(Photo by Adam Carr)
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The Sherman Phoenix Foundation, announced in June 2021 as the nonprofit arm of the Sherman Phoenix, has gathered its inaugural board of directors and launched its search for a founding executive director.
The inaugural board of directors for the Sherman Phoenix Foundation comprises local community leaders and business executives with experience across a variety of industries throughout the area.
“The Sherman Phoenix Foundation has been blessed with a diverse group of leaders – primarily couples – joining the Board of Directors. The curation of the founding board in this way was intentional, meant to reflect the loving and lived-in community spaces at Sherman Phoenix that feel like family and are essential to the mission of the Foundation,” said JoAnne Sabir, Co-Developer & Owner, Sherman Phoenix, LLC.
Directors on the Sherman Phoenix Foundation Board include:
- Angela Adams, Goodwill Industries
- Kenge Adams, Connect Business Consulting
- Reggie Adams, MD, Ascension Hospital
- Ron Adams, Northwestern Mutual
- Danielle Bly, We Energies
- Ramel Bly, State of Wisconsin, Department of Corrections
- Jocelyn Burks, Entrepreneur
- Oren Burks, Green Bay Packers
- Anthony Cobb, Gap Inc.
- John Frost, Milwaukee Fire Department
- Kaycee Frost, Milwaukee Public Schools & Frost Reality
- Leana Nakielski, American Family Insurance
- JoAnne Sabir, Sherman Phoenix
- Maanaan Sabir, Shindig
- Adija Smith, Confectionately Yours
“To see so many passionate leaders coming together to help shape the future of the Sherman Phoenix is incredibly inspiring,” said Ron Adams, board chair of the Sherman Phoenix Foundation and VP of Field Diversity and Inclusion at Northwestern Mutual. “The Sherman Phoenix Foundation was created to support and serve the Sherman Park neighborhood and finding the right executive director is essential for us to advance our work in a meaningful way.”
Search Begins for Executive Director of the Sherman Phoenix Foundation
Since its inception in 2018, the Sherman Phoenix has remained focused on providing an inclusive community space, encouraging entrepreneurship, and helping create jobs for community members to gain valuable work experience. The executive director of the Sherman Phoenix Foundation will be charged with continuing this focus, and working to support the mission of the nonprofit organization.
“We’d like to identify a passionate leader to build on the legacy of the Sherman Phoenix,” said Sabir. “Our ideal Sherman Phoenix Foundation executive director will provide leadership, manage daily operations and build community relationships that drive positive results as we seek to support economic equity and empowerment, strategic investment and training, entrepreneurial success and emotional wellness for leaders of color.”
The national search for the Sherman Phoenix Foundation Executive Director will be led by Goodwill TalentBridge in partnership with the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources . As part of its larger commitment to partner with the Sherman Phoenix, Goodwill will also host on-site recruitment events to connect people seeking employment to local employers hiring across a wide range of career opportunities and industries.
Interested applicants can find more information and apply at goodwilltalentbridge.com/current-job-openings/executive-director-sherman-phoenix-foundation.
ABOUT THE SHERMAN PHOENIX FOUNDATION
The Sherman Phoenix Foundation is focused on critically needed leadership, training and action by leaders of color on economic equity and empowerment. The Foundation will work to collaborate with leaders working to build inclusive and just economies for communities of color. It will support strategies focused on:
- Economic equity and empowerment;
- Entrepreneurship and small business success;
- Strategic corporate investment and training; and
- Emotional wellness for leaders of color.
Additionally, the nonprofit organization will lead all programming at the Sherman Phoenix that brings cultural and economic vibrancy to the hub, including technical assistance for the 25+ small business tenants, wellness programming, educational offerings and arts and cultural events.
ABOUT SHERMAN PHOENIX
The Sherman Phoenix was birthed after the police shooting of an unarmed Black man in the Sherman Park neighborhood of Milwaukee in 2016. Our community came together to transform a fire-damaged bank building into a thriving hub for 25+ Black-owned businesses.
Having opened in late 2018, the Sherman Phoenix quickly became a model for healing our city by generating positive economic and social returns in communities of color and a vibrant community space that embraces talent and innovation, employs over 100 people, builds community wealth, and inspires new narratives for our future. The Sherman Phoenix includes much-needed community spaces to curate art exhibits, film showings, and cultural events. For more information, visit www.shermanphoenix.com.
ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin is a nonprofit organization helping people overcome challenges to build skills, find employment and progress in their life and careers. For more than 100 years, Goodwill has been connecting job seekers with employers in the community and inside its own retail, laundry and staffing social enterprises to provide employment, training and support services.
As the largest Goodwill among 156 nonprofit Goodwill organizations in North America, the organization has more than 90 locations across a 23-county territory. In 2020, Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago served nearly 40,000 people experiencing employment
challenges and made 4,327 job placements in the community. Visit www.goodwillsew.com for more information.
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