Leading With Pride: Celebrating (GET) Champions and the Power of Equity

Talent Connect 2025

A 5-minute read written by Victoria Santamarina

As we wrap the third cohort of Gender Equity in Tech (GET) Champions, I’m sitting with three big questions: Who gets to lead? Who is still being left out of leadership roles in our cities? What does it really take to build a more inclusive Miami? These questions have never felt more urgent. Over the past four months, an  incredible group of 10+ local leaders, across sectors, identities, and lived experiences, came  together to challenge norms, rethink systems, and move equity from theory to practice.

This isn’t just a wrap-up piece, though. It’s a reflection on what equity-driven leadership looks like in today’s Miami, and a reminder that this work doesn’t end with a cohort celebration. It’s essential. And it’s ongoing. 

GET Champions is a Radical Partners program that invests in gender equity champions working to build a more inclusive leadership pipeline in Miami. These leaders aren’t just talking about equity—they’re living it, often behind the scenes. This year’s cohort showed up despite challenges and change. They asked hard questions, shifted systems, and supported each other with clarity and care.

Rebeca “Becky” Serson, Senior Associate, Growth Programs, shared, “Get Champions pushed me to think more strategically about how I show up as a leader; not just for my team at Endeavor, but in service of founders across Florida. The cohort created a space where I felt both challenged and supported, and I left with renewed clarity and a powerful network of leaders equally committed to building a more inclusive and equitable ecosystem.”

This program is only one piece of a much larger movement. Learn more here and join us in powering an ecosystem where equity isn’t an add-on but THE  strategy forward: 

Pride is a Movement and Our Commitment is Year-Round. 

At Radical Partners, Pride Month isn’t just a celebration; it’s a checkpoint. A moment to pause, reflect, and ask: Are we truly building ecosystems where LGBTQ+ leaders can thrive not just in June but year-round?

For us, equity means more than visibility. It means sustained investment. It means creating platforms where queer, trans, and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) leaders can speak boldly and be heard. It means redistributing power, not just sharing space.

Our Pride Edition of Fuckup Nights, which also served as the closing celebration for this GET Champions cohort, was a powerful example. Storytellers, LGBTQ+ leaders, and allies shared personal reflections on failure, growth, and authenticity. It reminded us: equity work is strategic, collective, and deeply human.

This is the kind of leadership that strengthens Miami. A leadership rooted in lived experience, shared power, and the courage to do things with humans at the center. When we uplift those most impacted by inequity and give them the tools to reshape systems, we’re not just building inclusive programs; we’re building a more prosperous future.

Equity is a Strategy that requires Ongoing Work. 

Let’s be honest: equity is not a nice-to-have initiative. It should be a business strategy.

It influences who we hire, how decisions are communicated, and what success truly looks like. When equity is embedded in our operations, and not just in our mission statements, it leads to smarter policies, stronger outcomes, and more resilient organizations.

Earlier this year, 11 GET Champions took us up on these opportunities, and we invite you to also lead boldly, adopt these practices, and help reshape the systems you’re a part of: 

  • Reimagine hiring pipelines to be more inclusive:

    • Expand beyond traditional networks. Most job opportunities are circulated in homogeneous spaces. Partner with local organizations that serve BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and immigrant communities to source talent more inclusively.e.g., Venture for America Miami, TransTech Social Enterprises, and Miami Tech Works.

    • Design for inclusion, not just diversity. Rewrite job descriptions with inclusive language. Be explicit about salary and benefits up front; transparency is equity.

    • Restructure your interview process. Use structured interviews to reduce bias. Include a diverse interview panel.

Resource: Project Include Hiring Recommendations

  • Consider shifting decision-making processes within your organization:

    • Audit decision-making structures. Ask yourself: Who gets to propose ideas? Who has veto power? Who is consulted vs. informed? Use the MOCHA Framework through an equity lens.

    • Build participatory processes. Invite frontline staff, community members, or impacted stakeholders into strategic decisions, especially those affecting them.

    • Normalize pausing for equity checks. Before major decisions, ask: Who benefits? Who might be harmed or left out? Have we included voices with lived experience? Embed this into decision rubrics or project kickoffs.

Resource: Equity in the Center: Decision-Making Toolkit

  • Push teams to center voices historically excluded from power:

    • Reallocate resources. Budgets are another way to reflect organizational values. Move funding, staff time, or visibility toward equity-driven initiatives or leaders, especially those historically underfunded or unsupported.

    • Be transparent about challenges. Boldness includes naming where organizations are falling short. It builds trust and invites accountability partners to grow with you. 

    • Commit publicly and internally. Publish equity goals and progress. Tie leadership performance reviews to those goals. 

A Final Toast! And an Invitation.

This work is about building something bigger than ourselves, and it only happens in community.

So, what can YOU do today?

Join us at future Radical Partners events, like Fuckup Nights, where leaders share real stories about learning, failing forward, and leading with purpose.

Radical Partners