Introducing Alexa
Their voices carry both heaviness and exhaustion, the familiar sound that comes from operating in spaces that deem them as “too much” or “too little”, or as simply just not one of us.
“Why do I feel suffocated? Why do I feel even more scrutinized?” I listened as my friend released her frustration one morning, in preparation of ascending into a higher, more senior role.
“It’s the microaggressions for me,” says another..
“She was a mentor of mine, and the only other black female in the office. She shielded me from the unknown. Now, in her absence, I feel the weight, even more heavy, from what I did not know existed, what I was protected from.” As one shared the realization that she now carried the brunt of the load alone.
“This is the safest I have ever felt. The support I have received, the intention, and the care. It feels so good to be seen and be handled with care.” A refreshing voice shares her experiences with a new leader whose mindset and actions are grounded in Sankof and safe keeping.
Welcome
Welcome to The Bernard Perspective. Here, we make room for futures that demand more and where we champion for women who are not in the room. Whether you are leading, preparing to lead, or simply believing in the power of women’s voices and the Black woman’s experience, this is for you.
The Bernard Perspective is a platform created to share narratives, amplify voices, and provide strategies for leadership. Founded by Alexa Bernard-Conday, it centers the experiences of women, particularly Black women, navigating leadership in spaces where visibility and recognition are too often withheld.
Serving as your thought partner and guide, The Bernard Perspective teaches from personal narratives, historical connections, and research woven together to remind us that what we experience is of our imagination. That our experiences are real, and that they matter.
Who Am I
I am an educator and a leader dedicated to creating spaces where equity can live. I am a first-generation high school and college graduate, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, a Black woman in leadership, and so much more. I have served communities and churches in Chicago, served as a mentor for girls and young women in Washington, D.C., New York, and Louisiana, participated in grassroots initiatives to support policies that advance communities, supported protests that fought against the senseless killing of children due to racially charged violence, and more. My life’s story has been shaped by breakthroughs and by possibility.
Leadership, for me, is not accidental.
It is ancestral.
It is instilled and engrained.
I carry with me life lessons of persistence, determinance, and the rooted belief that education can be a life line when used with intention.
Professional and life lessons have guided me in my journey as an educator and leader, teaching me that leadership is not just about titles or positions. It is about presence, knowledge, flexibility, connections, and the work of creating space for others to rise.
Why TBP Matters
The Bernard Perspective exists as a table where we are invited to sit, affirming that we are not alone in our experiences. It is a mirror, an anchor, and a compass. It is where we champion for other women not in the room. Too often, women, Black women, in leadership are celebrated for their strength, yet left without the support needed to sustain it. We enter rooms expected to perform without resources, assumed to adjust, to shift, to hold everyone else whole, while our own wholeness is rarely protected. A reminder that we belong. A space to name what is, and to build is needed.
