Many organizations have levels of hierarchy, or organizational structures because of the belief that you need senior leaders to direct teams to achieve their goals. This manager is the individual responsible for cultivating a team and making them successful.
But there is a difference between a manager and a leader. Leaders champion growth and change. Leaders share their vision, provide support, motivate teams, respect their teams and most importantly are respected by the team.
Shakirah Hill Taylor and Nhu Nguyen have worked with several teams throughout their careers before joining Fenton. They know that when individuals and junior members don’t contribute their point of view, support each other and act as leaders, that teams can fall short of their potential.
This event has a maximum attendance of 125. Registration closes Oct. 17, 2022.
So why isn’t this the norm and how can anyone gain the confidence to step up and be a leader?
Shakirah Hill Taylor and Nhu Nguyen share their thoughts from their own experiences at SND’s Designing Success 1-day workshop on Oct 22, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Their session:
Being a Success Leader (at Any Level)
Too often we think to be a leader, you have to have a title. In order to create a new vertical or focus, you have to be a leader (with a title). Not true. Leaders are found everywhere within an organization. Successful leaders find an area they are passionate about and a way to lead their colleagues and team members even if they aren’t a team leader or department leader. This session will share tips on how to bring your passion to your team and lead change and growth.
Shakirah Hill Taylor is Fenton’s Chief Digital Officer, serving as senior strategic counsel to internal stakeholders as well as clients. She provides executive leadership and strategy for the firm’s digital practice on a wide range of interactive strategies and execution to drive innovative and award-winning digital work. She brings extensive expertise in digital strategy, online advocacy building, social impact, and client service to help organizations reach intended audiences to create positive, impactful, and sustainable change.
Before joining Fenton, Shakirah previously served as Vice President of Metropolitan Group, where she led their global digital and social marketing practice, providing strategic consulting for organizations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, US Forest Service, World Resources Institute, and the Ford Foundation. In prior roles, Shakirah worked as Director of Digital Strategy at Communities In Schools as well as at Blue State Digital as Account Director, where she led client engagements for the NAACP, the United States Olympic Committee, and Nestlé. In addition to her digital work, Shakirah is a part-time labor and birth doula, providing birth support to Black and Brown pregnant people.
In 2021, Shakirah was awarded the Black Futures Lab Public Policy Fellowship to develop maternal equity legislation in Washington, D.C.
Nhu Nguyen is an Associate Vice President and Creative Director at Fenton, where she brings over 12 years of extensive creative and multimedia expertise to integrate strategy, effective design, and compelling storytelling tactics to create memorable solutions that leave lasting impressions for causes such as improving mental health access and racial justice. Nhu oversees the creative team in executing creative solutions that move the needle on issues she cares about most.
Nhu Nguyen is a creative director and artist based in Washington, D.C. where she oversees teams in executing creative solutions that move the needle on issues she cares about most. She started her career at 14, working for herself as a fashion photographer and eventually moved on to forming her own creative studio, Brand Nhu Creative and working as an Associate Vice President and Creative Director at Fenton, a social change agency. Fueled by her own journey as an Asian American woman with cleft lip and palate and hidden disabilities, Nhu aims to share her personal and professional experiences to help equip others with a deeper understanding of what it means to advocate for themselves as well as for those that need it most.
Nhu brings over 12 years of extensive creative and multimedia expertise to integrate strategy, effective design, and compelling storytelling tactics to create memorable solutions that leave lasting impressions for causes such as equitable mental health access and social justice. Her prior experience with health advocacy work and creating viral artwork for progressive causes led to her where she is today. Nhu has worked with the likes of Planned Parenthood, Women’s March, United Nations, Greenpeace, and more where her work has caught the attention of well-known figures such as Simu Liu and Lance Bass.
In 2021, Nhu was named as a 2021 DCFemTech Award Recipient in Design.
Space is limited to 125 attendees for this event.