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Vanaya Grice

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“Vanaya is a person who tackles the hard conversations in corporate spaces and helps to bridge the gap between rhetoric and perception with reality. She has a passion to bring equity to the community and ensuring that young girls have access to become their best.”

Alderwoman Chantia Lewis
​City of Milwaukee


 

​About  

Vanaya Grice is a business professional and entrepreneur, and has a passion for developing and coaching people to reach their full potential. She currently works for Northwestern Mutual as Assistant Director of Distribution Performance, and owns/operates a private beauty salon. She is a member of Kingdom Faith Fellowship Church where she oversees the financial systems and controls; and, is active in her community, on the Board of Directors for PEARLS for Teen Girls – a leading girl-serving organization in Milwaukee. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University, a Masters in Family and Consumer Journalism from the University of WI-Madison, and is married with two children.​


What inspired you to start this work? 

Growing up, I always had a village of people around me to coach, support, advise, inspire and tell me that I could do anything I put my mind to. With my belief that to whom much is given, much is expected, I always strive to give that same level of support and encouragement in any work that I do. I stand on the shoulders of strong women, three generations before me, that fought for the justices of their generation and paved a way for me and generations to follow. Aligning with my passion, I take particular interest in inspiring girls to grow up to be confident, bold, and fearless women. 

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Wha​t resources do you need to keep this work moving forward?

In order to continue to move this work forward, we need continued development and advancement of programs/systems that support women in achieving their dreams. This includes developing leaders who lead with empathy, initiatives that drive equity and equality, and education that promotes financial stability and access to capital. This also includes financially supporting organizations, such as Pearls for Teen Girls, to allow them to reach more girls and young ladies in Wisconsin and beyond.


For More Information:  

PEARLS for Teen Girls:  www.pearlsforteengirls.com​

African American Leadership Alliance MKE:  https://www.aalamilwaukee.org/  

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I​​nterviewed by

Alderwoman Chantia Lewis

Alderwoman Chantia Lewis
City of Milwaukee 

Board Member 
Wisconsin Women's Council

​Vanaya works diligently with managing the performance of several offices across the country at Northwestern Mutual. She works with leaders and financial advisors to build sustainable businesses and strong leadership teams, most passionate about bridging the diversity and inclusion gap and cultural divide. 

Outside of that, she manages a small business that aspires to make women and girls feel beautiful and serves on the board for Pearls for Teen Girls. She is a YMCA Adult Achiever and currently in the 2020 cohort of the African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee - African American Leadership Program. Beyond all of that, she helps to bridge the gap for people who are trying to obtain financial freedom, providing budgeting, savings, and credit building advice. 



What would you say to a woman thinking about running for elected office?

Never discount yourself or your qualifications. You are good enough, bold enough, and strong enough to be the leader that we need.  ​