Banding Together to Inspire, Mentor, and Strengthen Female Leaders

The Educational Excellence Committee has three goals for the 2016-18 biennium. The first goal is to empower women through leadership opportunities. One way to achieve this goal is to inspire, mentor, and strengthen member’s growth as leaders. This idea has been marinating in my thoughts, not only as a DKG member, but as a leader in my community. Do women inspire, mentor, and strengthen other women, or is it the opposite?  

In the past weeks, two different groups have emerged in my community that support leadership opportunities for women. The first group is focusing on empowering women to seek political office. The second group is working with and creating financial opportunities for female leaders in business, education, and civic engagement. Key themes in both groups are finding leaders and supporting them.  

Women participating in these groups have listed lack of time, lack of training, and lack of mentorship as hurdles to overcome. Female leaders have shared a sense of isolation when they lead because there isn’t a network of support. I am guessing that these thoughts and concerns are not unique to my community but rather are common across our world. 

Knowing this information, DKG members have a golden opportunity to inspire, mentor, and strengthen women leaders. Ideas include, but are not limited to: 

• Words of encouragement to potential leaders 

• Financial backing of female candidates 

• Creating a leadership forum 

• Babysitting someone’s child so that she can attend a leadership forum 

• Mentoring new leaders 

• Volunteering to assist educational leaders in our schools 

Many of our DKG members are leaders in education and community, so they know the challenges that women face. My hope is that we band together to inspire, mentor, and strengthen female leaders in our midst.