As president of the 100 Black Women Incorporated-MECCA Chapter, Paula Roberts expresses the importance of being a committed member of the organization. The 100 Black Women is a nonprofit advocacy group that is dedicated to empowering minority women and girls in a variety areas of education, health and economic development. Roberts talked briefly to rolling out about her personal commitment.
How did you become involved with 100 BWOA?
I became involved after working with Paula Ward, our immediate past president. We both volunteered for Obama for Change. I was really impressed with Paula while we worked on a voter registration drive with 100 Black Women. Afterward, she invited me to an event for the Ladies of MECCA and I got goosebumps as I saw what they were doing with these young women. The organization was so dedicated to helping young black women, and so I joined and never looked back. It’s been a wonderful experience.
Has it met your expectations?
It certainly has. I learned very quickly as I attended national conferences how completely dedicated these amazing women from all over the country were at advocating for women and girls. Anything you can imagine that has to do with a black woman or black girl these women are in the mix, in their own cities and towns and they are dedicated everyday to doing something about those issues, from health issues to education to economic development issues. I come back home from these national conferences so inspired and energized to get it done in my own community. It has surpassed my expectations.
How long have you been president?
I’m a brand new president. I have been the president since October.
How long is your term?
Two years.
Why did you want to serve the organization in this manner?
We’ve got things to do and we have young women to put through college. We’ve got young women to nurture, whose minds and world need expanding. We are the people to do it and this is the time to do it. And that’s why I became president.
What is your leadership style like?
My leadership style is more to support. I want to see our committees excel. I want to always be supportive. My presidential style is being supportive — “What do you need me to do” and “How can I assist you in getting what you need to get done?”
What type of commitment does membership require?
Membership requires a natural commitment. You need to be committed to raise funds for this organization in a real way. You need to commit to use your time, effort, energy and resources to help send young women to college. We are very serious about it. When we interview women, we let them know not to expect to just use this as something to put on your résumé, this is something we expect you to be seriously committed to. We expect you to work; this is a working organization.
What is the goal of the fundraiser?
The fundraiser goal is always to raise more money to put into the account to send young ladies to college. We have given them scholarships of $5,000 to $10,000 but we want to be at a place where we can pay their full tuition for four years. That is our goal. We have two Gates Millennium Scholars who are in college right now who went through our program. That is huge to me. That tells me that we are on the right track.
How are you using technology and social media to spread the word?
We use email blast, our Facebook page and our website. We encourage each member to have a Facebook page that they use to send messages. Our younger members also use Twitter to tweet about the fundraiser.
Check out more information of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Incorporated-MECCA Chapter and the 2014 scholarship fundraiser fashion show on their website www.nc100bwmeccaga.org/ or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NC100BWMecca.
