Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc ® Launches Sister to Steward, a Peer Support Training and Internal Certification Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Original Art: CCS2S Leader Harriette Crawford

CONTACT

Shanaé Burch, President & Fractional CEO

Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc. ®

hello@ccsister2sister.org

Pilot supported by the City of Cambridge Community Safety Department; cohort opens for Black women, femmes, and gender-expansive people in Cambridge and Greater Boston

CAMBRIDGE, MA — The City of Cambridge recently announced with Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc. ® (CCS2S) the launch of Sister to Steward, a peer support training and internal certification program for Black women, femmes, and gender-expansive people in Cambridge and Greater Boston. The pilot is supported by a generous award from the City of Cambridge Community Safety Department.

For nearing 17 years, CCS2S has operated as community-driven infrastructure in Cambridge — convening trusted spaces where Black women and femmes gather to address health challenges through peer support, cultural practices, and collective care. Sister to Steward is the organization’s first structured certification program, building a trained corps of community-rooted peer supporters who can serve as frontline connectors for Black women, femmes, and gender-expansive people navigating health crises, stress, and social instability.

“Sister to Steward is the first time we’re putting structure around peer support work this community has been doing informally for years,” said Dr. Shanaé Burch, President and Fractional CEO of CCS2S. “We’re treating these two months as a leadership incubator — a dream space where stewards co-design what it means to be a steward at CCS2S. We’re calling people in to dream and co-conspire as we build on the legacy of our founders and decades plus wisdom on organizing across the generations.”

The Pilot

The inaugural cohort will bring together four to five stewards through a 3–5 session internal certification curriculum, anchored in healing-centered engagement and Black feminist reproductive justice frameworks. Each steward receives:

• A $1,000 wellbeing stipend in recognition of their time, presence, and learning.

• A $500 community gathering budget they direct toward their own Sister to Steward project, conversation, or gathering that advances the mission.

The premise is that resources for community safety should rest in community hands.

Stewards who complete the curriculum earn an internal certification — recognition that lives inside CCS2S’s practice — and step into peer support and sister-sibling navigation roles within the organization. The long arc is internal leadership development: today’s stewards as tomorrow’s facilitators.

Three Consultant Roles Open

To co-lead the pilot, CCS2S is concurrently posting three consultant roles. Each is compensated $8,000–$12,000 for the engagement, scoped at signing.

• Community Organizer — organizer of time and community rejuvenation. Weaves the schedule across the project team and steering committee, leads outreach to prospective stewards, and helps the steering committee reorganize into a new community practice of stewardship.

• Curriculum Developer — public health education specialist (CHES or MCHES credential welcome; equivalent practice in community health education, popular education, or peer-led wellbeing programs carries equal weight). Designs the 3–5 session internal certification curriculum and the framework for what stewards demonstrate to be certified.

• Documentation & Evaluation Lead — holds the documentation, evaluation, and reporting backbone. Produces the monthly impact reports for the City of Cambridge and the final pilot evaluation that grounds CCS2S’s case for future years to come.

No degree is required for any of the roles. CCS2S welcomes applicants whose work lives within or outside formal credentials.

Timeline and How to Apply

• Applications open: Saturday, April 25, 2026.

• Priority review: materials received by Monday, May 4, 2026 receive full consideration. Rolling applications accepted thereafter until the roles are filled.

• Ideal start date: Friday, May 8, 2026.

• Engagement closes: Wednesday, July 15, 2026.

Applicants can respond in writing, by voice memo, or by short video. A 20-minute conversation is also available in place of any written or recorded application. To apply, review the Request for Proposals and apply to the appropriate Google Form.

About the Funder

The City of Cambridge Community Safety Department funds community-led approaches to violence prevention and public safety. Sister to Steward is grounded in a foundational belief that community safety is best defined and resourced by the community it serves.

About Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc.

For nearing 17 years, Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc. has been one of Cambridge’s community-driven infrastructure for Black women’s health and collective care. The organization operates across four priorities: building community; addressing the well-documented mistrust between Black communities and medical institutions; considering the socioeconomic root causes of health inequities; and prioritizing women’s health and the principles of collective care and mutual aid.

Learn more at CC Speaks or contact hello@ccsister2sister.org.