DELMARVA- In light of Women's History Month, WRDE is highlighting four outstanding women on the Delmarva peninsula throughout the month of March. One of those women is Fay Blake, the founder and executive director of Delmarva's well-known non-profit 'Pathways to Success'-- an organization that provides resources and mentorship opportunities to high school students in underserved communities.
Blake's journey has led to her breaking racial and gender barriers, all while dedicating her life to service. She lives her life envisioning the legacy she hopes to leave behind, recognizing the hardships she's faced growing up on Delmarva.
"Nowhere in any of this is it easy because sometimes being a woman and being Black you've got to work a whole lot harder to get noticed and to also get to a particular point," she said.
Blake said her own non-profit emerged as a result of the impact of growing up in the 1950s and during the civil rights movement. She is the oldest sibling of four; and having grown up in segregated Sussex County, and then navigating the corporate world as a woman of color, was tough.
"We were poor, we lived in Selbyville, Delaware," she said. "My grandmother was actually a domestic worker and so I lived with her from the time I was born until about 7 or 8 years old and then she passed away. However, all of the things that make me who I am, she taught me in those eight years."
Blake said her mother and grandmother were her role models, constantly showing her the importance of perseverance. Especially in moments such as when she would raise her hand at school and said she was never called upon, or when she was told by a guidance counselor that she was not good enough to receive a college degree.
"He said, 'you're not college material.' And I said 'what?' and he said, 'you're not college material,' and he says 'and so therefore I'm not going to waste the time to give you the paperwork,'' she recalled.
Fay Blake not only graduated college, she then delved into the world of corporate America, becoming the company's first African-American senior vice president at All First Financial. Eventually, learning just how male-dominated society is.
"Although we are breaking the glass ceiling or the brick ceiling or whatever you want to call it, it does take some doing to do it," she said.
Years later she chose to close that chapter and leap into a more fulfilling role. In 2006, Blake established her 501C3 non-profit 'Pathways to Success,' wanting to replicate the tools and values she said she learned from her self-described 'village of women' that led to her success.
"I am excited, every day that I get up and I get to do what I do because I know that those seeds that my grandmother sewed into me, I am now doing for other kids," she said. "In my interactions with them, I'm telling them how great they are and even if they don't believe in it, even if they're not exhibiting it right there and then, if they keep at it, it will catch up with them."
Her motivation and determination are what make Fay Blake the empowered woman she is today.
Blake was recently inducted in the 2021 Delaware Women Hall of Fame.