WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Learning may seem like a little thing, but it can help create and strengthen connections among different people, a diversity specialist for the City of Winston-Salem says.

What You Need To Know

  • Wanda Allen-Abraha is director of human relations and diversity, equity and inclusion for the city of Winston-Salem

  • She says getting to know other cultures can help us understand and connect with others

  • She learned about the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church years ago through her husband

    • And she should know – it’s a process she went through after marrying her husband over two decades ago and getting to know a new religion through him.

    “Sometimes when we know a little bit more about different cultures and what they believe in, what they represent," said Wanda Allen-Abraha, director of human relations and diversity, equity and inclusion for Winston-Salem. "It becomes a little bit easier to get to know them personally and to be able to have empathy and compassion for other people.”

    Religion is a core value for Allen-Abraha, but it also has provided an important lesson.

    “It’ll be 27 years this year that my husband and I have been married, and so I learned about the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church through my husband," she said.

    It's not just personal. The Ethiopian Church is one example of the many cultural community partnerships at her job, too.

    “It’s really important just for me to know that I can help to educate the public about the different cultures that are here and help people to understand that we’re not so different after all," Allen-Abraha said.

    She is the first African-American woman in her position.

    “It’s important to see someone from that marginalized community to be in a position of leadership they can actually affect change," Allen-Abraha said.