In 2018, Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore co-founded The Sadie Collective to open access to the next generation of leaders in economics and related fields.
2018
Fanta Traore and Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman co-found The Sadie Collective.
Inaugural Sadie T.M. Alexander Conference for Economics and Related Fields at Mathematica Policy Research.
2019
2020
The Sadie Collective launches community
The Sadie Collective begins partnering with The Urban Institute on Sadie T.M. Alexander Conferences for Economics and Related Fields.
2021
2022
The Sadie Collective transitions to having an external Executive Director to further reach and impact.
Sadie Collective hosts its 5th Exploring Career Pathways event
2024
Our Mission
Furthering the legacy of Dr. Sadie T.M. Alexander, the Sadie Collective is on a mission to open access to the next generation of leaders in economics and related fields. We are committed to creating pathways to success for people from underrepresented backgrounds by promoting academic, professional, and community empowerment.
Our Story
The Sadie Collective aims to bring together people from underrepresented backgrounds at different stages of their academic and professional careers in economics and related fields to share resources, network, and advocate for broader visibility.
Founded by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Fanta Traore, The Sadie Collective was created after their shared personal experiences of being "the only one" in most economic spaces and institutions. Today, The Sadie Collective is America’s premier non-profit organization that addresses the pipeline and pathway challenge for people from underrepresented backgrounds in the field of economics and related disciplines across the world.
The Sadie Collective is named after Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, who in 1921 became the first African American to earn a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. Equipped with a PhD, she entered the job market, where she faced pervasive discrimination within the economics profession. Instead of giving up, Dr. Alexander pursued a successful career in law, holding positions such as Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia and President of John F. Kennedy's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. With a special interest in labor economics, she was a civil rights activist involved in the National Urban League and the NAACP who advocated for economic justice and workers' rights, championing collective bargaining to improve conditions for marginalized workers.
Today, The Sadie Collective works to open access so that everyone can fully participate and thrive in these fields.
Our Values
Access: Fostering an environment that values individuals from different backgrounds and ensures equitable opportunities for participation and advancement.
Empowerment: Dedicated to promoting self-confidence, agency, and capacity among the Collective’s membership so they can pursue opportunities and achieve their goals, thus furthering the legacy of Dr. Sadie T.M. Alexander.
Collaboration: Emphasizing a commitment to working together, building networks, mentoring, sharing resources, and leveraging collective expertise to open more pathways into economics and related fields
Community: Nurturing a collective mentality based on shared aspirations, trust, and an unwavering commitment to collective improvement.
Scholarship: Promoting technical knowledge-creation and progress in the economics and related disciplines
The Sadie Collective does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any person on the ground of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, or creed in admission to, participation in, or receipt of the services and benefits under any of its programs and activities, and in staff and employee assignments, whether carried out by The Sadie Collective directly or through a contractor or any other entity with which The Sadie Collective arranges to carry out its programs and activities.
Our Community