Claiming Space: Celebrating 5 Years of Community, Scholarship, and Change

Five years ago, Cohort Sistas was created out of a simple but urgent belief: that the path to a PhD—and beyond—should not be walked in isolation.

Since 2020, Cohort Sistas has grown into a national, digital community serving 4,600+ doctoral applicants, students, and degree-holders, with a focus on Black women navigating systems that were not designed with them in mind. Through mentorship, career preparation, and community-centered programming, we have supported scholars across disciplines and institutions—many of whom are the first in their families to pursue advanced research degrees.

Today, we mark this milestone not just to celebrate how far we’ve come, but to claim space for what must come next.

Our Impact, Five Years In

In just five years, Cohort Sistas has:

Built a international community of 4,500+ scholars
Delivered structured mentorship, professional development, and career support to more than 1,000 doctoral scholars
Supported scholars through key transition points—from application to completion to career placement
Achieved a 97% doctoral retention and completion rate among scholars who have participated in our core mentorship programming

Behind each number is a doctoral scholar who found belonging, guidance, and possibility in a system that too often produces isolation, debt, and attrition—especially for Black women.

The Urgency of This Work Has Never Been Greater

Across the United States, Black women with advanced degrees are facing layoffs, shrinking academic job markets, declining research funding, and fewer institutional supports. At the same time, pathways into doctoral education are narrowing, and the burden of navigating these systems continues to fall disproportionately on those with the least structural support.

In this moment, Cohort Sistas is not only responding—we are building infrastructure.

What’s Next: Our 2026–2030 Vision

At this year’s gala, Cohort Sistas will publicly introduce its 2026–2030 Strategic Plan—a roadmap for the next phase of our work.

This plan outlines how we will:

Strengthen equitable pathways to and through doctoral education
Expand career and leadership preparation beyond the doctorate
Build intergenerational mentorship and leadership pipelines
Invest in sustainable organizational capacity to support long-term impact
Influence how institutions understand and support historically excluded scholars

Sustaining and expanding this work requires a diversified base of support. Alongside foundation and institutional partnerships, individual and community-based investment enables Cohort Sistas to remain responsive to scholars’ needs and to build the infrastructure necessary for long-term impact—especially in a shifting funding landscape.

Claiming Space is More Than a Celebration. It is an Invitation.

An invitation to honor the scholars and leaders who paved the way.
An invitation to invest in the next generation of doctoral and professional leaders.
And an invitation to help shape a future where Black women scholars are not simply surviving higher education—but transforming it.

Your support fuels mentorship, career pathways, and the infrastructure required to sustain this work for years to come.

Join us in claiming space—for community, for scholarship, and for lasting change.

Cohort Sistas Five Year Anniversary Celebration

By Cohort Sistas

Cohort Sistas Five Year Anniversary Celebration

Claiming Space: Celebrating 5 Years of Community, Scholarship, and Change