What We Do

At Thrive Sis, we are dedicated to empowering black women and girls to reach their highest potential. We provide a range of experiential workshops, panel discussions, engagement opportunities, and special initiatives aimed at equipping them with the tools, resources, and support necessary for success.

Education: We offer comprehensive professional development education workshops that cover a wide range of topics, including entrepreneurship, financial literacy, marketing, fundraising, grant writing, and leadership skills. Most workshops are designed in multi-day formats to provide participants with deeper engagement with the subject matter. Seminars, roundtables, and panel discussions provide black women and girls with connection and mentorship opportunities for building the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the business world.

Resources: We understand the importance of access to resources in achieving success. We provide valuable resources such as business templates, guides, 1:1 consultation opportunities, hands-on relevant activities, and toolkits to help black women and girls navigate the challenges of starting and growing their own businesses or careers. Additionally, we connect them with relevant employment opportunities, funding opportunities, grants, and scholarships to support their goals.

Networking: Building strong connections and networks is crucial for personal and professional growth. We facilitate networking opportunities, both in-person and virtually, where black women and girls can connect with like-minded individuals, industry experts, and potential mentors. Our networking events and platforms provide a supportive environment for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and building meaningful relationships.

Community Building: We believe in the power of community support. We foster a strong and inclusive community where black women and girls can find inspiration, encouragement, and mentorship. Through our programs and events, we create spaces for open dialogue, mentorship programs, and peer support that promote personal and professional growth. Our community-building initiatives also include health and wellness conversations relevant to Black women’s health issues.

Advocacy: We advocate for the rights, equal opportunities, and representation of black women and girls. We actively work to dismantle systemic barriers and promote an inclusive and equitable society. Through our advocacy efforts, we aim to create lasting change and ensure that black women and girls have access to the resources, opportunities, and support they deserve.

By providing business education, valuable resources, networking opportunities, health and wellness connections, and community-building engagements, we empower black women and girls to overcome challenges, seize opportunities, and thrive in their entrepreneurial and professional endeavors. We are committed to their success, and we strive to create a supportive and inclusive environment where they can flourish and make a positive impact.

SPARK BUSINESS
SUCCESS WORKSHOPS

Spark Business Success programs provide experiential-based learning and networking opportunities that equip women in business with the resources, tools, and community necessary to excel in their professional lives. Programming includes workshops and events centered on starting up, financial literacy, strategic planning, grant writing, marketing, and everything in between that is critical to building and growing a successful business or nonprofit organization.

Current Workshop Series Include:

  • Ask yourself: "Why not me?" If you have a business or product idea, the Your Biz Pitch Challenge is your opportunity to work toward making it happen.

    Open to all Thrive Sis! members, in the ideas or startup phase of their entrepreneurship journey.

    Entrepreneurs are more likely to persist in meeting their goals with community support. The Your Biz Pitch Challenge provides that community by bringing together peers and mentors who are ready to both challenge and encourage participants, creating an environment where students can build things, take risks, and learn from failures.

    During the twelve-week program, participate in workshops, have access to office hours with Thrive Sis! experts, and get time with facilitators. A winner will be selected for funding at the end of the initial twelve-week program receiving grant funding toward their venture. The winner must also commit to joining an eight-week summer fellowship cohort, which includes further mentorship and training.

  • LEARN THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO SUCCEED

    Kickstart your entrepreneurial journey through Startup Bootcamp, a three-month workshop and discussion series that instills a foundation of entrepreneurial skills in participants like you while you build your startup network. Startup Bootcamp culminates with Pitch Fest, an opportunity to get your ideas in front of a social media audience while you flex your pitching skills for cash prizes.

  • The Startup Space connects new business leaders with coaches and peer mentors to help them grow their new businesses.

  • Are you a visionary entrepreneur leading a black-owned business? Do you want to secure funding to fuel your business's growth and make a lasting impact in your community?

    Unlocking Funding Opportunities: Grant Writing Workshop for Black-Led Businesses is designed to equip you with the essential knowledge and skills to successfully navigate the grant writing process.

    This intensive and interactive workshop is tailored specifically for black-led businesses, recognizing the unique challenges and opportunities faced by entrepreneurs from the black community.

    Led by seasoned grant writing experts with a deep understanding of the funding landscape, this workshop will empower you to craft compelling grant proposals that resonate with funders and increase your chances of securing financial support.

SPARK COMMUNITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS

Spark Community Building Workshops provide experiential-based learning and networking opportunities that equip women in nonprofit with the resources, tools, and community necessary to excel in their professional lives. Programming includes workshops and events centered on topics such as: starting up, financial literacy, strategic planning, grant writing, marketing, fundraising, and everything in between that is critical to building and growing a successful nonprofit organization.

Current Workshops Series:

  • This interact 4-week workshop series dives deep to share tips and tools to help women in the nonprofit sector jump-start their courageous leadership journey. Specifically, the program is designed to:

    • help leaders design their personal call to courage and identify their core values.

    • Learn valuable skills, practices, and tools to strengthen their courage foundation and serve their mission authentically

    • Explore four evidence-based skills for empowering teams

    • Learn their courage leadership assessment score and how it impacts their work

    • Understand how to handle tough conversations with civility and kindness

    • Discover how to acknowledge limitations, integrate vulnerability, and give permission to be human when faced with adversity or decision

  • To succeed in today’s competitive grant writing environment, fundraisers and nonprofit professionals must practice and master critical skills to develop winning proposals.

    These interactive workshops (typically introduced as a 3-6-week workshop series each instance) are designed to help participants hone the craft of grant writing, focus on specific goals, and engage in real-world writing simulations to produce ready-to-submit applications and conduct relevant grant research.

    These workshops are meant to help those who are new to grant writing or have little or no grant writing experience. Series topics include:

    • Learning how to develop a toolkit, write a grant narrative and set measurable and reliable outcomes

    • Receive the tools to develop a program budget, participate in live exercises and learn the various resources available to conduct grant research specific to your organization.

    • Participate in draft writing exercises for a grant application and have the opportunity to share with their peers to both receive feedback and review other drafts

    • Participate in panel and round table discussions and engagement activities with funders and grant reviewers to help improve your grant writing and grant application process.

  • These workshops are typically introduced as 3-6-week series each instance to provide participants with hands-on experience and an opportunity to dive deep into best practices for building a sustainable social media advertising strategy that will deliver results for their business.

    Series specific topics include:

    • Who is your ideal customer?

    • How do you find them on Facebook & Instagram?

    • What does success look like for your brand or business?

    • What are the ingredients of a successful campaign?

    • And more

      These in-depth workshops will provide attendees with the skills to:

    • Develop a Clear Customer Persona

    • Leverage Facebook's Tools To Gain Valuable Insights

    • Establish Social Media Success Metrics For Their Business

    • Structure a Successful Campaign

    ATTENDEES ARE ENCOURAGED TO BRING THEIR SPECIFIC FACEBOOK, TIkTok, LinkedIn & INSTAGRAM ADS QUESTIONS TO THE WORKSHOP AND BE PREPARED TO WORK IN THESE INTERACTIVE, OPEN SESSION.

CONNECT CAFE.

Connect Cafe provides a digital space for women seeking expert consultation, collaboration, partnership, or even their newest colleagues to build ideas, brand collaborations, and do business together. Regardless of our geographical boundaries, we can together build bridges to empower businesses and ideas formed by women of color through the power of networking and communication.

HEALTH & WELLNESS CONVERSATION SERIES

Thrive Sis! centers health and wellness as necessary to anyone’s thriving journey and therefore provides members a bridge to connect with health and wellness resources and engagement activities for living a healthy lifestyle.

Current Conversations:

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  • Black Girl Day Off is observed every October 11 annually in the United States. It is a day dedicated to encouraging black women to take a mental day off to focus on their emotional well-being. Black women assign a high risk of heart disease, breast cancer, and other chronic illnesses.

    This day was developed to encourage black people to get involved in their health. To overcome mental health disorders and incorrect diagnoses, it is critical to have skilled and compassionate mental health providers. The issues and traumas that disadvantaged, oppressed, and disenfranchised individuals encounter are unique, and they must be treated accordingly.

    HISTORY OF BLACK GIRL DAY OFF

    Making everyone in the world more aware of the challenges that people who are battling with mental health confront is a terrific approach to start solving the problem. The more individuals who are aware, the more they can help with prevention or seek support. Millions of individuals throughout the world suffer from mental health concerns, ranging from depression and anxiety disorders to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. According to some figures, one out of every four persons may have a mental health illness throughout their lifetime, and many more will have friends or family members who are.

    Despite its prevalence, mental health is one of the most neglected aspects of health in the world today. Currently, about one billion people are suffering from mental health issues, and millions of people die each year as a result of mental illness. Despite this, many people continue to lack access to the care they require to effectively address their problems.

    The History of Black Girl Day Off

    The goal of Black Girl Day Off is to raise awareness about mental health concerns in African-American communities because black women are frequently a pillar of strength who must face the high risk of heart disease, breast cancer, and other chronic illnesses.

    As a result, by expanding information on the subject and attempting to remove the stigma associated with it, it is anticipated that this may inspire those who are suffering to seek treatment and support.

    When it comes to mental health in the African-American community, it’s time to shed the stigma, embrace the battle, and invest in the possibility of a more secure future.

  • Deep-seated structural and systemic racism aren’t just obstacles to addressing Black women’s health issues—they are the health issue.

    The Thrive Sis! Health Advocate Fellowship program is a 6-month opportunity to create revolution in the world of health research and public policy. The program prepairs participants to engage win the world of local and national forums where Black women’s health decisions are made.

    Participants will leave the program with an educated perspective and critical thinking skills to the important issues and controversies that consume Black women’s health.

    The program models a creative platform for consumer influence marked by transparency, innovation and a peer relationship with scientists, ressearchers, policymakers and consumers nationwide.

Financial Fest

Financial Fest happens four times each year inviting Thrive Sis! members to take the challenge and get in tune with their financial health. Throughout the festival series, a variety of immersive workshops are offered to go in-depth on topics such as homeownership, credit repair, savings, and retirement among many others.

Upcoming Financial Fest Challenges:

  • Financial Literacy and Credit Education workshops help members learn valuable tools, tips and resources for:

    • Budgeting basics

    • Understanding financial situations and goals

    • Managing and understand credit

    • Legacy building strategies that work

    • Estate planning

    • Higher education planning

    • Debt reduction and management tips

  • The program offers a series of interactive homeownership workshops that cover key topics such as home buying, mortgage financing, budgeting, and home maintenance.

    The workshops will feature experienced housing counselors and will be tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of the participants.

    Participants who are interested in buying a home will receive education on the home-buying process, including mortgage financing, the importance of a good credit score, home inspections, and closing costs.

Residence Programs

Mentors in Residence Program

Thrive Sis! invites successful leaders, entrepreneurs, and organizations around the country to volunteer with us for the Mentor in Residence Program. Spend a single day or a few weeks engaging with our members and sharing wisdom, experience, your products/services and perspectives. Work with members in a variety of settings—lectures, holding public presentations, or even participating in roundtables, and panel discussions—in which members get to talk informally with experts about their life, business, and experiences.

Professors in Practice Program

Professors in Practice opportunities were created to bring a new class of professorship known as a professor of practice. These professors are highly motivated, dedicated professionals, and academic, or government leaders who have blazed a trail that others follow. Professors of practice have limited-duration appointments spanning up to 3-months and provide practical course instruction to members, leading them through real-world applications of business methods and theory. They identify internship and experiential education opportunities that illustrate curriculum topics and academic principles, and they bring an extensive network of contacts and connections in their fields, providing opportunities for members to engage more intensively with industry.