We were lucky to catch up with Gabrielle Wyatt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Gabrielle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?
Across generations, Black women have shown their strategic brilliance and ingenuity. They have been a voice for their communities, advocating for their needs and stepping up to develop bold solutions that create sustained wealth and systemic change, from voting rights and healthcare access to criminal justice reform. This is the kind of large-scale progress that benefits everyone. Including corporations. But, despite this, Black women continue to be undervalued and under-appreciated in this space.
I speak to Black women every day who are burned out at a higher rate than ever before. Four years ago, we saw a surge in racial equity and justice actions as our country attempted to come to terms with systemic discrimination. Black women were suddenly tapped to lead corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives with the expectation that they would instantly fix a deeply ingrained social problem. As well-meaning as this was, it was, sadly, too often a superficial exercise where Black women were used as symbolic diversity and catch-all figures on DEI matters. They were boxed into “superhero” stereotypes that are more than just a cultural trope — especially in white-dominated workplaces, with a set expectation of how we must act, live, and be. Living up to these demands without a support system in place is a dehumanizing, rather than empowering, experience. And to compound this problem, we are now seeing these roles, along with funding initiatives, being massively cut.
So corporate America must ask itself this critical question: How do we sustain Black women leaders in the long-term? It is essential to not walk away with one-time investments. To truly invest in building a prosperous America means that the humanity of Black women must be seen, valued, and not taken for granted. Multi-year funding for equity initiatives must be the norm — this is the only way to sustain the impact of solutions and to give us space to breathe and do the work. We also need to hold leadership accountable and not allow discomfort to dissolve funding collectives and commitments. To build a just and equitable world — a world of uninterrupted progress for justice, we must center the needs, concerns, and dreams of Black women and their communities. Because to know their lived experiences is to know the real American story today.
Gabrielle, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
The Highland Project is a nonprofit organization that invests in the humanity, joy, sustainability, and impact of Black women leaders.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My resilience comes from a place of rest and self-acceptance. It is essential for me as a Black woman to center my own healing and well-being. The catalyst for this realization was an experience that occurred a few years ago in Savannah. During a ghost tour that was supposed to be a lighthearted bonding experience for me and my friends, our guide’s egregiously racist storytelling turned the evening into a revolting display of ignorance. He spoke about how slavery “sadly” ended and suggested that we have a cocktail before checking out the tunnels where the enslaved were illegally sold post-abolition as if these horrors were entertainment. My heart started racing and I immediately wanted to run out of there but was held back by feelings of embarrassment and thoughts that went something like this: “What should I do? I can’t stay here. Is the room getting smaller? Can people see my cheeks getting red? I don’t want to ruin the group’s night.” Finally, I managed to stop thinking about everyone else’s feelings and got up and left. But the event forced me to confront my life-Iong pattern of internalizing the need to maintain white comfort for survival as shame. I mastered code-switching cultures — from the way I talked to mimicking the fashion trends on white TV shows. I architected a mask of myself instead of focusing on my well-being and freedom as a Black woman.
I am now at a point in my life where I can no longer carry the weight of maintaining comfort for white people or addressing their guilt. I can no longer wear this mask symbolizing a desire to belong and protect the comfort of others. This story is no longer mine to carry. This mask is no longer mine to carry. The shame is no longer, and was never, mine to carry. I have learned that being my true self — along with meditation, restorative yoga, and stillness — are the keys to my survival, freedom, and possibility.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
In 2020, I heard a beautiful podcast with Dr. Sarah Lewis and Brené Brown: “The Rise, the Creative Process, and the Difference Between Mastery and Success.” I listened to this as I was struggling to write what would later be titled “The Strategic Intentions of The Highland Project” — a re-defined business plan rooted in seven generations’ forward visions and set of guiding beliefs to shape how The Highland Project would form and evolve. Dr. Lewis’ definition of mastery would begin to ground my own definition of legacy — of being in constant pursuit of something just beyond my reach. The podcast represented a challenging mirror to my own career and how I had defined and pursued strategic planning. I had rooted plans in short-term thinking, measured success via constant activity and movement, and was burned out as I was prioritizing efficiency and urgency. Dr. Lewis proposes that the pursuit of mastery requires the willingness to wipe clean the vision board and begin again. And that is exactly what I did. In order to build The Highland Project and my legacy I had to surrender to new ways of nourishing my vision so I would be able to lay the groundwork for an organization that creates the possibility for others to do the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thehighlandproject.org
- Instagram: @leadhighland
- Twitter: @leadhighland
Image Credits
LeeAnn Morrissette