Black, African American, and Migrant Indigenous Women in Leadership: Voices and Practices Informing Critical HRD

The Problem The lack of theoretical frameworks representing voices and leadership experiences of women of color, compounded by multiple ways intersectionality changes the experience, continues to be under-represented in Human Resources Development (HRD) literature. Furthermore, given the field of HRD is fundamental to developing the whole person, lack of attention to voices and leadership experiences of women of color is problematic. Here, women of color represent Black, African American, and Indigenous women leaders. The Solution Applied critical leadership is introduced as a theoretical framework to expand and enhance HRD research, theory, and practice in the development of women of color as leaders. A conceptual development model, the Feminist Indigenous Mixteco Migrant Epistemology (FIMME) is introduced as a sociocultural view of leadership, defining multiple ways women of color harness the power of intersecting racial, ethnic, gendered, linguistic, socio-economic, and migrant leadership practices. The Stakeholders Human Resources Development scholars, students, and policymakers benefit from novel ways to think about women of color in leadership through culturally grounded concepts, bringing light to nuanced understandings. Exemplars for women’s leadership for culturally and linguistically diverse and Indigenous societies are provided as solutions to socio-political complexity.