The pipeline dries up. When Black women are at the top, they bring other Black talent with them. That's just how it works. People hire and promote through their networks. Take away those decision-makers, and suddenly there's no one opening doors for the next generation.

Leadership starts looking one-dimensional again. When your team only sees one type of person in charge, that becomes what leadership "looks like" in their minds. We've been fighting that narrow image for decades. Losing ground now means backsliding into old, limiting ideas about who belongs in power.

Mentorship evaporates. Young Black women lose the sponsors and mentors who actually get it, who've walked the same path and know how to help them navigate it. Without that guidance, careers stall out before they even get started.

You can't be what you don't see. It's a cliché because it's true. When young Black women look around and don't see anyone who looks like them in major roles, they stop imagining themselves there. Visibility isn't just nice to have, it's essential.

Whole perspectives disappear. Different generations bring different ideas, different approaches, different solutions. When we lose an entire cohort of Black women, we lose all of that thinking. The work gets narrower, less creative, less equipped to handle real-world complexity.

Voices go unheard. The young women still trying to make it? They lose their audience. The people who would've listened, advocated, and made space for them are gone.

The ripple effect is massive. When Black women leave or get pushed out of the workforce in these numbers, it doesn't just hurt them. It reshapes what's possible for everyone coming next.

We can't let that happen.