WILMA’s Leadership Institute: Meet Mahlaynee Cooper
Snapshot of this year's Leadership Institute members
WILMA’s 2023 Leadership Institute, an annual nine-month program, gives area women the opportunity to learn from leaders in the region, visit a range of local companies, and serve as each others’ personal board of directors.
The program is part of WILMA’s Women to Watch Leadership Initiative, created to help develop more women leaders in our area.
Meet institute member MAHLAYNEE COOPER.
Mahlaynee Cooper
Title: Founder & Artistic Director
Company: Speak Ya Peace NC LLC
How long have you been with your current employer? January 2023
Alma Mater: Cape Fear Community College
Prior career experience: Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, The Arts Council of NHC, and retail sales positions.
Current job responsibilities: Creating a curriculum for students, teaching students about poetry and how Art and Activism create social awareness. The students are learning about how powerful their voices are. On the Speak Ya Peace projects I am presently creating a curriculum with UNCW on Hip-Hop and presenting it to students at D.C. Virgo along with colleagues. I have been asked to teach, so I am sending a proposal to the city of Wilmington NC to teach poetry at the MLK Center. Basically, I am responsible for Marketing, connecting to business establishments/non-profits that connect to social injustice, literacy, and human rights to highlight how Art heals, educates, and is an agent of change. I also have a band (Soltree Reign) so getting gigs is a priority.
Hobbies: reading, writing, and coloring creating recipes.
To learn more about WILMA’s Leadership Institute and Initiative, go to wilmamag.com/women-to-watch.
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