Overview: “We can't rely on government programs or corporate enlightenment to see us.”
In this op-ed, Deidre Johnson argues that the future of Black women's leadership depends less on corporate promises than on women investing in one another. Through mentorship, she says, Black women can expand opportunity, challenge bias, and help transform hope into expectation.
My father, who was an entrepreneur, taught me confidence, self-efficacy and determination. He believed that if you wanted something, you had to assert yourself. Ask for the moon, he said, and if the answer was no, work your way down. Never start low and expect to work your way up. It proved to be good advice.
Grateful as I am for his wisdom, my career trajectory might have been very different if an experienced colleague had spotted my potential and nurtured it. Right now, perhaps more than at any time in recent history, Black women need the steady guidance, insight and wise counsel a mentor can provide.
Disturbing trends
Across the country, diversity programs are under attack, commitment to women’s advancement is declining, and companies are scaling back anti-bias training. For the first time in more than a decade, Lean In’s Women in the Workplace 2025 report found that women are significantly less likely than men to want a promotion at work.
The message is clear: We can’t rely on government programs or corporate enlightenment to see us. If women, and Black women in particular, hope to preserve the gains we’ve made, it’s up to us to help one another.
I may never have had a mentor in any official sense, but I’ve benefitted from others’ advice, like the friend I met regularly for breakfast, or the leadership coach who recognized I was always racing to a finish line. That urgency works, sometimes. But my coach advised that personal development is an ongoing journey; a finish-line mindset leads you to underestimate yourself. It took someone from the outside to help me see that, and to see my career from the balcony, where it’s easier to spot the patterns that hold us back.
I tell young women they must be open to seeking and receiving guidance. Don’t make it hard for people to help you. Invite honest feedback, but also be self-reflective: figure out who you are when nobody’s looking, and focus on what you need to flourish. Many of us are capable and brilliant, but it’s easy to be in our own way.
Helping other women advance
Being a mentor doesn’t take special talent or a massive time commitment, just a desire to be of service. In our patriarchal society, women don’t have a great track record of helping one another, which is why we must be deliberate about it.
The best mentors don’t enter a relationship assuming they know anything about the person they’re helping. Instead, they listen, ask their mentees what they believe the solutions are, and only then offer advice.
It’s also important for mentors to let go of any preconceptions or stereotypes they might carry. Some people still tell me that I’m “so articulate,” or “so well spoken.” It’s as insulting now as it was when I was a child, and reveals more about the speaker than they realize.
Expectations vs. hope
We all need help to get to where we want to be, expanding our vision for what is possible for ourselves, our families and our communities. Some of us are comfortable asking for assistance; others are lucky to have someone spot their potential. We all need to be mentoring when the time and opportunity allow.
My father said one other thing that has stayed with me: “White children are born with expectations, and Black children are born with hope. I raised you and your sister with expectations.” Whatever I do, he added, I should always work to turn hope into expectation for those I encounter.
I’m committed to helping women grow and prosper as leaders, especially young Black women. It makes a difference.
This op-ed appeared first in Word in Black. It has been cut for length. For the original, visit www.wordinblack.com/2026/07/black-womens-breakthrough-starts-with-one-another/.