Brooks-Williams: I would definitely say to look for things that match your interests. Right now, I serve on the Spectrum Human Services board, so I am connected with a lot of organizations that are connected with youth. If you have a particular skill or an area that interests you, you can find organizations that match that. Also, being a lifelong Detroiter, I've chosen to live here and raise my children here, it seemed obvious to me to give back here because I can see what the needs are.
AFG: For many of the women we serve, AFG provides the support system for them to help them make positive choices. Was there anyone in your life or career who helped guide you in making important decisions?
Brooks-Williams: My mother. She was a teen mom and even though she had that experience of being a young mother, she wasn't preachy. She talked about options and taught me that your life will be a lot easier if you make choices that let you be educated and healthy. She has been my biggest role model and still is. And beyond that, my friends and family, my godmother, we are very close-knit.
In my career, I've had a lot of great role models in my college years and afterwards. But I seek it out. There are people out there that care and can provide that nurturing and support and that safety net. You find that all throughout your life, it's not unique to young people. I still seek advice from people.
AFG: What do you like best about the Detroit area?
Brooks-Williams: I just love Detroit. I think that because it's where I'm from, my view of Detroit is sometimes jaded because I have fond memories of things that I did as a young person. I enjoy the culture here; my daughters and I used to go to the DIA every Friday. I love my neighborhood; I love the connection to families and neighborhoods. And we've always worshiped in the city. So, for us it's just a sense of community we've always had. I've never thought about living somewhere else.
AFG: Why do you believe that it is important to empower girls and young women?
Brooks-Williams: Being a girl or young women can be difficult, both physically and emotionally. The media still makes it appear that you have to look a certain way or behave a certain way to be celebrated or popular. So it's about giving them positive, meaningful, wholesome examples of how to be a girl. Since the positive can be so limited I think it's super important to support youth.
And for girls, the outcome can be bad if they don't get that support because they will try to find that value and worth in places that are negative. I think women struggle with it our whole lives; thinking that we aren't beautiful or that we aren't meaningful. So I think the first lesson is teaching self-love and that you are beautiful how you are.
AFG: Which of your accomplishments are you the most proud of?
Brooks-Williams: I'm always proud of our accomplishments. I'm not a direct care provider, but I'm able to see the positive outcomes because of the hard work of the team. So, I take great pride in developing a team that is sensitive to the community we serve. It's all about filling in all of the gaps, and helping the whole person. I feel proud that our organization has really high engagement of our employees and employees that feel like that we care about them.
I'm the most proud of the number of people that I've been able to mentor, like young women and women who are nurses or physicians. There aren't a lot of hospital CEOs that are women and I get sought out by people that are interested in being in that role and ask me "How do you do it all?" There are a lot of younger girls in universities that I've been able to mentor and help. A lot of them have gone on to be CEOs or Vice Presidents. That's been a great joy to see that by talking with them I've been able to help them push through into a career that wasn't necessarily easy.
AFG: What advice would you give to the young women that AFG serves?
Brooks-Williams: I would definitely tell them that they are super special and unique, that they should really perceive that the sky's the limit in terms of what they can achieve in life, and to really value the support they are receiving at AFG; because I know the support and structure that you guys put out there is so unique. They are in a special place where there are people that are rooting for them to be happy and successful. And they should just pursue their dreams and be fearless about what they are passionate about.
To learn more about AFG's Role Model Dinner, visit our Role Model Dinner page on our website. And stay tuned to future e-newsletters to hear from all of our 2016 Role Models!
