Blenda Wilson grew up in a small New Jersey town in the 1950s. Most people believed that the best Blenda could hope for was a low-paying office job, and that college was unrealistic and beyond her economic reach.
Blenda's family had experienced racial discrimination. Her mother "was a bright black woman who had graduated from 'normal school' in the racially segregated deep south" of America, during the Depression. According to Blenda, her mother was a "very, very intelligent woman, [with a] powerful mind and fortitude." She said, "My mother moved from Georgia... the north didn't accept normal school [teaching] credentials, and so she became, throughout her working career... a white-collar worker, [a] salesperson at Sears, an elevator operator... [and] a girls' supervisor in a juvenile detention home."
Blenda's father "went to technical vocational school... completed the [electrician] certificate, and in those days, to become an electrician, you had to be apprenticed. He was black and he could never get an apprenticeship, so he could never be an electrician." He became a laborer instead of an electrician.
Blenda shared that her mother, who had experienced racial discrimination, insisted that her children "didn't go out of the house dirty and slovenly... because she [had] lived in a really segregated south." Her mother shared "stories where, if they were in town, and a white person was walking down the street, black people stepped off into the curb."
Blenda then described her own experiences with racial, gender and age discrimination. Despite her membership in the National Honor Society at her high school in Woodbridge, New Jersey, her guidance counselor refused even to talk to her about going to college. Blenda's comment was, "God, she was really mean to me. She never, ever gave me any counseling about college; she never invited me to college prep stuff." Wilson said that on the contrary, "Actually, she told me to 'take a typing class'... then said, 'You're nice looking, and you might be able to become a secretary.' Now that's supposed to be a compliment."
Wilson decided to take things in her own hands. Blenda was convinced that she could find such a college for herself and a way to pay for tuition, books, food, and housing. Wilson wrote many colleges, seeking more information, applied for admission, and asked for full scholarships. She received scholarship offers from several major colleges, but initially they offered only one-year scholarships with a series of renewals.
Blenda commented, "I was determined to get a full four-year scholarship, to ensure that I could get completely through college, since I knew my parents could not afford to pay for me to go." Ultimately, "Cedar Crest guaranteed me four years' tuition, [a] travel budget, and a job." She graduated from Cedar Crest College with a major in English and Secondary Education. She went on to earn a Master's degree in Education from Seton Hall, and then a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Boston College.
Early in her career she experienced gender and age discrimination from African American males, both in the community and within her organization. Though she was more qualified and more educated than her competition, some people were vocal in their opposition to her getting the job as Executive Director of the Middlesex County Economic Opportunity Corporation. Blenda said, "The African American men in the community were [quite upset] that a woman would get this role.... One of the criteria was that they wanted someone with a Master's degree. I had one. None of the African American men did." So Wilson got the job over their loud protests.
Blenda "was youngest Senior Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Education at Harvard," and once again she encountered age discrimination. Wilson shared that she had "worked with and was tutored by Dr. John Gardner" after leaving Harvard. After she left Harvard she became Chancellor of the University of Michigan. After that she became the President of California State University, Northridge for seven years, from 1992 to 1997, and led the university's recovery from the Northridge earthquake in January of 1994.
In addition to having served as a Getty Foundation Trustee for over a decade, Dr. Wilson is the President and CEO of the Nellie Mae Educational Foundation in Quincy, Massachusetts. She is also a past chair of the American Association of Higher Education. Dr. Wilson serves as a trustee of the College Board, and she is Deputy Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Dr. Blenda Wilson still takes time out of her busy schedule to mentor and coach select prospective female prospective leaders. Her story offers a real message of hope and inspiration of how she decided and was successful in her effort to overcome adversity and turn adversity into opportunities. Br. Blenda Wilson is an outstanding example to everyone, especially women and minorities of becoming a successful prominent leader, as well as show grace and class to give back to the community and helping to build a better world.
Copyright 2009 © Howard Edward Haller, Ph.D. and The Leadership Success Institute
No comments:
Post a Comment