Critical Management Studies (CMS)

Hi all,

My name is Samantha. I am new to the CMS division and wanted to introduce myself to you...

I'm from Brooklyn, NY. I'm the daughter of 2 Central American immigrants and I identify as "Afro-Latina." I just wrapped up my 2nd year as a PhD student in the Organizational Behavior Department at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to this #PhDJourney, I worked in the nonprofit sector for 20+ years at organizations that champion women and people of color. I also have a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management, a Master of Arts in Women's History, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies, and I am a certified executive/life coach. 

This week, my very 1st academic journal article (on which I am the 1st author) was published online! I'm super excited, as well as grateful to my advisor, Dr. Diana Bilimoria, for co-authoring this article with me. We'd love to know your thoughts on this topic. See below for a link to (and citation for) the article:

Erskine, S. E., & Bilimoria, D. (2019). White Allyship of Afro-Diasporic Women in the Workplace: A Transformative Strategy for Organizational Change. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819848993


Finally, I wanted to express gratitude to the CMS community for embracing me as a junior scholar / practitioner-turning-into-a-scholar. It feels wonderful to have found my "tribe."

You know when you join these massive professional associations in your field & you feel like a "nobody" amongst a sea of almost 20,000 people? You kinda just pay your dues every year and there is no further engagement with the association? Then you attend that association's annual conference and feel even more like a "nobody" because there are (what feels like) a million people everywhere! 😱 Well, because of the professional love, support, mentorship, sponsorship, and allyship I've experienced from the CMS community, feel SEEN, SUPPORTED, and HUMAN. All feelings that are particularly important when developing new scholars. So, THANK YOU! I intend to pay it forward.

Looking forward to meeting many of you at AoM this year!

Best,
Samantha
(Twitter: @almaafrolatina)