This is part of our Connected Woman Summit feature series highlighting our amazing participants.

An active education advocate, domestic violence advocate, race and gender equality advocate, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging champion.  Mrs. Chavis has an Educational Specialist degree in School Administration and Leadership from Old Dominion University and a Master’s degree in Special Education and Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University. She is a Director of Education at United Way South Hampton Roads. Her previous roles included Chief of Staff, Curriculum Specialist, Sierrah Chavis previously worked for ten years in education as a curriculum specialist administrator and case manager. She is a two-time Amazon best-selling author of “No Shame in my Pain” and, with Sharon Poshe Anderson, “From Pain to Power”. She serves on several boards and is the co-founder for the Survivor Advisory Committee with FinAbility.   Currently, Sierrah is in the process of establishing a Non-Profit, Bossy Girl, a network of women who are entrepreneurs, CEO’s, mothers, and aspiring leaders that are helping to shape the world around them in a positive way. Bossy Girl is more than just a network but a sisterhood that’s empowering women around the world to all be a Bossy Girl globally. For the past 10 years she has been dedicating her career to advocating for equitable and inclusive education and overall well-being while galvanizing community partnerships to develop her clients, staff, and students’ fullest potential and mentoring new teachers in special education. Sierrah has presented at several conferences, women empowerment events, and radio, and has written several published articles. She is a contributor for the Connected Woman Magazine and is currently working on her next book project. She has received a number of awards including the Diversity Champion award from Old Dominion University, Impact Leadership award from the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD), Teacher of the Year award from the Virginia Council for Learning Disabilities, and most recently National Teacher of the Year from the Council of Learning Disabilities. She is also a devoted mother and wife and enjoys traveling, cooking, writing, and volunteering her time in the community to make a difference.

For more information, visit sierrahchavis.com.

We sat down with Host Sierrah M. Chavis recently to discuss The Connected Woman Summit. We are honored to work alongside her for this event.

What led you to facilitate the summit- from just an idea- and what goal did you hope to accomplish?  What led you to want to collaborate with CWM?

What led me to facilitate this summit was my passion for women empowerment and to allow women from all over the world and  different walks of life to come together to bond, heal, laugh and even cry together. This platform is about empowering and motivating women that we are more than just a mother, wife, girlfriend, friend, sister, aunty and daughter. It’s time to reclaim your dreams, hopes and desires and live life without regret. My goal for the summit is that women will leave the summit feeling like they can take over the world, that they will feel empowered, bolder, fiercer and will feel that they can accomplish anything. This is the Era of the Women. We are no longer hiding behind a mask and putting off what we want but we are going after in head on without fear or regret. What led` me to want to collaborate with CWM was what they stood for, they for women and about women. They believe in giving women a voice and a platform to freely express women’s topics and to build up the everyday women. I wanted to connect the two networks together to do a live event where women from all around the world can come together and discuss those topics in an open format.

What does the theme for the CWS represent to you? What does an empowered woman look like in today’s society and why is it increasingly important that women discover, define and dare to flourish in a world that doesn’t always welcome us to do so?

The theme of the summit is “The Era of the Empowered Women: strength, confidence and nurturing You!” This theme really embodies to me the strength of women. Women have continued to leave lasting legacies of inspiration and transformation. We have overcome societal gender challenges redefined our historical context and created an age that is progressively producing more and more high-achieving women. But we often tend to combine empowerment with financial success, influence, breaking the glass ceiling and overcoming the hurdles of a systemic patriarchal paradigm. As women we  strive for personal empowerment but at times that comes with incredible mental challenges. Challenges that we often ignore. And challenges that we underestimate. We are sometimes quick to belittle these challenges, because we feel acknowledgment of them is a weakness. As women I feel it’s important to pour back into ourselves as our cup can and will get empty and leave us feeling defeated instead of the empowered and resilient woman that we are.

What age demographic do you feel will benefit from the summit? 

The age demographic that we are targeting for this summit is 18 years- 45 years old. We are looking for the women early on in their careers and life, middle career and the women advanced in her career.

Tell our readers what they can expect from speakers/presenters at the event and why they should grab their virtual seat and register today? 

We have some really dynamic and amazing speakers lined up who all represent the everyday woman, mother, wife, business woman and entrepreneur leader. These speakers have had their fair share of challenges but have pivoted and used their setbacks to make the ultimate comeback and they are ready to share with other women how they too can do the same. Giving up was not an option for these women and they are making it their life mission to help inspire and empower other women. Ladies, this summit is for YOU because we have thought about the everyday woman  and what and who she represents to create a summit that fits her in mind. You don’t want to miss this virtual women experience; I promise you it will change your life.