A June Message from Our President & Fractional CEO, Dr. Shanaé Burch

Sisters, siblings, and community —

I hope this message reaches you in good health!

June is not a quiet month for us. It is a being and becoming month.

Whether you're celebrating or observing PRIDE, National Safety Month, Juneteenth, Father's Day, or the Summer Solstice, I hope the sun shines its face on you, and I hope there's opportunity to share time in-person or virtually.... because this month....

We are getting the siblings together! It's the GYST of what I said in January!

As we close our 16th year (Save the Date: Sunday, June 29th!) and step into a new season of officially 17 in September, I want to share some news that has been a long time coming — and introduce you to some of the people who are helping us grow.

Sister to Steward is here.

This month, we launch Sister to Steward — a pilot leadership training program designed to resource and support community members as frontline connectors to health, healing, and one another.

We are grateful to the City of Cambridge for believing in what this community has been doing for 16 years — and investing in what we are building next.

We are building it with intention, and with a project team that deeply understands the mission:

• Monica Banks, Community Organizer

• Keyona Aviles, Curriculum Developer

• Dr. Courtney Louis, Documentation & Evaluation Lead

The four of us are working right now — designing the invitation, shaping the curriculum, and building the documentation that will help us tell this story. You will be hearing more from them throughout the month.

If you are curious about becoming a Steward, sign-up to be the first alerted of the invitation and application going live at this form: https://forms.gle/Yie8NKWPZLougvvn7

From the pen of our intern: Sista! I'm With Ya! is back.

Our CC Intern Arianna Grant has been quietly doing some powerful work. This month, she wrote about the relaunch of Sista! I'm With Ya! — a beloved CC initiative getting a new life. Read her blog post here: https://www.ccsister2sister.org/post/cc-speaks-reflections-on-sista-i-m-with-ya-about-sleep-health-with-ccs2s-intern-arianna-grant

Arianna, we see you. We celebrate you.

And we are equally grateful for Karen Mends, who also joins us from MCPHS with Arianna as a Governance Intern this season. Karen and Arianna are learning what it means to steward an organization from the inside out — and they are doing it with grace and commitment. Thank you both for choosing us.

A note on your inbox.

We are redesigning how we show up in your inbox — and we want to know how you want to receive us. In the weeks ahead, consider how you'd like to hear from us more specifically:

• Gatherings & Events — Sunday conversations, Circle Up, special convenings

• Health Resources & Community News — partner announcements, advocacy, observances, and recurring newsletter

• Sister to Steward — program developments related to Leadership Training

• Fundraising & Ways to Give — updates related to how we're stewarding time, treasure, and talent as a health and learning community and greater wellbeing ecosystem

Stay close. There is a lot of love and a lot of news coming your way this month.

In community and in motion,

Dr. Shanaé Burch

President & Fractional CEO

Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc.