Description: It’s difficult being an invisible midlife woman; add a woman of color to the mix and the stakes are raised considerably. Historically, women of color — and more precisely, black women — have been low on society’s totem pole and it’s time for that to change. I’m tackling the unconscious bias as it pertains to not just midlife women, but more specifically for black women and other women of color.
What do you want people to learn from your talk? I want to advance the notion that midlife women of color aren’t invisible unless we choose to be, and that we’re no less viable because of our age. I want people to learn about the double jeopardy hypothesis in action and how attitudes about midlife women in general and midlife women of color specifically can change beginning with the mindset of those on the outside looking in.
What action items do you want people to take away from your talk? I want people to be more aware of black and other midlife women of color in society; to make room for us at the table; to show us respect; to acknowledge the value of our life experience. Valerie Albarda was a shy, insecure child who used humor as her superpower. Now, as a fully-grown midlife woman, she lives out loud, still struggles from time to time with residual crumbs of insecurity, and has added moxie, intellect, and charm to her list of superpowers.
By day, she’s a senior content writer at a large national home improvement retailer. However, where she really shines is when she steps out of her work shoes and into her role as a writer, author, and creator of Midlife-A-Go-Go – the website and the podcast – which focuses on topics related to midlife women including menopause, thriving in midlife, finding our voices and more.
As a midlife woman and a former Women’s Empowerment and Transformation Coach, Valerie is on a mission to educate and inspire midlife women as they transition through life’s ‘second spring’ with confidence. She’s a firm believer that women can enjoy the midlife and skip the crisis.
One of Valerie’s true passions in life is traveling. She’s crossed the globe and made pit stops in such places as Hawaii, Dubai, the Seychelles, Switzerland, Paris, Budapest, Italy, Greece and points in between. And she’s not done yet. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at [ Ссылка ]
