Leadership is often measured by productivity—how much we accomplish, how many people we serve, how quickly we move from one challenge to the next. Rarely do we ask a different question: What do leaders need in order to flourish?

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That is the question at the heart of the Women's Foundation of the South's (WFS) WŌC@Rest™ Alabama Cohort, a three-year investment in women and gender-expansive leaders from across the state. Rather than treating rest as a luxury or a reward earned after burnout, WFS is advancing a more compelling proposition: the well-being of those who lead is itself essential infrastructure for building healthier organizations, stronger communities, and a more just South.

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The Alabama Institute for Social Justice (AISJ) was honored to join this remarkable cohort, which brings together leaders from diverse sectors who share a commitment to strengthening their communities while supporting one another over the next three years.

The Foundation's philosophy was evident long before the first presentation began.

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The gathering was held at Elevation Convening in Montgomery, a venue whose location carries its own meaning. Situated within the city's Legacy District and across from the Equal Justice Initiative's Montgomery Square, Elevation exists within a landscape that asks visitors to wrestle honestly with American history. It is impossible to gather in this part of Montgomery without recognizing that the city has become one of our nation's most important classrooms for understanding the enduring consequences of slavery, racial terror, resistance, and the ongoing pursuit of justice.

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That choice of place mattered.

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It reflected an understanding that leadership is shaped not only by what we learn, but also by where we learn it. Spaces tell stories. They influence what we remember, whose voices we honor, and what possibilities we imagine for the future.

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That lesson deepened as the cohort visited the Mothers of Gynecology Monument, where participants paused to honor Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey—three enslaved Black women whose bodies were subjected to experimental surgeries without anesthesia in the development of modern gynecology. Grounding the cohort in this sacred place acknowledged a history too often omitted while honoring the women whose suffering contributed to medical advances from which generations have benefited.

 

For leaders committed to justice, this was more than a history lesson. It was a reminder that our work must always be grounded in truth. We cannot build equitable futures while remaining disconnected from the histories that made those futures necessary.

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That kind of intentionality characterized the entire convening.

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Every aspect of the experience reflected thoughtful care—not in ways that felt performative, but in ways that communicated something increasingly rare in leadership spaces: your humanity matters as much as your work. Participants were not valued simply because of the positions they hold or the organizations they lead. They were welcomed as whole people, deserving of rest, joy, reflection, laughter, and genuine community.

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Founded in 2020, the Women's Foundation of the South is the first philanthropic foundation created exclusively to advance women and girls of color throughout the Southern United States. At a time when many philanthropic institutions continue to prioritize short-term outcomes, WFS has embraced a different model—one rooted in trust, long-term relationships, and the conviction that the people closest to a community's challenges are also closest to its solutions.

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That vision has been shaped by the leadership of its Founding President and CEO, Carmen James Randolph, whose work has helped redefine what Southern philanthropy can look like. Rather than asking communities to conform to institutional priorities, WFS begins by listening. Rather than viewing wellness as separate from leadership, it understands that movements are only as sustainable as the people carrying them.

 

The WŌC@Rest™ initiative embodies that philosophy.

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Across the South, WŌC@Rest™ has created opportunities for women and gender-expansive leaders to cultivate relationships, strengthen their leadership, and reclaim practices of restoration that are too often sacrificed in the pursuit of service. The Alabama cohort extends that commitment through a sustained, three-year investment that recognizes leadership is not developed during a single conference or retreat. It grows through trust, shared experience, honest reflection, and communities willing to care for one another over time.

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Perhaps that is what makes this initiative so significant.

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For generations, Black women have been celebrated for their resilience while receiving too little support for their well-being. We have inherited a culture that too often confuses constant sacrifice with faithful leadership. WŌC@Rest™ offers a different imagination—one that suggests our capacity to transform communities is strengthened, not diminished, when we make room for restoration.

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The Women's Foundation of the South is making a profound statement through this work. Investing in women and gender-expansive leaders is not simply an investment in individual success. It is an investment in the civic, cultural, and moral future of the South. By creating spaces where leaders can think deeply, build lasting relationships, honor difficult histories, and care for themselves as intentionally as they care for others, the Foundation is helping cultivate the kind of leadership this moment requires.

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In the end, the most enduring lesson from Montgomery may not have been about rest alone. It was about what becomes possible when institutions choose to value people as much as they value outcomes. That is not simply good philanthropy. It is a different way of imagining leadership itself.