Proudly Presenting Sah’Rah – Kisha Kelsey Bey (La’Lina Izunagbara)
Executive Director for Sista Sistah
2002 WPU Graduate
Nominated by: Melissa Hicks (Colleague)
Sah’Rah created and founded Sista Sistah, an after school program for young girls and women of African descent. The goal of Sista Sistah is to engage, educate, and inspire young women through a gender and culturally responsive program that increases self-efficacy and awareness and provides opportunities to these young women that they would not find elsewhere in our community. As the Executive Director, Sah’Rah has worked tirelessly to enlist volunteers, cultivate relationships with community based organizations, design culturally specific curriculum, provide content for grant applications, and, basically, get Sista Sistah off the ground.
To date Sista Sistah has served almost 25 young women in a variety of activities ranging from Leadership workshops and an overnight camping excursion. Sah’Rah facilitated a “Media Smarts’ workshop which culminated in the girls partnering with Portland Community Media to create a documentary called “I am a Strong Girl.”
Sah’Rah’s work in the community, specifically the Black community, in Portland is very important. The African American community, and other communities of color, are at huge disadvantages in being actively engaged in our economy. Sah’Rah strives to give young women of African descent a voice, a sense of belonging, and access to an education. She works to teach the girls about their culture, their place, and to be focused on building a successful future for themselves.
Learn more about Sista Sistah here: https://www.facebook.com/sistasistahinfo/