Introduction to Brave Sis Project
#SistoryLessons and Foremother Wisdom We Need Today
Brave Sis Project presents joyful, rigorous celebration of Black and other BIPOC women's stories as shared ground for both BIPOC flourishing and white allyship. We center BIPOC women's history as the teacher, inviting people into practices that decenter default whiteness, and cultivate authentic, sustainable solidarity and power-sharing in service of Beloved Community.
Our Offerings
A Black-woman-owned storytelling, learning, and leadership platform, we educate, celebrate, and inspire through history, reflection, and shared practice uplifting Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous foremothers. These she-roes, often erased or too little-known, are the basis by which we explore and expand the notion of who and what matters in our inner lives, practices, leadership, organizations, communities, and ultimately, our world.
Brave Sis Project and the Solidarity Lab is where BIPOC women's history seeds inspiration, which incites activation, which can incubate a movement for new solidarity and unity.
Our offerings celebrate and uplift BIPOC women, helping them (us) stand in visibility, pride, and deep connection, while inviting allies, particularly socially conscious white women, into sustained, accountable practice beyond allyship "in name only." Whether you join us as an individual, a team, or an entire organization, you are stepping into a circle of learning, joy, and genuine transformation.
Our Origin Story
Brave Sis Project was born in 2019 out of my need for inclusive, meaningful self-care resources for women of color. It began with the world's first guided journal and day planner honoring the untold stories of BIPOC women. This quickly grew into a vibrant hub for history, healing, and collective pride.
As more and more white women humbly sought to enter the circle, we expanded our mission to emphasize education and service-centered solidarity: not for us, but with us.
Our orginal Journey-Journal and three subsequent editions reached thousands of readers in at least eight countries, inspiring reflection and community. In year five, we sunsetted from print to focus on digital storytelling, custom workshops and facilitation, strategic advisory work, and cohort-based experiences—all grounded in culturally responsive storytelling and real-world connection.
Today, Brave Sis Project offers:
- Story-driven workshops, retreats, and cohorts grounded in BIPOC foremothers' histories and lived experiences.
- Our signature self-paced online “allyship” course for deep learning and growth across difference, held in a protected, thoughtfully generative space.
- Solidarity Lab and other facilitation and advisory services support spaces supporting mission-driven organizations and practitioners fostering sustainable, authentic, inclusive, and nurturing solidarity and unity across difference.
- Books, digital resources, and #SistoryLessons that bring history-as-inspiration into everyday life and leadership.
All of this work is anchored on the premise that when we honestly honor BIPOC women's histories and present-day lives, we all gain clearer sight, deeper courage, and more capacity to build the fairer, more harmonious world we long for.
Our Brave Foremothers and Beyond
Rozella Kennedy's Nautilus Award-winning book, Our Brave Foremothers: Celebrating 100 Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous Women Who Changed the Course of History (Workman/Hachette), brings to life 100 foremothers through richly detailed profiles with vibrant illustrations by celebrated Congolese-Angolan-British illustrator Joelle Avelino. Other works she has illustrated include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s picture book “Mama’s Sleeping Scarf.” Their year-long collaboration to conceptualize visuals that capture each foremother resulted in a book that invites readers into personal reflection on courage, devotion, resilience, and the legacies we are each called to extend.
These stories-and hundreds more, including global foremothers featured in Kennedy’s work-in-progress, World Brave Sis: 100 Dream-Time Dialogues with Women Who Led the Way infuse Brave Sis Project's offerings with an engaging storytelling/history-as-inspiration lens that other players in the leadership development and diversity/inclusion sector do not enjoy.
Beyond being a trusted resource, a facilitation structure, or an educational platform, Brave Sis Project is a catalyst that champions the celebration of BIPOC women’s history and lived experiences, offering space and tools for reflection, pride, advocacy, solidarity and real transformation. Whether experiencing our work as an individual or as part of a group, every Brave Sis (this includes Brave People across the gender continuum!) is welcomed into a circle of learning and joy—a journey toward a fairer and more harmonious world.