Whitney R. Gordon

I credit Dr. Meredith Smith, the founder of Queens Village, as someone who really changed my life. I was very young, in my 20s, a new leader without a lot of proven leadership on paper, but she saw something in me early and invested in me early. She founded this incredible concept and trusted me to run with it and implement it in my city, a city that she's not from and doesn't really know the nuances of. Being able to be trusted with the weight of that work really changed my life. Beyond that mentorship, I think what makes me effective is that I have lived experience. I'm a Black mother who had that poor birth outcome, and I carry that experience with me always at the forefront of my work. That lived experience is what keeps me sharp and makes me an intuitive leader in this space.

I get asked this often, and I always say that being in social services in general, but maternal health specifically, is very heavy work. While you might have a passion for it and it's easy to want to thrust yourself into it all the way, you have to be intentional about pouring into your cup, keeping your cup full, and being intentional about your capacity so that you don't burn your light out. This space needs people who are warriors, so to speak, and who are going to stay in it for the long haul. I always say maternal health is legacy work. It's very much a marathon, not a sprint, because we know that we're not going to fix the problem overnight. So it's important that you keep your light bright so that you can play the long game.

Empowering women from the community is at the heart of everything I do. I love that Queens Village makes space for women who maybe traditionally wouldn't have the cachet or the space to give their input and share their lived experience. We recognize that women have the solutions to the problems and the injustices that they face, and not only should they be consulted, they should really be at the helm of driving the solutions. I also deeply value pouring into others and helping move their professional needle forward. I think about one of my board members who experienced infant loss and was very withdrawn when she joined our board as a stay-at-home wife. Through the Queens Village work, she really bust out of her shell and is now a lobbyist and policy associate for an advocacy organization. The ways that this work has allowed me to pour into others is something I think about often. Beyond that, my lived experience as a Black mother keeps me grounded and sharp in this work.