Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 12-13-19

Features
NAACP To Host
Key Leadership
Final General
Promotions Announced
Meeting Of The Year
At The Centre For Women
The Hillsborough County Chapter of the NAACP will host their final General Meet- ing of the year. The event will take place on Thursday, De- cember 19th, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The meeting will be held at New Salem Primitive Bap- tist Church, 1605 N. Ne- braska Avenue, Tampa, 33602.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister will be the guest speaker.
Those planning to attend are also asked to bring his or her favorite dish to be shared at the end of the meeting.
SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER Guest Speaker
Ms. Yvette Lewis is the President of the Hillsborough County Branch NAACP.
The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women, one of Tampa’s most venerable nonprofits, is pleased to an- nounce the promotion of two key leaders.
Sartura Shuman Smith, who is currently Pro- gram Director of the Centre for Girls, has been tapped to lead the Centre’s workforce development program, Tampa Bay Works for Women.
Iris Thurman, program coordinator at The Centre for Girls, will take over as Pro- gram Director.
A native of Tampa, Ms. Smith is well known in the community and has spent most of her career in the nonprofit sector, having served as Director of Educa- tion and Outreach at WEDU before joining the United Way to direct Women’s Leadership Programs.
She joined The Centre for Women five years ago and built a thriving afterschool enrichment program at the Centre for Girls. “Her ability to innovate and create pro- grams to empower women, combined with her passion for helping people made her the ideal candidate to lead Tampa Bay Works for Women,” said the Centre’s Executive Director Ann W. Madsen.
Since the inception of The Centre for Women, the 42- year-old nonprofit has pro- vided soft skills training to help women to prepare for and find jobs. Tampa Bay Works for Women is an evo- lution of that core program. It includes three compo- nents: essential skills train- ing for employment; an accredited program to help women to learn the construc- tion trades and a new initia- tive to prepare women for
SARTURA SHUMAN SMITH ...To lead Workforce Development Program
work in the 21st Century. Ms. Smith graduated from Hampton University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood/Special Ed- ucation and a Master’s De- gree in Educational Leadership. She currently serves on the Hillsborough County Commission on the Status of Women and the Hillsborough Alliance of Black School Educators
(HABSE).
Iris Thurman joined
The Centre for Women as an instructor in BizGirls Pro- gram for young entrepre- neurs at the Centre for Girls. She then joined the staff full- time as a program coordina- tor.
In addition to being an entrepreneur, Ms. Thur- man is an author, certified professional life coach, moti- vational speaker and youth development strategist.
A native of Miami, she re- located to Tampa with her mother and siblings at age 11. She is the mother of four sons and holds a BA in Busi- ness Management, an MBA in HealthCare Management from University of Phoenix and a Life Coaching Certifi- cation from MTI. She worked in the HealthCare industry
IRIS THURMAN ...Program Director, Centre For Girls
for 15 plus years. She is ex- tremely passionate about the social and emotional devel- opment of young people as well as peer-to-peer mentor- ship, women enhancement coaching, and a host of give back initiatives.
Ms. Madsen said: “Both of these dynamic women have the rare ability to iden- tify proven and innovative ways to empower women and girls. We are excited about the direction these programs are taking and know that they will impact so many people in positive ways. We all share the phi- losophy that when you em- power women you strengthen the entire com- munity.”
About The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women
The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women is a non- profit organization offering a diverse array of programs to help women in the Tampa Bay region to succeed both personally and profession- ally. The programs and serv- ices encourage, educate and empower women.
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