Destany Story is the Program Director of Women Empowering Nations, a nonprofit organization that supports girls of color across the globe as they follow their paths to executive leadership.
“The passion of my work is to connect women,” Destany shares.
Growing up in Memphis, Destany attended a charter high school that was staffed by Teach for America educators.
“That was my first time coming into an encounter with educators who cared about my life outside of just my education,” she explains.
Destany left high school knowing that she eventually wanted to be involved with Teach for America. Throughout her college experience, she realized that she especially wanted to support and uplift Black women in her career.
“I didn’t see much representation from Black women on campus,” she says. “I started Wonder Women in Wisdom because I wanted to see more Black women on campus have opportunities, have exposure and be provided with other Black women as resources.”
This program brought Black women leaders and entrepreneurs to campus to expose college students to different post-collegiate paths. After graduating, Destany became a high school teacher with Teach for America and she turned this campus organization into a freshman success program.
Two years later she took a job in education recruitment to learn more about the nonprofit sector.
“That’s when I came into contact with my now boss, who is the founder of Women Empowering Nations,” Destany adds.
Destany and Carlisha Williams Bradley, the founder, connected over their shared passions for women empowerment and their career journeys – both women were Teach for America alumni.
Carlisha eventually offered Destany the program director role with Women Empowering Nations.
“She definitely invested in me as a young professional looking to learn and grow,” Destany explains. “Going under her mentorship and guidance has really changed my life,”
Making Connections Around the World
As program director of Women Empowering Nations, Destany supports the GLOW Global Cohort, a group of 50 international women ages 17-23 who are selected each year to participate in a 10-week “high-impact leadership coaching experience.”
“They’re meeting twice a month to attend workshops where they are connecting with women from across the globe while also learning about Community Building and Connection, Storytelling/Public Speaking, Culture and Identity, Personal Branding and Mental Health and Wellness.” she explains.
This is an empowering experience for the cohort participants as well as for Destany who says she now has a sister in almost every part of the globe.
“I had this mindset that I would learn so much from these girls,” she says. ”I didn’t expect for us to have such similar stories.”
Confidence Over Comparison
Destany is excited about where her career has taken her so far, but being a young professional she often gets stuck comparing herself to other women further along in their career journeys.
“One thing that I’ve had to learn with that is to just cherish my own journey and the uniqueness of my journey and the pace of my journey,” she shares.
Although she doesn’t know exactly where her professional path will lead next, Destany wants to stay focused on helping young Black women succeed.
As she continues to support young Black women on their leadership journeys, Destany plans to remind them – and herself – to focus on self-affirmations.
“If I could just tell someone else to be confident in their own abilities, I feel like that could really help them,” she says.