (SOLHOT), a space to celebrate Black girlhood, and Black Girl Genius Week. She co-wrote two chapters in the anthology, Wish to Live: The Hip-hop Feminist Pedagogy Reader. Through BYP100, she engaged with #sayhername, an organizing campaign to address institutional violence against Black cis and trans women and girls.

Alongside her mother, Dr. Judith Armstrong, Christina is helping to develop innovative differentiated storybooks and curricula at Grow-Into Books, Inc. (Her mother has also been actively involved in Rainbow PUSH Excel program and assisted Rev. Willie Barrow with the Rainbow PUSH Excel Parade.)

Christina obtained a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in Educational Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Christina was raised and currently resides on the Southside of Chicago. She enjoys composing music and performing as a vocalist and pianist.

Pamela Bozeman joined New Moms as Chief Operating Officer in June 2018. She came to New Moms with a passion for work in poverty alleviation, restorative justice, and financial literacy. Her primary responsibilities have included oversight of Human Resources, Bright Endeavors Social Enterprise, Operations and DEI. Bozeman has more than 25 years of leadership experience in nonprofit management, for-profit consulting, and higher education.

Prior to joining New Moms Bozeman served as the Senior Director of North Park University's Career Development and Internships Office. She also served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategic Initiatives Officer for YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, where her commitment to DEI flourished under the YWCA’s mission to empower women and eradicate racism. Bozeman held several other leadership positions including Blue Gargoyle Executive Director, and Senior Program Director for the Gary Comer Youth Center. In each of these roles Bozeman was responsible for developing and/or executing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DE)I policies and practices. She worked to ensure each institution’s core values promoted equitable access and restorative practices for students and community.

Two defining roles in her career included a position as the Volunteer Coordinator and Chicago Director for Senator Barack Obama, and her position as Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Community Service Center for the University of Chicago. Both roles leveraged on real-time data analysis to inform, engage, and measure real community impact.

Her other key project management roles included a Program Director position with the Women’s Self Employment Project in Chicago, and Executive Assistant at the Institute for Social and Economic Development in Iowa City, Iowa. She received her BA in Corporate Communications and a Master’s in Public Administration, both from Northern Illinois University. Bozeman is a Chicago south side native, and proud mom of a bright and compassionate teenage son.

Crystal Rénae Braboy is an inspired HR professional, with nearly fifteen years of hands-on knowledge and expertise in employee relations, performance management, leadership training and development, and people operations and strategies. With a never-ending dedication to people and progress, she prides herself on being a leader who fundamentally respects the human experience, and finds creative ways to align individuals’ innate gifts with an organization’s key needs. Crystal earned her Master of Arts degree in Communications from DePaul University in 2010 and graduated summa cum laude; her B.A. is in English Literature.

She is an HRCI-designated Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) as well as SHRM-SCP certified. Crystal is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP), credentialed through National Diversity Council’s DiversityFIRST program. Crystal is also a proud, certified TRHT Racial Healing Practitioner. Interestingly, Crystal worked for years as a hip-hop journalist and created some of her most important work in that space for VIBE Magazine. These days, Crystal busies herself serving as a proud mentor to several first-generation college-bound seniors from underserved communities through her work with Chicago Scholars, and has dedicated her life to advocating for equity, access, and opportunity in both the education and healthcare realms.

Crystal currently serves as Planned Parenthood of Illinois' Chief People, Equity, and Culture Officer. As the agency’s first Black woman to lead these functions, Crystal leads PPIL’s efforts toward cultivating and fostering an inspiring work culture that is driven by the leveraging of similarities and differences, and strengthened through the transformative pursuit of eliminating inequities. In this age of ever-evolving workplace practices and norms, Crystal is focused on ensuring that PPIL is well-prepared to respond to changing workforce dynamics, and that its business decisions are well-aligned with the social outcomes that the 100-year-old organization strives to create.

In 2019, Crystal was recognized with a Power 50 Award by the National Diversity Council at the Illinois Women’s Conference, an honor extended to women who are shaping the future of their industries. In 2020, Crystal was honored to be named on Crain’s Chicago Business’s Notable LGBTQ Executives + Businesses Championing Diversity & Inclusion List, and was also named as one of DiversityMBA’s Top 100 Under 50 Emerging and Executive Leaders. Most recently, Crystal was named as one of the Chicago Defender’s 2021 Women of Excellence.

Born in Harvey, IL and Raised on the Southside of Chicago. Danielle Brown attended Gwendolyn Brooks College. Preparatory Academy in Roseland. She later obtained a Bachelors of Science Degree in Accounting from Chicago State University, as well as a Master’s of Science Degree in Public Safety Administration from Calumet College of St. Joseph. She is currently pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Educational Leadership at DePaul University.

Danielle Brown is a second generation officer following in the footsteps of her mother, father, and brother. She has been a Chicago police officer for 10 years currently working as a Youth and Wellness Liaison Officer for over 6 communities located on the Westside of Chicago. She was previously a Youth Liaison Officer on the Southside of Chicago in the Roseland, Pullman, and Altgeld Garden areas.

Officer Brown has worked with multiple organizations and city agencies on the Southside and Westside of Chicago to provide youth valuable information and resources to help youth navigate through life. She has been an ambassador for the Chicago Police Department’s employment recruitment campaign and instructed one hundred citywide School Resource Officers on Restorative Practices utilizing her experience as a restorative justice practitioner. She has, for an example, organized a collaboration with Strides for Peace Organization, Chicago police department Youth District Advisory Council, Youth Explorers, and Police to build relationships and have conversations about the impact of gun violence & participate in a 5k race against gun violence.

She is a member of the Chicago Association of Women in Law Enforcement Organization, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement. She previously held the position of Vice President of DePaul University’s Education Doctoral Student Association-Board of Directors. She is a recipient of the Purple with a Passion Civic Engagement Award in Celebration of Women of Distinction. She has also participated in the Chicago African American in Philanthropy “Trust Black Women” mentorship program.

When it comes to adversity, some people are just unyielding. Karli Butler has faced some serious trials, but in each step, remains unbreakable. Turning her trauma into triumph, she’s a survivor who by sharing her story and using it for good, does more than just show the world her strength.

In March 2006, she was the target of a vicious attack made in retaliation against her then boyfriend. The violent beating escalated to kidnapping, but Karli was able to escape from the trunk of her car while it was in motion. In May, another attack occurred—same motive, but different attackers— and this attack left much different scarring. Karli’s attackers held her at gunpoint and poured acid over her body causing her to spend the next six and half weeks in the Intensive Care Burn Unit. She endured over a dozen surgeries, but the emotional effects of her attacks ran much deeper than the external scarring. Due to a lack of sufficient evidence, only one of her five attackers were ever brought to justice, leaving Karli with a totally different wound.

Instead of letting trials defeat her, Karli made an important decision—to speak up. And as an expert in the art of communication, she is well-equipped to do so. Karli is a proud alumna of DePaul University, and she holds not only a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, but also a Master of Arts in Organizational and Multicultural Communication, incorporating that acumen when speaking to her different audiences. In addition to her academic degrees, she is a trained circle keeper with Restorative Justice Evanston and the Evanston Police Department.

Since making that extremely brave decision, she’s delivered dozens of speeches and presentations, including a TEDx Talk, for groups and organizations such as Kraft Heinz, Valparaiso University, Loyola University Medical Center, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, and even her alma mater, DePaul University. These discussion-based lectures pertain to self-esteem, self-respect, forgiveness, and being a survivor of violence. She provides tips on overcoming trauma and life’s obstacles, but most importantly, she demonstrates how self-esteem comes from within and its ability to empower and heal the body and mind.

Karli’s reach doesn’t end with only those she physically meets and encourages. To prevent others from enduring similar trials, she worked to change legislation that could help a countless number of people in her home state and played a key role in the passing of Illinois House Bill 2193—a bill that requires anyone buying commercial-grade hydrochloric or sulfuric acid to show photo identification and have their data entered into a state database.

Karli walks in her purpose daily by being a community connector. She currently serves as Director of Community Leadership at the Evanston Community Foundation. And when she's not Googling information for her inquisitive son, Zailen, you can find her researching her next Covid-safe foodie experience . . . or ironing her superwoman cape.

Bianca N. Cotton is a Chicago native and Chicago Public Schools graduate with a heart to serve people, develop leaders, and see communities get the resources they need to succeed. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master’s Degree from DePaul University with a concentration in Management and Leadership Consulting in the Nonprofit and Corporate Sectors. With more than a decade of nonprofit management and social justice experience, seeking to foster a just and equitable society, Bianca is adept at serving youth, families, and communities using her exceptional toolkit acquired through her experience in project management and human development.

Bianca has honed her craft as an emotionally intelligent practitioner who is skilled at establishing and sustaining inner-office and external relationships with key stakeholders in most positions she has held. Moreover, she exemplifies resilient leadership while also demonstrating a complementary, team-centered disposition. During her tenure at United Way of Metropolitan Chicago leading an AmeriCorps Program, she developed a training and learning curriculum to equip leaders from diverse backgrounds with practical knowledge and tools to pursue a career in nonprofit. She now serves as the Associate Director of Public Allies Chicago - a social just organization of which she is an alumna - working to help fulfill its commitment to changing the landscape of leadership by recruiting and training talented emerging leaders from marginalized communities.

Bianca assists organizations in advancing their missions by providing strategic direction for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, while enhancing employee engagement through employee resource groups and professional development opportunities. As a trained W. K. Kellogg Racial Healing Practitioner, Bianca curates space for people with diverse backgrounds to learn, be transformed, and sharpen their innate abilities to actualize their purpose and add value to each space they enter.

She is a 5x author, podcast host and founder of Behind the Confident Smile – a movement where women and girls are inspired to walk in love, live in hope, and be healed from past hurts. Bianca resides in Chicago with her husband and children. She enjoys writing, public speaking, walking, and making plans to change the world for the better!

I always get nervous when asked to write a biography, partly because I don’t know what to say and partly because I don’t know what the other person is looking for. But if I am being honest, my nervousness is mostly because as a woman in her 40’s I am constantly learning about the ever evolving me.

With that being said and in a really high overview, I am a wife, married for 18 years to my college sweetheart, a mom of 3 busy girls, ages 14, 12, and 10. I am a family mediator and often referee. I am a student, having temporarily lost my mind and deciding to go back to school after a 25 year hiatus. I am Chicago stepper, an orator (being the granddaughter of a preacher), a government administrator and last but certainly not least, I am stage 2 breast cancer survivor.

To tell you who I am I will expound on the latter. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38, after being 10 years married and having 3 daughters who at the time were 5, 3, and 1. I went through 16 rounds of chemo, 33 radiation treatments and 2 surgeries in one day where they removed both my breasts and my ovaries. The word for myself while going through my treatment plan? RESILIENCE. I was often told that I didn’t resemble what I was going through, I likened it to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego of the bible; I went through the fire and didn’t even smell like smoke. Once treatment was over and life began anew, my word for myself then? DETERMINATION. I came out on the other side determined to live, determined to survive and determined to thrive. For myself, for my children and for my friends and family.

I am doing that now. And while the road isn’t always easy or smooth it is definitely worth it. I understand and believe that movement is life. We can’t become and or remain stagnant, we have to go, expand, explore and grow. I know better than most that life is short, I want to do good, letting my light shine, I want to be great as God has called me to be and I want to exude excellence every day of my life making my Granny (in heaven) proud. Thank you for your time.

Dr. Femi Skanes is a passionate leader who believes that all students should have access to a quality and equitable education. Dr. Skanes is the founder of Leadership EDGE, LLC. Leadership EDGE, LLC believes that leadership is a lifestyle, equity is essential, and parenting is the promise. Prior to launching Leadership EDGE, Dr. Skanes served in many capacities including classroom teacher, literacy coach, reading department chair, assistant principal, and principal.

After serving as a high school principal for ten years, Dr. Skanes is well known for her commitment to revitalizing schools by fostering positive community relationships. She finds joy in presenting and delivery keynote addresses to encourage, empower, and promote academic success and racial equity. Under her leadership, Al Raby School for Community & Environment and Morgan Park High School have boasted of numerous successes. Freshmen & Sophomore on Track rates, graduation rates, and student support systems significantly improved at both schools. Dr. Skanes secured countless grants which created mentoring and extracurricular opportunities for students. Through an intentional focus on student support, dropout rates decreased while early college and career credentials significantly improved.

Dr. Skanes is an accomplished mentor, speaker, writer, and school leader. She is a visionary leader and extraordinary problem solver who is often acknowledged for her strong but calm leadership style. As a leader, she is most proud of her ability to develop other successful school leaders.

She is very serious about her most important role in life which is serving as a mother to three wonderful children. Dr. Skanes has a strong passion for supporting blended families. Dr. Skanes is married to Firefighter Christopher R. Skanes and their love blended their families. Together they are the parents of Imani, Chris Jr., Caval Jr, and they are Godparents to Kofi. Dr. Skanes is an encourager to many moms who are experiencing the rough seasons that are inevitable in motherhood. She is passionate about helping parents develop their parenting and leadership skills as a key lever for cultivating healthy children. Dr. Skanes seeks to make the world a better place by strengthening parenting skills, molding well rounded children, and making schools pillars in their communities. Dr. Femi Skanes is the author of Encouragement for the School Leader’s Soul which is available for purchase on Amazon.