The Well Black Woman® Institute (WBWI) builds the knowledge, skills, and capacity of Black Women to become health equity advocates, leaders, and change agents within our own lives, our community, and across the state.
applications for 2025 (cohort 4) are now closed.Framework & PURPOSE
The Well Black Woman® Institute is an innovative leadership development program that will serve as a springboard for participating fellows as they position themselves as leaders in the health equity and community justice fields. The core institute incorporates well-established power building, personal and collective empowerment, and capacity-building models to successfully prepare and activate women for social impact.
“Our politics initially sprang from the shared belief that Black women are inherently valuable. [...] Our politics evolve from a healthy love for ourselves, our sisters and our community which allows us to continue our struggle and work.”
The Combahee River Collective Statement, April 1977
Our work is grounded in a theory of change that centers Black women as the locus of power and impact to drive transformation both on the personal, community, and systems level.
Purpose of the Institute
- To mobilize and equip Black women as informed health equity advocates in Wisconsin.
- To bridge Black women leaders with system, community, and cross-sector partners to impact transformational change.
- To build a statewide coalition of empowered Black women to advance health equity in Wisconsin.
- To co-create new equitable systems, structures, and ways of being that transform Black women's health and well-being in Wisconsin.
Instructors / Faculty members
Institute Structure & TIME COMMITMENT
The Well Black Woman® Institute is an 8-month training experience organized for small learning cohorts of 10-15 Fellows each year. The program will be primarily virtual, with periodic in-person meet-ups.
The 2025 Fellow cohort engagement timeline will be February 1, 2025 - September 30, 2025.
Time Commitment
WBWI Fellows are expected to invest 6-8 hours per month on the training and developmental experience. We encourage you to assess whether you will be able to commit this time consistently over the 8-month Institute program as you consider applying.
The Institute training experience consists of:
- One 2-hour Cohort Welcome event:
Thursday, February 20, 2025, evening 6:00-7:30 virtual
- Two monthly 2-hour live virtual group training sessions on Thursdays from 9am-11am
March 13 & 27, 2025
April 10 & 24, 2025
May 8 & 22, 2025
June 12 & 26, 2025
- Module 6 Leadership Showcase day
July 17, 2025 9am-4:00pm
**Full day at our Madison center**
- Required attendance at 17th Annual Black Women’s Wellness Day event
- Optional networking and wellness events
WBWI facilitators and instructors are experts in the field of public health, education, civic engagement, and transformative leadership. The WBWI connects participating fellows with leaders, systems partners, and mentors to leverage our collective work and to co-design solutions that respond to health equity gaps.
Culminating Project
WBWI Fellows will complete a required culminating project to outline their plan of action in the months and years following the institute to amplify their impact on health equity in their communities. Fellows will be supported by staff and instructors to shape and develop their projects.
Post-Training Commitment
After completing the 8-month foundational training experience, WBWI Fellows are expected to remain engaged with the Institute for 2 years as mentors to new cohorts and as partners to inform, co-lead, and advocate alongside the Foundation on health equity efforts
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
Black Women in Wisconsin who are passionate about driving change to improve health and well-being in their communities; and who are driven to collaborate with other Black Women and organizational partners for powerful collective action.
thank you for your interest!
The application for the 2025 – Cohort 4 is now closed.
Priority Application deadline: The priority screening period will be open Saturday, September 28, 2024 through Saturday, October 26, 2024.
Early application is encouraged as we have received increased interest and expect to screen applications on a rolling basis.
Final Application deadline: We will accept applications through November 16, 2024 at 11:59 pm for the 2025-Cohort 4. While we encourage interested applicants to still apply after the priority date of October 28th, please note that acceptance into the WBWI for applicants submitting after the priority deadline will depend upon whether or not we have met our cohort capacity from applicants who submitted by the priority deadline.
the application is now closed.
