***UPDATE JULY 3, 2023***
Dear supporters,
It feels like a lifetime since I last updated you all about a year ago. So much has happened, thanks to your all's contributions to our crowdfunding campaign in 2021! 🎉
Since launching our inaugural cohort of the Leadership Accelerator in the fall of 2021:
- we have run 6 cohorts of the Leadership Accelerator for 51 WOC and nonbinary POC leaders across industries and stages of career;
- our graduates have gone on to land prestigious fellowships (White House, Harvard, Stanford), paid speaking engagements, and promotions and raises;
- folks have described the program, cohort, and community as "a lifeline," the only place they've ever received "honest, real feedback," "a safe space to be vulnerable to learn, share, and grow with other like minded women.
Here's our Leadership Network (now 15 strong, hailing from across the country!) for Accelerator alums, at our very first in-person meet-and-greet for NYC members:
In 2023, the Accelerator won an Anthem Award, which honors best-in-class examples of purpose- and mission-driven impact work worldwide 🌍
The impact of the program has been undeniable:
- 92% of graduates report decreased stress or overwhelm because of the program
- 92% felt more motivated about at least one aspect of their work because of the Accelerator
- 80% strengthened boundaries and reclaimed time in their lives
- 76% made valuable connections
- 74% increased visibility in their careers, workplaces, or industries
- 67% were able to better prioritize their time and focus on priorities as opposed to "putting out fires"
- 54% increased their earnings
And you know how extra powerful these stats are, given the structural barriers our cohort members face.
And to think, this is all because you all were an integral part of the launch of this transformative program!!🚀
In order to maintain accessibility to this leadership certification program, we have funded 26 scholarships. Embrace Change has self-funded over $30k in scholarships and we are ever grateful for ongoing donors' contributions to the Scholarship Fund!
How to stay involved:
- We are now recruiting for our 7th cohort in the fall, for Established and Executive Leaders (more info here). If you know of folks who'd be a good fit for the program or cohort, please nominate them HERE and we'll reach out!
- As an added thank you, we do $100 cash referral bonuses for folks who refer applicants who are then admitted and enroll in the cohort, as long as the applicant specifies the referrer's name when they apply! *That's $100 per enrollee 🤑
- Share about the Accelerator on your listservs, Slacks, social media, email lists, communities, friend groups. Feel free to tag us (IG, LI, TT) so we can amplify as well!
- Contribute to, and share the link to, the Scholarship Fund.
- As we all continue to feel the pinch of corporate price gouging, inflation, housing costs, student loan debt, and economic uncertainty, as a group, no one is feeling this more than WOCs, nonbinary POCs, who are heading up their households and supporting multiple family units. That's exactly who this Accelerator serves.
- All contributions make a difference and you can rest easy that this program now has the receipts to demonstrate its impact in real, hard numbers.
Once again, please accept my deepest gratitude, appreciation, and thanks for you taking a flyer on the idea of the Accelerator 2 years ago.
It's been the longest-shortest time and we are already solidifying its legacy 🥹
Thank you for continuing to be a part of this journey 🙏
In solidarity,
Cynthia
***UPDATE JUNE 25, 2021***
A final, huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported and shared this crowdfunding campaign and making the Embrace Change Leadership Accelerator a reality!
We surpassed the Stretch Goal and you all made that happen.
With this starter funding, we will now be able to:
- run the Leadership Accelerator for 40 women of color!
- provide $8,500 of Accelerator scholarship funds,
- fund 15 full scholarships for Jumpstart Your Online Business – and so much more!!
I can't wait to keep moving this work forward!
Rewards fulfillment will continue in the coming weeks and to receive updates on everything Embrace Change, be sure you're on our mailing list (https://embracechange.nyc/signup).
THANK YOU!!!!!
In solidarity,
Cynthia Pong, JD, Founder of Embrace Change
***UPDATE JUNE 8, 2021***
Words cannot describe how ecstatic, shocked, humbled, and grateful I am for the groundswell of support that has poured in in support of the Embrace Change Leadership Accelerator for women of color.
I am so proud to say that the $36K already raised means we can now run 3 cohorts and support 30 women of color through the Leadership Accelerator!
So let's shoot for the moon and launch a 4th cohort to support 10 additional women of color leaders into the leadership positions they need – and deserve – to be in!!
Thank you for joining me in this final push to champion 40 women of color to 10X their leadership!
Women Of Color Are Leading The Future Of Work
The problem is that, all too often, we aren’t seen as leaders – by others or ourselves.
Although 20% of the US population are women of color, only 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are.
Even though we work as hard as – harder than! – others, we are paid less.
Over the course of a 40-year career, Native women earn $1.7M less than White men, while Black, Latinx, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women earn about $1.3M less.
Representation And Pay Equity Matter
Women of color across all ethnicities should be in top leadership roles across all sectors. We should also be paid equally for our labor.
#RepresentationMatters and women of color across all ethnicities should be in top leadership roles across all sectors.
Hi! I'm Cynthia Pong, the founder of Embrace Change.
With over a decade of experience negotiating – first as a public defender, now as an entrepreneur – my clients break down barriers in the workplace, whether they work in medicine, public health, the arts, social work, sustainability, or the trades.
My career advice has been featured in HuffPost, CNBC, Fast Company, Refinery29, NPR, and more, and I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice for Job Search and Career.
I am singularly focused on building a future in which women of color are treated equitably in the workplace.
What We Do
At Embrace Change, we provide the tailored resources, strategic support, and roadmap to leadership to make sure women of color thrive.
We advance the careers of women of color through strategic career coaching, tailored workshops and courses, a book on career change, and career advice shared on social media, in free resources, and in action-oriented talks.
We've coached and trained hundreds of women of color to confidently advocate for themselves and drive their careers forward. We reach hundreds of thousands through our career advice social media posts.
Our Impact
At Embrace Change, we’ve coached hundreds of clients to confidently advocate for themselves and drive their careers forward. Our clients negotiate 67% raises, and get the jobs and promotions they never even dreamed of.
Now, We Need Your Help
We’re raising capital to fund a 12-week, high-impact, results-driven accelerator program to give 30 women of color leaders their own roadmap to leadership.
This accelerator will give participants:
- a clear vision for their leadership and a strategy to get them there,
- actionable tools and tactics to negotiate with confidence, and
- supportive and game-changing accountability
In other words, this accelerator will launch women of color into the leadership positions that they want – and need – to be in.
The money raised will also:
- Launch women-of-color-owned businesses
- Put copies of Cynthia’s book, Don’t Stay in Your Lane: The Career Change Guide for Women of Color, directly into the hands of women of color
- Fund 1:1 coaching services on negotiation, resume writing, small business startup, and effective goal setting
- Build more equitable workspaces within organizations
Help women of color leaders start their own businesses with our course Jumpstart Your Online Business and transform their careers with our career change guide, Don't Stay in Your Lane.
Now Is The Time
If you've been thinking of ways to give back, this is your opportunity to pay it forward and cover the tuition of a woman of color for this program.
If you’re interested in a corporate sponsorship or marketing opportunity, please email [email protected].
Thank you for supporting, sharing, and amplifying our campaign! Here's to women of color leaders!
