Natasha Blake McDowell

I would say my current role has been my biggest accomplishment - being able to help girls see that they are equal and that they can do anything. A lot of times they'll say they want to be a school counselor or teacher, and I get to have those conversations with them and their parents to say, you can do this, look what I've done. When they say something is a guy's job or a man's job, or they're not strong enough, just seeing strong Black women doing it and them saying 'oh my god, this is what I want to do' - I think that is what wakes me up, that is what motivates me, and that's what gets me going every day. I also have a great circle of support. My past principal, Mr. Rivers, who is being honored this year as Principal of the Year in Baltimore City, always saw the drive in me and pushed me into leadership even when I said that's not me. My current principal is always pushing me, even with my doctoral work, saying 'you're gonna be Dr. Blake, you're gonna be a principal, I need you to take my job.' My husband is also a teacher, so even at home he's encouraging me to go bigger and better. I just have a great circle of not just family and friends, but my professional circle is amazing as well.

My thing is forever be a learner. I tell people this all the time, no matter how many degrees you have, no matter how many sessions you're doing, you are always a learner. Even at this stage and age of my life, I'm always learning. I learn from my girls, I learn from my teachers, I learn from my principal. Always be an open book, because it's never enough just to close your book and not finish a chapter. There's always a chapter that can be written after the conclusion, so always be an open book, and always be a learner.

I think what builds a leader is how they're able to put everything together and deliver on so many levels. Although I'm the assistant principal, there's not one day you won't see me in the hallway mopping up a spill, running a book fair, or mentoring a parent. I think being able to hone in on all those different things - I always call them wraparound services. Just like our scholars need wraparound services, we need that too. Being open to those services and open to that support is what makes you a leader, is what makes you excel as a woman. We are forever doing that. I'm a mom, I'm a principal, I'm an educator, I'm all the things. Even some of the girls in here look up to me as a mom figure, so it never cuts off at 3 o'clock. I think all of it wrapped around is what makes a great leader and an influential woman. The biggest part for me is just getting out there so people know that there are influential women out there doing it, and the encouragement that I can give somebody else. I want to be influential to the younger crowds, to the older crowd, to everyone to say, hey, I know she can do it, I can do it too.