Episode 5: Crowned in Silence: The Black Women Executing, Unrecognized

In this episode of Reclaiming Sisterhood, co-host sits down with Cecile De Mello, Executive Director of Teamwork Englewood, for a powerful conversation about the unseen labor and overlooked leadership of Black women who sustain institutions without receiving the recognition, resources, or authority their work creates.Together, they explore what it means to be trusted to execute but not empowered to decide, the tension between centering community and claiming credit, and how Black women continue to lead from the margins while systems thrive. Cecile shares how she builds legacy-driven leadership, teaches teams to fund and sustain their work, and pushes back on philanthropy and political structures that resist real transformation.This episode reclaims the narrative of expertise, visibility, and rightful belonging—reminding us that recognition is not ego, it’s equity. The seat was always ours.