The Faculty of Color Association (FOCA) Student Leadership Award will be awarded annually to a student (or students) of color with financial need who have demonstrated leadership or contributed to diversity and inclusion efforts on campus.
Scholar Name: Sadé Ratliff
Class: 2023
Field of Study: Black Studies
Sadé Ratliff is a founding member of Students in Action (SIA), through which she co-hosted racial justice processing spaces for students and community members of color. Through SIA, she also co-organized the Fall 2021 sit-in for greater racial diversity, equity, and inclusion, which drew more than 500 community members together. Ratliff has additionally volunteered with the Afro-Caribbean Club, Black Student Union, R.I.S.E., Ruckus, MATU, and many other student organizations, and served as SGA Executive Diversity Chair and SGA Executive Vice President. For her service at Stonehill, she has received a Community Engagement Award.
Beyond Stonehill, Ratliff has held several impactful positions, including Media and Communication Intern for the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, Legislative Aide for Justice4Housing, Writing and Communications Intern for Pay our Interns, Field Organizer and Youth Advisory Councilmember for Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, and Campaign Fellow for Ed Markey. She is the recipient of Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellowship.
Through her academic and professional endeavors, Ratliff has lobbied for housing and incarceration legislation, education policy for Black students, job training for Black communities, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, intern rights, and pandemic relief efforts. She is completing a Black Studies major of her own design that bridges her scholarly and activist efforts toward social justice. Ratliff is a visionary and compassionate leader whose extraordinary service record sets a new bar for our community.
Sadé Ratliff ’23 has been recognized for her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.