‘Not doing it to be rewarded;’ YWCA Women of Influence honorees share their stories

For over two decades, the YWCA Dayton has hosted the Women of Influence Luncheon to honor the women in our community.

As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, some of this year’s honorees have paved the way for many young people of color in Dayton.

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“Black History Month is not just February for one, you know for me, Black History Month is all year round,” Mama Nozipo Glenn said.

Glenn was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1944.

She was in elementary school when the Apartheid regime introduced an act that allowed the government to spend more money on white children than black children.

“It was called a crime against humanity,” Glenn said.

At 17, Glenn said she was “kicked out because I wouldn’t stand for it.”

“The United Nations saved me and put me in Nashville Tennessee, where I went to Fisk University and worked at Meharry Medical College,” she said.

In 1975, Glenn moved to Dayton and continued to make a positive impact through her work with the Dayton Africana Elders Council.

She is also the co-chair of the Gem City Market Capital Campaign and helps immigrants when they arrive in Dayton.

“Whatever I do really, I’m not doing it to be rewarded,” Glenn said.

But on March 14, she will receive an award at the YWCA Dayton 2024 Women of Influence Luncheon.

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Glenn is one of the six honorees, alongside Barbara Stewart Bostick.

“I was born and raised here in Dayton, Ohio,” Bostick said.

In her hometown, Bostick’s volunteer work started.

“Whatever community project that was going on, my grandmother and my mother, they made it happen,” she said.

Bostick is the co-founder and charter President of the Dayton Chapter of the National Black MBA Association.

In 2019, she launched the Leaders of Tomorrow Program.

“When those youth from 9th to 12th get involved with that program, it prepares them for college. They learn how to be entrepreneurs, they learn how to be change agents,” Bostick said.

The program has mentored more than 8,000 young children who want to be like Bostick and Glenn.

“I want them to know that the world can be a better place but you have to be a part of making it a better place,” Glenn said.

To register to attend this year’s Women of Influence Luncheon, click here.