We are healing
to heal with you.
Mission & Vision
Society of Clotilda is a health and wellness collective dedicated to the celebration, development, and prosperity of Black Women and their children.
We know we have been overlooked in our community. We also need someone to talk to about life’s stressors and traumas. Our sister-friends face anxiety and depression because life can be so overwhelming; we all need a deeper connection to our community and each other. Through our programs, we bring Black Women closer to one another and highlight moments to practice joy in all areas of our lives.
Culture Making
Society of Clotilda is committed to collaborating with artists and culture makers to help us change the health and wellbeing narrative for Black women and their families.
History of the Clotilda
Our name is an active reminder of our responsibility to heal the trauma and end the violence inherited from the transatlantic slave trade.
The schooner Clotilda—the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to America’s shores— was discovered in a remote arm of Alabama’s Mobile River in 2019. The transport of human life, as enslaved people, had been outlawed in 1807. In Clotilda's cramped hold, one hundred and nine African captives survived the brutal, six-week passage from West Africa to Alabama. Once the Africans were smuggled into Alabama, slavers burned the ships.
The enslaved people aboard The Clotilda were the last of an estimated 10.7 million Africans delivered into bondage in the Americas from the early late 1500s to 1867. The discovery of the Clotilda sheds new light on a lost chapter of American history. Moreover, it is a critical piece of the story of Africatown, the community built by the resilient descendants of America’s last slave ship.
We believe in the power of the collective; it is the key to abundance. We know lasting solutions that face our community come from collective wisdom and work. SOC operates from the point of view that our greatest assets are the people who live and work in the places where we work. Our team is made up of members from our community. We have faced many of the same challenges, including overwhelm and separation from joy. Yet, we are healing to heal with you.
Meet the Team
Chandra Brown-Stewart
Chandra Brown-Stewart is the executive director ofLifelines Counseling Services, a multi-level agency that serves over 30,000 people each year with counseling, assistance and education to help deal with life problems. Chandra holds a master’s degree in community counseling from the University of South Alabama and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Pre-Med from Xavier University in New Orleans. Chandra is a member of the Leadership Mobile Class of 2001 and was named by Mobile Bay Monthly as one of their “40 Under 40 - Mobile’s Best and Brightest”; a past board member of Victory Health Partners, the Mobile Civic Center Advisory Board, Prevent Child Abuse Alabama Board, Alabama Rape Crisis Network, Mobile United and the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail; and a general member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Chandra is a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of South Alabama and the past president of the Junior League of Mobile. Chandra is married to Leonard Stewart Jr., they are members of St. Mary Parish and have an active puppy named Red.
Jessica Norwood
Named to Essence Magazines “50 Entrepreneurs to Watch” list Jessica Norwood is a financial activist, impact investor and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of RUNWAY which uses entrepreneurship as a strategy to challenge wealth inequity by providing investment capital often referred to as Friends and Family capital, or what Jessica call “believe in you money” into African American and people of colour led companies nationwide. Jessica is trained in nonviolence organizing, anti-racism and popular education facilitation. She is also a former board member of the famed Highlander Research and Education Center for the education and training centre that developed Dr. Martin Luther King. Widely recognized for her groundbreaking work in economic disruption, Jessica is an immediate past fellow for local economies, a lifelong Fellow of the Hip Hop Archive at the Hutchins Center of Harvard University. Her innovative work has been profiled in NPR, Next City, Essence Magazine, Conscious Company, Fast Company and other. Jessica splits her time between Alabama and Jamaica.
Julia Kristman
Julia Kristman serves as the Program Coordinator for the Society of Clotilda. She also serves as the Title IX Specialist at the University of South Alabama, which provides training and prevention programs to prohibit sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding. Discrimination based on sex can include sexual harassment or sexual violence, such as rape, sexual assault, sexual coercion, stalking, and domestic/intimate partner violence. Julia holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Alcorn State University and a Master of Arts in Sociology from the University of South Alabama. She is pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Higher Educational Leadership at the University of South Alabama. Julia has served as a campus support advocate who provides confidential, supportive services to individuals who report sexual harassment, sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. Julia enjoys spending time with her family/ friends, volunteering at church, working out, trying new foods, traveling, and binge-watching shows.