Dorothea Tolliver

I attribute my success to being raised by strong women in my family - my great-grandmother and my grandmother. Without them, I wouldn't be as strong as I am today. They're the ones that kept me moving and encouraged me to understand why education is so important and to be successful. I wouldn't be here without them. My most important value is coming from the strongest women in my family - I have a very strong family of women. I keep going and don't give up, even though I've been going through things and everybody else has been going through things. Not giving up is my value - just to keep going, being strong, and continuing to help people, which also helps me become a stronger person. I want to show my role model to my son so he can look up to me and see the strong woman that he grew up with. I want to show people that you shouldn't let others tell you that you cannot do it just because you're hard of hearing or use sign language. Look where I am now - I graduated and got my master's degree. I got three degrees: my AA degree, my bachelor's degree, and my master's degree. That means if I can do it, you can do it. Don't let nobody hold you back, and just keep moving.

I've had a lot of people mention to me that I should go into human resources, which I already did graduate from Golden Gate University with a master's degree in Human Resource Management. But I never actually got into the human resources field - it seems like workforce development is my strongest strength. As an African American who is hard of hearing, a lot of people have said they wish they had a hard of hearing person like me, or a deaf person, to become a workforce development director to help communicate out there. There's not a lot of opportunity for the deaf and hard of hearing community, especially with a lot of grants being cut. So I hope one day I can take that over.

My advice for women in general, especially African American women, people of color, and those who are deaf and hard of hearing, is to continue doing you and don't give up. Don't let hearing loss stop you from where you're going. Continue being you - you can be better and equal to a hearing person. Continue proving yourself. Don't give up and continue following your dreams. Don't let any type of disability stop you, because you can do anything. A lot of people say you can't, but do not let that stop you. Everybody can do it - you can do it just like everybody else. Don't let people tell you that you cannot do it just because you're hard of hearing, or you can't talk, or you use sign language. That doesn't matter. Look where I am now - I graduated and got my master's degree. I got three degrees. If I can do it, you can do it.

I think the most challenge that women are having is trying to improve ourselves to get promoted to the next level and reach our top career goals. A lot of times, they choose men over women, regardless of the fact that women do have a lot of experience. I have seen that over the years - even though I have all this experience from my jobs, they look at the male version who may have less experience, but most likely they will hire that person over me. This is especially true for people of color as well. When I went to Southern University in Louisiana, that opened my eyes, and I still see this is what's going on with women. With people of color, most likely they will choose a white person over a black person. We're just trying to build ourselves to be more educated and continue working toward our long-term experience goals. I think that's the most challenge that we have and that I see from my experience.

My most important values are coming to work every day and continuing to help others and myself, while maintaining work-life balance as a single mom - I just became a single mother. Being strong and being able to be a strong woman is important to me. I'm proud that my most important value comes from being part of the strongest women in my family. I have a very strong family of women. I keep going and don't give up, even though I've been going through things and everybody else has been going through things. Not giving up - my value is just to keep going, being strong, and continuing to help people. That also helps me become a stronger person. I think my most important value is showing my role model to my son so he can look up to me and see the strong woman that he grew up with. I want to show people that you shouldn't let others tell you that you cannot do it. Here, look where I am now - I graduated and got my master's degree. I got three degrees. That means if I can do it, you can do it. Don't let nobody hold you back, and just keep moving.