MY STORY
Ayana Kai Taylor, CEO of AYANAkai is a mother, daughter, sister, niece, cousin, mentor and sister-friend to so many. AYANAkai was “birthed” through all of those roles mentioned and everything you will learn about her below but most of all her experience in living the ups and downs of life, working through transitions, love and loss, healing and learning then sharing her truth as an example to others and thus glowing into a woman of purpose.
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Ayana is a mentor to a group of young professional women of color and through this labor of love in 2020 founded AYANAkai Empowering Women to Rise and Transform.
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With her platform she felt it was time to expand and share her expertise in a broader way. Through her work in education, career and leadership development and her real estate business she has carved out time to be the conduit for her clients to reach their maximum potential. She became a listening ear, a professional development guru who has trained many young professionals to glow up and live their lives with intention.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
CERTIFICATIONS & LICENSURE:
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Diversity and Inclusion Certification - Cornell University
Real Estate License - State of Connecticut
Ayana currently works in Human Resources, specifically Diversity Recruitment for a large public school system in Connecticut. Ayana is also a Diversity and Inclusion Consultant where she shares her talent with organizations looking to receive training in the areas of diversity recruitment strategies and leadership development. Ayana received her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from Central Connecticut State University in 2004 and received her Certification in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell in 2020.
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Ayana is a licensed Realtor with William Raveis First Town Real Estate in Windsor where she assists individuals and families to realize their Real Estate dreams, giving them what she calls “The Ayana Experience”. From connecting people to credit repair programs and first time home buyer programs, she truly goes above and beyond for her clients.
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She has worked in Higher Education as an Employer Developer at Eastern Connecticut State University in the Center for Internships and Career Development, building and creating pipelines for student opportunities with businesses throughout the State of Connecticut. She is the former Senior Manager for INROADS, Inc. a national non-profit organization that partners with companies such as Travelers and United Technologies. And as a Consultant for their Pre-College Program specifically preparing underserved students for post high school experiential learning and career readiness.
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Ayana currently serves on the Town of Windsor Board of Education as Secretary and sits on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the Windsor DTC. She is also a member of the first historically black greek lettered organization Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
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Ayana continues to advocate, sit on panels and moderate discussions in the arena for equitable education, diversity and inclusion and women’s rights throughout the State of Connecticut. She has received many accolades for her work in these areas such as, The Woman Within You Community Service Award, Community Leader Award, 2018 Town of Windsor Human Relations Commission Bridge Builder Award and she is a 2019 100 Women of Color Award recipient.
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Ayana is ecstatic to share her tips and assist where she can with AYANAkai. However, her favorite and most important role is being the mother to Chloe and Steven.