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The Newsroom announced new leadership on the Young Women and Relief Society general boards yesterday. There is plenty to celebrate here! I wish I knew more about all of the women, but I love what I see and what I know behind the scenes about some of these picks. They include two black women, and a leader in BYU’s athletics department who has been part of NCAA’s efforts to improve the experience of LGBT student-athletes at religious schools.
First, meet Tracy Browning, of the RS General Board; and Carol Lawrence Costley of the YW General Board.
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It hardly needs saying how important it is that there are black women serving on both the YW and RS boards. This representation is so important for women and girls! So much to love in these bios as well! (emphasis added)
Sister Tracy Browning was born in New Rochelle, New York, but spent a good portion of her childhood on the island of Jamaica in the West Indies, the birthplace of her mother and father. She spent 15 years working in the financial services industry at Morgan Stanley prior to joining Church employment in 2015. Sister Browning currently works as a client service director in the Church’s Publishing Services Department. She and her husband, Brayden D. Browning, are the parents of a daughter and a son.
Sister Carol Costley was born in London, England. She received a master’s degree from Brigham Young University in social work and worked with individuals and families as an independent services professional. Sister Costley volunteered in her community through a local theater, with counseling groups and with the Disabled Rights Action Committee. She and her husband, Jerry, have five children and six grandchildren.
Another pick that I couldn’t be happier about is Liz Darger.
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Here’s her bio from the press release (emphasis added):
Sister Liz Darger was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received a bachelor’s degree in family sciences and a master’s degree in school counseling psychology, both from Brigham Young University. Sister Darger works as the senior associate athletic director at BYU. She served as a part-time service missionary in LDS Distribution Services from 2003 to 2004. Sister Darger also volunteers on the leadership team of the NCAA Common Ground initiative.
That’s an impressive leadership bio, but if you aren’t familiar with the NCAA Common Ground Initiative, it would be easy to miss the significance of that last sentence. NCAA Common Ground Initiative is an effort by the NCAA to promote diversity and inclusion in college athletics, specifically making college sports safe for LGBT athletes. Here’s a video by the group:
The initiative is especially focused on how to dialogue about LGBT inclusion (and basic safety) at religiously-affiliated schools, like BYU. However, BYU was not initially invited to participate, and it was basically Darger’s single-handed leadership and active lobbying in all directions that brought BYU into the coalition, and her ongoing commitment that has resulted in concrete changes at BYU in this area. The Common Ground Initiative’s annual meeting will be hosted at BYU this year, a sign of just how far Darger has advanced the conversation. Obviously BYU and the church still have a long ways to go before they can begin to undo the damage of exclusionary doctrines and policies and be safe places for LGBT folks. But Darger showed incredible courage and initiative on this, and the thought of her serving on the YW board is frankly blowing my mind right now.
I wish I knew more things I could celebrate about all these women. But what I know, I am just delighted about.