On behalf of the WILL Empower network of leaders, we offer condolences to Vonda McDaniel’s family, to the vast Tennessee labor community, and to the many leaders touched by her love and brilliance across the movement. Vonda McDaniel had a gift for making each person she encountered feel special, as if she had endless time to be present with you and to bolster your strengths, vision, and leadership. When Lane Windham and Sheri Davis entered the early dreaming stage of WILL Empower, Vonda was one of the first 50 leaders we met with for advice and guidance. Over the past nine years she continued making necessary connections, sharing her perspectives, and promoting WILL Empower to everyone she could.

Vonda McDaniel was a leader of leaders, as was clearly represented by the thousand plus people from across the nation who poured into Nashville’s Music City Center on July 8th. Speakers included AFL-CIO President Liz Schuler and Secretary Treasurer Fred Redmond; United Steelworkers of America President President Roxanne Brown;  Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and many more. MaryGrace DiMaria and Sheri Davis were privileged to attend the homegoing service for Vonda where many of the conversations included people sharing about the project they were working on with her. While it doesn’t feel possible for Vonda to be in partnership with a thousand people, somehow it makes sense because she was an action-oriented visionary who believed in the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things with encouragement and motivation.

WILL Empower TN leader, Sweetrica Baker, said it best when she said, “now we have to be the fire that fuels our movement because that’s what Vonda prepared us to do.” She taught us the power of deep relational leadership that stretches far beyond what we see, about the necessity of a multigenerational approach to mentoring and leadership development by showing up for young leaders and preparing pathways for the soon-to-be leaders. WILL Empower is dedicated to carrying on Vonda’s legacy and her work. We will also offer space for network leaders to gather virtually and ways to contribute thoughtfully to causes she championed.