Sadie Collective

Sadie Collective
Formation2018; 6 years ago (2018)
Location
  • Washington, D.C., U.S.
Founders
Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman
Fanta Traore
Websitesadiecollective.org

The Sadie Collective is the first American non-profit organization which aims to increase the representation of African-American women in economics and related fields.[1][2] It was founded by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore in August 2018 and is named for the first African-American economist, Sadie T. M. Alexander.[3][4][5][6][7]

It has organized conferences connecting African-American women pursuing careers in economics and related fields such as finance, data science, and public policy.[8][9] In February 2019, the Collective hosted the Sadie T. M. Alexander Conference for Economics and related fields at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C. In February 2020, the second annual conference was hosted by the Urban Institute with Bridget Terry Long and Janet Yellen as Keynote Speakers with nearly 300 attendees.[10] [11] The conferences are the first exclusively for African-American women in economics and related fields.[12] In 2020, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank announced a data science skills workshop in collaboration with the Collective for African-American college students.[13]

History

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Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, a former undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Fanta Traore, a former research assistant at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors co-founded the organization in August 2018. Both women cited their isolating experiences in their work and academic environments as inspiration for creating an "intergenerational community" of Black women in economics and related fields. Both women mention that Lisa Cook is their mentor and an early supporter of the Collective. Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Lisa Cook co-wrote a New York Times opinion piece and participated in interviews specifically advocating especially for the inclusion and advancement of African-American women in the economics profession.[14][15][16]

Opoku-Agyeman served as the organization's CEO until her resignation in March 2021. Traore served as CEO shortly after.[17][18] In July 2022, Bola Olaniyan was announced as the Collective's first Executive Director.[19]

Funding

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In October 2020, the organization entered a multi-year partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[20] In 2021, the organization was listed among several organizations awarded the first round of capital investments and philanthropic grants for Black women by Goldman Sachs to "fund the creation of high school economic clubs for young Black girls to participate in the annual Federal Reserve Challenge".[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Russ, Valerie. "A new generation of black female economists revives a Philly lawyer's legacy with the Sadie Collective". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  2. ^ Reid, Maryann. "Deep Rooted Structural 'Violence' Keeps Black Women Out of Economics". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. ^ Fraser, C. Gerald (1989-11-03). "Sadie T. M. Alexander, 91, Dies; Lawyer and Civil Rights Advocate". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  4. ^ "Meet Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, Co-Founder and CEO of the Sadie Collective – GUBA Awards". Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  5. ^ Merritt, Keri Leigh (2019-07-09). "Why We Need More Black Women in Economics". The North Star. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  6. ^ "Women in Economics: Interview with Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore". The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. 2019-09-18. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  7. ^ Omeokwe, Amara (2020-01-03). "Economics Profession Turns Attention to its 'Race Problem'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  8. ^ Dansberger Duque, Catalina Sofia (2019-03-06). "UMBC students Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Olusayo Adeleye co-create 1st U.S. conference for Black women economists". UMBC News. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  9. ^ Wogan, J.B. (2019-04-10). "Making the Case for More Black Women in Economics". Mathematica. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  10. ^ Sahm, Claudia (2020-02-28). "Black economists are missing from the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economics profession". Equitable Growth.
  11. ^ Butler, Kimberlin (2019-02-28). "The Future Is Now: Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander". Mathematica.
  12. ^ Hahm, Jeenho (2019-04-05). "Fighting Underrepresentation in the Public Policy Profession". Columbia SIPA. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  13. ^ "Workshop on Diversifying Economics - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago". www.chicagofed.org. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  14. ^ Cook, Lisa D.; Opoku-Agyeman, Anna Gifty (2019-09-30). "Opinion | 'It Was a Mistake for Me to Choose This Field'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  15. ^ "Episode 27: Dr. Lisa D. Cook and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman". Insight. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  16. ^ "How Economics Excludes Black Women". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  17. ^ "The Two Women Fixing the Pipeline for Black Female Economists". Bloomberg.com. 2021-03-20. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  18. ^ "Advisory Board". The Sadie Collective. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
  19. ^ Fossett, Katelyn. "Should companies be in charge of abortion access?". POLITICO. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  20. ^ "The Sadie Collective". Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  21. ^ "GOLDMAN SACHS ANNOUNCES FIRST ROUND OF CAPITAL INVESTMENTS AND PHILANTHROPIC GRANTS TO 1 MILLION BLACK WOMEN". www.blackenterprise.com.
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