Hosted by the Elon Gender and LGBTQIA Center, Elon students, faculty and Alamance County residents came together to celebrate International Women’s Day with a panel discussion focused on inclusion.
The three panelists, Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Ashlie Thomas and Kristen Powers, discussed the importance of creating safe spaces for other people within their communities March 7 in the Lakeside Meeting Rooms.
This year’s theme for International Women’s Day was “Inspiring Inclusion.” Cavalier-Keck, an Indigenous activist and the founder of the environmental justice and community building organization known as 7 Directions of Service, works with members of Indigenous groups to promote healing through connecting with their cultures.
For most of her life, Cavalier-Keck said she put others first; however, when her stress began to take a toll on her health, she learned that having other leaders to support her was essential to the success of her community.
“We're all leaders, because I'm empowering you to be a leader,” Cavalier-Keck said. “You just can't have one leader. That's not how leadership looks.”
The importance of helping others while also allowing others to help echoed between the three panelists.
Thomas, who is the creator of the brand The Mocha Gardener, teaches people how to grow their own food and advocates for food security in rural communities. She said that she recently learned how to put herself first and allow others to help her.
“I started to realize that as a woman, I can show up for community and allow my community to show up for me,” Thomas said. “I deserve to be a delicate flower that can operate in strength and empowerment.”
Growing up as a Black woman, Thomas also said she learned she needed to be tough while also being considerate of everyone around her.
“I come from a community of faith, where as a woman, you’ve got to be humble, serve others and really put your needs on the backburner,” Thomas said. “As a Black woman, I've got to be stronger, I've got to be able to keep it moving, I've got to carry the burdens of the world — but at the same time — maintain faith.”
Powers works with formerly incarcerated women and provides transitional housing and employment through her role as the executive director of Benevolence Farm. She believes the empathy her staff shows her comes from an understanding of what it is like to not be supported as women.
Elon University President Connie Book also attended the event and said it is important for women to be outspoken about their accomplishments.
“I think that it's important that we as women say out loud our achievements, that we own our space, that we know this is our space,” Book said.