Amanda Bonilla and Doneisha Posey are two Mavens in Indiana (and Indy Maven members) who are working together to make the world more equitable for women through their Women Equity Brunch. These two women are professionals who work to establish a sustainable culture of diversity, equity, and belonging on Ivy Tech Community College campuses across the state.
Bonilla and Posey noticed there was a gap in the Indianapolis community for opportunities for women to come together in a relaxed but luxe space to discuss relevant issues around equity for women. The dynamic duo also realized they have cultivated personal networks of incredible female professionals from diverse backgrounds that they could bring together, and so in 2021, Women Equity Brunch, or “WE Brunch,” was born.
“I love to be able to recognize opportunities to create real change in the community, and having a network of incredible women around me to help make that come to life,” Posey shared.
MEET THE FOUNDERS
Prior to her work at Ivy Tech, Amanda Bonilla served at IUPUI as the Assistant Director for Social Justice Education and founded the award-winning Social Justice Scholars program. She also serves a large network of women on the National Board of Directors of Gamma Phi Omega International Sorority Inc. and is extremely active within our local Latino community, recently engaging as a member of the Indiana Latino Institute’s Leadership Circle. Bonilla is also an entrepreneur and small business owner. In 2016, she began her own diversity, equity, and inclusion training consultancy, Inclusion Consultant Network, to extend the reach of her efforts.
Doneisha Posey is an attorney by trade and has worked in state government with the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. There she served initially as the Administrative Law Judge and then as the Deputy Director and General Counsel. Posey is regularly consulted on matters of diversity in higher education, civil rights, housing discrimination, race and the law, and leadership. In 2020 she was named Forty Under 40 and Indy’s Best and Brightest in Education/Nonprofit, and in 2019, she received the Indiana Civil Rights Commission’s Drum Major for Justice Award.
As these two accomplished women began reaching out to their networks, they were greeted with an abundance of appreciation and a myriad of support to make their vision come to life. This included an enthusiastic young social media manager, Marissa Smith-Kenny, who volunteered her time to help bring their event to life online.
“We were overwhelmed with the initial response of our network—women believing in our vision as it was being designed and responding with a willingness to donate their time and talents to bring it to fruition,” Bonilla stated.
With this help, the team hosted their first brunch event in November of 2021, including a panel discussion focused on pay equity for women.
ABOUT THE EVENTS
Bonilla and Posey are very intentional about their choices to ensure that attendees leave with an impactful experience.
For example, consider their ticket pricing structure—It’s been shown that for every dollar the average man in Central Indiana made in 2017, the average Central Indiana woman made only $0.79. However, when the data is broken down by race, there is an even deeper story to tell, and the brunch ticket prices reflect that. For instance, if you identify as a Latina woman, your ticket price for the brunch is only $55 because on average, Latina women earn only $0.55 for every dollar a white man makes. Their intention with this pricing practice is to spark conversations on pay equity and showcase the impact that unfair pay has on other aspects of women’s lives.
One test of the draw and power of an event are ticket sales, attendance, and engagement during the event. This team sold out their first event in less than one week and guests stayed more than an hour past the conclusion of the event, discussing the event content and creating new meaningful connections with other women in the room.
Bonilla and Posey were ecstatic about the results and decided to create a year-long program from the momentum they felt. In 2022, they recruited team members Leslie Salazar and Tiffany Hanson to assist with marketing and fundraising.
With more womanpower in place, they launched a series of three brunch events and two happy hours to provide intentional space for important conversations, community building, and connection.
BECOME A MAVEN4EQUITY
The WE Brunch team is looking for Mavens like you to participate in their programming. Check out everything they have in store for the remainder of 2022:
- May 12th — Happy Hour and Community Connection
- June 26th — Brunch Topic: Women’s Health Equity
- September 8th — Happy Hour and Community Connection
- November 13th — Brunch Topic: The Power of Networking and Mentorship
The next community event is the Women Equity Happy Hour on May 12th from 5-8 p.m. Mavens can find out more information and register to attend at the WE Brunch website.
Will we see you there?
Tiffany Hanson is an outreach and engagement professional committed to finding ways to embrace and support humans wherever she goes. You can find her on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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