Maggie Cross Strengths Coaching

I loved facilitating this session for the African Pathfinder Leaders Initiative Fellows!

This moment has been over 1.5 years in the making. I was introduced to my friend Marilyn through the amazing work of the . We met via zoom on a near monthly basis for over a year as she worked on developing her incredible organization. . Finally meeting in-person moved me to tears. I am so proud to call her my friend, and to be a witness to her amazing work. 🪷 🇳🇦 ❤️

I’m so happy to be working with on their second residential program of 2023. In addition to a session on Strengths (of course!), I’m getting to discuss social change, conflict resolution, networking, and group motivation!

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift” - Steve Prefontaine. Our fourth and final day of the was another one for the books! We heard success stories from Fellows (one of whom quoted Pre!), and had an INCREDIBLE visit at the . Their vision, curriculum, students, and campus are outstanding. We got to hear pitches from students for products that they invented, toured the campus, and enjoyed a meal in community with students and Fellows. Truly a day to remember!

“Until lions learn to write, hunters will tell their stories for them” - Moky Makura

Today was an action-packed day full of insight, joy, and learning. I had the pleasure of hearing from former congresswoman Abby Finkenhauer, special envoy Chido Mpemba, and entrepreneur Moky Makura. I was honored to have been able to facilitate a small-group team-building session using Strengths Finder!!

“You could not be involved in activism and not get whipped.” Today, we visited historical Johannesburg and Constitution Hill. While seeing the Constitutional Court (Supreme Court equivalent) of South Africa, and the historical political prisons of Johannesburg were incredible, the most impactful part of the day was hearing about the personal experiences of our tour guide, Snowy. She comes from a dynasty of political activists, many of whom were jailed at the very site we visited today. Seeing the legacy of apartheid juxtaposed with the democratic government of South Africa was fascinating.

Spent such a lovely morning with APLI! So good to hear your voices and hear about your experiences. Next time, let’s try it in-person!

I had such a wonderful conversation today with Marilyn from The Lotus Foundation! I’m so thrilled that The Usawa Institute connected us 🙂

How do you advocate for a cause that many consider “taboo”? Comment your tips!

I just spent the most AMAZING two days working with the Division of Student Affairs at Xavier University of Louisiana . Thank you all for your hard work- I can’t wait to see where your Strengths take you next!

You can use your Strengths to do anything- including ending racism! Take time this week to reflect on your internal biases, what causes them, and how to change for the better. Unpack how you can use your Strengths to overcome your biases, and change yourself and your community for the better!

Use your Strengths to push outside of your comfort zone today. Read a new text on systemic racism. Engage your family and friends in conversation on this life or death matter. Strategize a series of donations to social justice organizations. Support black-owned businesses in your community. Let the black square be the start of your action plan, not the end.