Tell us about a time when a woman challenged your thinking, leadership, or perspective. What did you learn, and how has it changed the way you lead today?
The first and most influential woman to shape my understanding of leadership was my mother. Growing up, she often shared a Yoruba African proverb with me: “Ènìyàn kan ló ń bímọ, gbogbo ayé ló ń tọ́ ọmọ,” which means, “One person may give birth to a child, but it takes an entire community to raise that child.”
As a child, I understood that lesson simply as: we look out for one another. As I grew older, I realized she was teaching me something much deeper about leadership and our obligations to others. Our responsibility doesn’t end with ourselves or even with our own families. Community isn’t simply where we live; it is something we are collectively responsible for creating, protecting, and sustaining.
I saw those values reinforced at home. My father had a strong sense of justice, including standing up for women experiencing domestic violence. As a teenager, when I encountered a woman being attacked, I stepped in to defend her. Looking back, I recognize how deeply my parents shaped my belief that when someone is vulnerable or being harmed, we have a responsibility not to simply look the other way.
My mother’s lesson about our shared responsibility has been a thread throughout my life. It has shaped not only how I think about leadership, but also where and how I choose to serve.
That lesson has been especially present in my community leadership and social justice work as President of the Rochester Branch of the NAACP. I have had the privilege of working alongside people throughout our community on a wide range of important issues affecting people’s lives.
That work has reinforced something my mother taught me long ago: we cannot build a strong community by caring only about the challenges that affect us personally. We have to be willing to see one another, listen to one another, and stand with one another.
Those lessons also influence how I choose to serve today, including on issues that are critical to women and families. For example, I serve on the Capital Campaign Cabinet Leadership Committee of the Women’s Shelter and Support Center, which supports victims of domestic violence across Southeast Minnesota through emergency shelter, safety planning, transitional housing, transportation assistance, court advocacy, and other resources that help individuals and families move toward safety and independence.
Another organization near and dear to my heart is Jeremiah Program, which supports single mothers and their children experiencing poverty through education and career support, safe and affordable housing, empowerment and life-skills development, and onsite early childhood education.
What I appreciate about both organizations is their recognition that complex challenges rarely have a single solution. A woman may need safe housing, but she may also need childcare, transportation, education, career opportunities, advocacy, or a supportive community. If we want people to thrive, we have to understand the whole person and the realities of their lives.
For me, that connects directly back to my mother’s lesson. Disrupting poverty, supporting women and children, helping survivors of domestic violence rebuild their lives, and creating pathways to opportunity aren’t things any one person or organization can accomplish alone. It takes a community.
Leadership requires the humility to listen, the empathy to understand experiences different from our own, the courage to act, and the accountability to follow through.
It is also connected to why I am running for mayor. Rochester’s success cannot be measured only by how much we grow or the buildings we construct. We have to ask what that success means in people’s everyday lives. Can a working parent afford housing and childcare? Can a woman experiencing domestic violence find safety and a pathway forward? Can a senior remain in the community she helped build? Can someone living with a disability fully participate in city life? And when residents tell us something isn’t working, do they believe their leaders will listen?
My mother taught me that it takes a community. That lesson remains at the heart of how I lead today.
Many women carry the responsibilities of careers, caregiving, and community leadership simultaneously, yet those experiences are not always reflected in public decision making. How will you ensure the realities women face are considered when making decisions that affect our community?
For me, it starts with a simple principle: don’t make decisions about people without meaningfully listening to the people who will be affected by those decisions.
The disability rights movement gave us a powerful phrase that captures this idea: “Nothing About Us Without Us.” It means that people whose lives will be affected by policies and decisions should have a meaningful voice in shaping them. I believe that principle should extend broadly to how we govern and engage our community.
That philosophy is also deeply connected to my doctoral research in Ethical Leadership. I intentionally sought out a broad cross-section of our community to better understand how people from different backgrounds and lived experiences experience leadership and trust. My focus groups included people from across our community and from a wide range of industries, including healthcare, education, technology, business, nonprofits, government and public service, law enforcement, real estate, and faith-based organizations. More than half of the participants were women.
I didn’t want to assume that my experiences—or the experiences of any one group—could tell me what leadership should look like for everyone. I wanted to listen and learn directly from people themselves.
As I analyzed what participants shared about leadership, trust, belonging, and their lived experiences, recurring themes ultimately informed five interconnected principles: Trust, Empathy, Accountability, Cultural Awareness, and Honest & Inclusive Communication. Those principles became the foundation of the TEACH Framework that I created.
That research reinforced for me that inclusive leadership requires more than inviting people to the table. It requires creating an environment where people feel heard and valued, listening to experiences different from our own, and allowing what we hear to actually influence the decisions we make.
I would bring that same approach to public decision making. In fact, it is why the first thing you see on my website is: “Leadership that listens, brings people together, and delivers results.”
Women are not a monolithic group, and there is no single “women’s experience.” A working mother balancing a career and childcare may experience Rochester differently from a woman caring for an aging parent, a small-business owner, a single mother working her way out of poverty, a woman with a disability, a senior living on a fixed income, or a survivor of domestic violence rebuilding her life. Good leadership has to recognize those differences.
As mayor, I would work to ensure women are not simply invited to comment after priorities have already been established or decisions are nearly complete. Their voices should be present earlier—when we are defining the problem, developing solutions, and determining how success will be measured. That means intentionally engaging women with different backgrounds and lived experiences, including voices that historically haven’t been well represented in traditional public meetings and government processes.
It also means looking at policies through the realities of people’s everyday lives. When considering housing, we should ask whether families can actually afford it. When planning transportation, we should consider the parent coordinating work, school, childcare, medical appointments, and other responsibilities. When discussing economic development, we should consider women entrepreneurs and small-business owners. When designing public spaces and services, we should consider accessibility and caregivers. And when addressing public safety, we should listen to survivors and the professionals who support them.
I understand personally that caregiving changes how you experience a community. As a father of a son with a disability, I have seen how decisions that may seem small to some can make everyday life significantly more difficult for an individual and the family supporting them. It has taught me to ask not only, “Does this policy work?” but also, “Who does it work for, who might it unintentionally leave behind, and whose perspective are we missing?”
My commitment is to create a culture of leadership where women have more than a seat at the table. They have a meaningful voice in defining the challenges, shaping the solutions, and determining what success looks like for our community.
Website: https://www.waleforrochester.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaleForRochester
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Rochester Women Magazine is committed to elevating the voices of individuals in our community. This candidate spotlight is part of our effort to inform and engage readers by introducing candidates seeking elected office in Rochester and Olmsted County.
Rochester Women Magazine does not endorse or oppose any candidate. These features are intended solely to provide voters with an opportunity to learn more about the individuals who have chosen to serve their communities through public office.