DiversiTea Divas

The work of DiversiTea Divas began with women coming together around a table, reflecting on their journeys and the role that access and guidance could have played earlier in their lives. From those conversations, they created gatherings where young women could sit in community with professionals and begin to see new possibilities for themselves.

In New Orleans, the act of gathering in this way carries a deeper history. During the antebellum era, Black women created their own tea gatherings using borrowed china and shared resources, carving out space for connection, rest, and dignity. These gatherings evolved into tea rooms, dining spaces, and social clubs where Black women cultivated leadership, economic independence, and cultural pride.

Across generations, these spaces held conversations, strategies, and relationships that shaped communities, even when they were not formally named or widely documented.

DiversiTea Divas carries that lineage forward in a contemporary form. Our work remains rooted in connection while expanding into mentorship, career readiness, and access to professional opportunities. What begins around a table extends into classrooms, workplaces, and communities across New Orleans.

Over time, this work has reached more than 1,200 girls and young women, providing mentorship, career readiness support, scholarships, and early professional experiences that shape how participants move through school and into the workforce.

Today, we serve young women ages 16 to 24, centering Black girls and young women while welcoming participants from all backgrounds. Through mentorship, internship placement, scholarships, and sustained support, we build pathways that connect education to economic opportunity.

Givenola Day allows us to deepen this work. We invite you to give in a way that continues this tradition of gathering and growth, ensuring that every young woman who comes to the table leaves with access, opportunity, and a community that moves with her.