Cornerstone for Women Leaders, Shadae Paul
Cornerstone was born out of both personal experience and a deep awareness of a gap facing women leaders. As I searched for leadership development opportunities, I repeatedly encountered programs that addressed professional growth without acknowledging faith, or faith-based programs that treated leadership in a surface-level way. What I could not find was training that integrated faith and leadership as inseparable, where spiritual formation and professional excellence were both foundational rather than optional.
At the same time, I saw women around me struggling to reconcile their values with their work. Many were navigating complex life circumstances, career transitions, or environments that didn’t reflect their beliefs, yet there were few resources designed to meet them where they were. Women’s leadership development often felt generic, inaccessible, or reserved for those already at the top, leaving many women without support during critical seasons of growth and transition.
Through Cornerstone, I steward an organization that helps women grow in their faith while also developing essential professional skills, all while democratizing access to leadership development. Our work equips women to feel confident, empowered, and prepared to secure and retain meaningful employment. We intentionally speak to women’s leadership potential from a faith-centered perspective—an approach that often transcends denominational boundaries and is not always addressed within traditional church or religious settings. At the heart of Cornerstone is a commitment to honoring the whole lives of women, integrating their faith with their professional growth rather than treating them as separate spheres.
Cornerstone for Women Leaders is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Hagerstown, Maryland. Cornerstone is on a mission to provide faith-based leadership training and professional development for women. We offer on-campus classes, on-site training, and online resources and are working on developing asynchronous online courses. Our programs emphasize spiritual formation and practical leadership skills that can be immediately applied in real-world contexts.
What sets Cornerstone apart is our integrated approach. Faith is not an add-on or a talking point, it is the foundation of our curriculum. We intentionally design programming that acknowledges the complexity of women’s lives, including those navigating career transitions, recovery, reentry from the criminal justice system, or survival-based employment. Our leadership training is not limited to CEOs or founders; it is built for women who are leading in quiet, unseen, or emerging ways.
We are also deeply committed to accessibility and equity. Cornerstone continually gathers feedback from participants to refine our curriculum and ensure it remains relevant and impactful. One example of this commitment is the d’Vinci Interactive Women’s Leadership Scholarship, our full scholarship for women survivors of domestic violence, which provides access to leadership education and on-campus classes at a community college. Through initiatives like this, we help women regain agency, build stability, and move toward sustainable employment and leadership opportunities.
While we have made meaningful progress, operating a minority women-led and women-governed nonprofit in western Maryland has not been without challenges. As a young female founder, I do not always fit traditional expectations of who is seen as a leader or who people are willing to learn from or be spiritually guided by. This has resulted in setbacks, long stretches of professional isolation, and obstacles that are often unseen. Despite these challenges, we have persevered because we have witnessed the tangible, positive outcomes of our work. Seeing women grow, gain confidence, and move forward in their lives affirms the value of our training and makes the perseverance worthwhile.
My business was inspired by my own experience as a woman leader who struggled to find leadership training that supported both my professional development and my spiritual growth. While many programs exist, I found that very few helped women integrate faith into their work in a way that was authentic, foundational, and meaningful rather than superficial or performative.
Through this search, I began to recognize a significant gap in the marketplace. Many women were struggling to reconcile their faith with their professional lives, yet there were limited resources designed to help them do this well. Additionally, leadership development offerings are often mixed-gender, with women’s leadership treated as an afterthought or sidelined entirely. When women-specific programs did exist, they were often generic, repetitive, and disconnected from the lived realities women face, resulting in training that lacked depth, relevance, and lasting impact.
These experiences and observations made it clear that women deserved leadership development that truly reflected their spiritual, personal, and professional realities, and that conviction became the foundation for starting this organization.
What makes our organization unique is that women are centered at every stage of our development. From the beginning, we have intentionally listened to women by conducting interviews to inform our curriculum, continuously surveying graduates, and committing to a posture of ongoing learning and improvement. Our messaging, marketing, and program design are all shaped by real feedback from women, ensuring our work remains relevant, accessible, and impactful.
We also recognized that much of women’s leadership training disproportionately focuses on CEOs and founders, often overlooking women navigating significant life transitions. This includes women reentering society after involvement in the criminal justice system, survivors of domestic violence, women in recovery, shift workers, and those working in ethically complex jobs simply to survive. In response, we have intentionally adjusted our dissemination and access strategies to prioritize equity and inclusion.
One tangible example is the creation of scholarships for women survivors of domestic violence, allowing them to access higher education and our leadership classes on a community college campus. Through our scholarships, we are not only providing education but also helping women regain control over their lives, improve their financial stability, and access meaningful employment opportunities.
I initially sought support from SCORE because I needed help with recruitment and enrollment for our on-campus classes. However, that need quickly expanded into a broader desire to strengthen the organization as a whole. Through SCORE, I gained support in clarifying our target audience, improving our marketing strategies, navigating nonprofit management, managing a board, and understanding partnership dynamics.
SCORE became a critical resource not just for solving immediate challenges, but for building a stronger, more sustainable organization.
SCORE played a critical role in both the pre-launch and post-launch phases of my business. During the one-year pre-launch period, I regularly participated in SCORE’s free online workshops and relied heavily on the organization’s templates, tools, and educational resources. As a first-time founder, I knew I needed to adopt a posture of learning. Access to clear, practical, and trustworthy information helped me make wiser decisions, avoid costly mistakes, and build a strong foundation before launching the organization.
Post-launch, SCORE’s impact deepened significantly through one-on-one mentoring with Mr. Sibears. His guidance has been pivotal not only from a business standpoint, but also on a personal level. Having a mentor who serves as both an advocate and a confidential sounding board has allowed me to ask honest questions without fear of judgment or shame; questions that may seem simple on the surface, but are essential for long-term sustainability and growth.
Mr. Sibears also encouraged me to continue participating in SCORE’s online workshops to complement our mentoring conversations. This blended approach, pairing structured learning with personalized mentorship, has helped me apply concepts in real time, reinforce key lessons, and grow in confidence as a leader. SCORE has provided not just information, but a framework for thinking, learning, and leading more effectively.
Although our organization is only two years old, SCORE, and my sessions with Mr. Sibears, has contributed to several meaningful and foundational successes. Through mentoring and ongoing learning, I gained clarity around our nonprofit structure, including the strategic decision to create a for-profit subsidiary that helps financially support our nonprofit mission. This clarity has been instrumental in strengthening long-term sustainability.
Mr. Sibears also helped define and understand our audience. With his guidance, we developed a clearer framework and vocabulary for identifying potential clients across a spectrum: faith-based, faith-friendly, and secular. This resolved earlier confusion and significantly improved our strategic planning, outreach, and partnerships.
Additional successes include guidance on securing new partnerships and learning how to responsibly steward and develop projects with those partners over time. I also received support in selecting appropriate professional development opportunities for myself as a founder, along with accountability around goal-setting and growth.
Operationally, Mr. Sibears helped me clarify marketing messaging, develop a stronger understanding of sales, and improve relationship management and conflict resolution with partners. Mentorship also supported the development of our nonprofit Board of Directors, including guidance on goal-setting, culture, accountability, delegation, and long-term growth.
Perhaps most importantly, Mr. Sibears has helped me grow into the role of CEO. I have learned how to approach decision-making more strategically, what considerations to weigh, and which questions to ask when navigating complex situations. These lessons have strengthened both my leadership and the organization as a whole.
My mentor, Mr. Daniel Sibears, has been absolutely incredible. He brings extensive knowledge and experience, yet communicates in a way that is clear, approachable, and easy to understand. He is patient, kind, and emotionally intelligent, and he consistently leverages his expertise in ways that genuinely benefit me and the organization.
As a first-time entrepreneur, my journey has included both highs and lows, and Mr. Sibears has remained steady and supportive throughout. He challenges me thoughtfully without being pushy or unkind, and he knows how to share feedback without ever being condescending. He is also highly resourceful and consistently follows up with thoughtful post-meeting summaries, which has helped me stay focused and accountable.
Most importantly, he has never given up on me, even during moments of uncertainty or emotional ups and downs. His mentorship has been a stabilizing and I am deeply grateful for his support.
Starting a business means committing to becoming a lifelong learner. Entrepreneurship requires constant growth, and that means reading books, taking online courses, attending workshops, and intentionally exposing yourself to new information and perspectives. The more willing you are to learn, adapt, and evolve, the more equipped you will be to grow into the best founder and leader you can be.
Equally important is finding the right mentor, someone who can see your potential, not just your current skill set. Not every mentor will be the right fit, and that’s okay. Look for someone who believes in your vision, challenges you with kindness, and supports your growth without diminishing your confidence. A good mentor doesn’t have to have all the answers, but they should be invested in your success and willing to walk alongside you as you learn, fail, and grow.
Entrepreneurship is rarely a straight path. Surrounding yourself with people who are committed to your development and who remind you why you started can make all the difference in staying resilient and moving forward.
For those pursuing a dream, the experience is filled with obstacles, uncertainty, and inevitable failure. Having a mentor who is patient, understanding, and clearly on your side makes a significant difference. Many mentors learned their lessons years ago, while mentees are just beginning and that learning process takes time. Space to grow, make mistakes, and develop confidence is essential, and SCORE provides an invaluable environment for that kind of growth.
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