Our Next Chapter

Welcoming Fanta Traore as CEO of The Sadie Collective and Anna Gifty Opoku Agyeman as Chair of the Advisory Board.

In August 2018, I embarked on a journey that changed my life forever. As one of the co-founders of The Sadie Collective, I joined Fanta Traore to help bring more attention to Black women in economics and related fields after our shared experiences of racial isolation.

The journey has been the joy of my life and a catalyst for my growth, but like any journey, this one has come to an end.

On March 15, 2021, I am stepping down as CEO and passing on the baton to my COO, Fanta Traore. I will continue to remain involved as the Chair of our newly appointed Advisory Board, which you can learn more about here, and write about diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in economics here.

When the Sadie Collective came to fruition, I was just a senior in college. At the time, Fanta and I were completely unaware of how far-reaching the impact our organization would be for Black and Brown women and the profession overall.

We also had no idea that our work would reach the current Treasury Secretary, and former Chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, and leading voices in spaces at the nexus of power and quantitative analysis.

As of today, the international community of women we affect continues to expand and we’re excited to continue to be a fixture that aids in their growth and success. We have reached thousands with the message that an economy that works for Black women works for everyone — a framework coined by Janelle Jones known as Black Women Best — and Black women need to have be among decision-makers to ensure that our humanity is honored.

With that said, humbled and grateful are not even sufficient words that can be use to explain how I feel about the widespread support we have received over just two years. From Mathematica Now offering to host the first conference, to #EconTwitter’s providing overwhelming support to media outlets featuring us throughout it all, I am grateful.

Our team, which grew to sixteen, and encompasses our mission, continues to be the backbone of everything that we do. They are young, vibrant, and amazing Black women who will be shifting their own faces as they move through life.

While my position with the Collective has shifted, I’ll continue to affect change for Black women in the profession as Chair of the Advisory Board, working closely with a braintrust of international leaders across academia, industry, policy, and media who will guide our organization’s next chapter.

As her co-founder, I’m so excited for Fanta Traore to assume the role of CEO, ushering the organization into a year of targeted engagement and expansion. I can say confidently that her leadership over the past three years of the Collective, and experience helping dozens of social impact organizations from inception to operationalizing impact, make her well equipped for this next phase.

Overall, I am confident that under Fanta’s leadership, the Collective will continue to shift inequitable power structures, center Black women, and honor the legacy of Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, America’s First Black Economist.

With so many Black women at the forefront of economics, finance, policy, and data science, one thing is abundantly clear:

The Future of Economics is a Black Woman.

Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman

Learn more by visiting her website, subscribing to her newsletter, or visiting the Sadie Collective’s website

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