Programs: Reaching Out & Reaching Back
In support of its mission, the Georgetown University Women's Leadership Initiative delivers a number of inclusive programs and other endeavors for its partners, alumnae, students and friends:
Distinguished Speaker Series
Hosting panels of distinguished women in politics and in business who can offer helpful advice and strategies to other women, GUWLI helps women students understand the dynamics and overcome the barriers of career success. Successful women share their knowledge and experiences, discuss career trajectories, highlight how they achieved influence, and offer insights for economic empowerment and social advancement. Post-panel receptions offer an opportunity for informal dialogue and exchange.
International Leadership Conferences and Forums
In 2002, Georgetown University collaborated with The White House and the U.S. Department of State to facilitate the Helsinki Global Women Business Leaders Summit, putting the University in the forefront of the most recent, salient issues facing women business leaders today. In 2003, GUWLI partnered with the State Department and the Council of Women World Leaders to convene an inaugural meeting of all Ministers of Women's Affairs worldwide, to discuss issues of women's education, political voice and economic advancement.
The Women's Leadership Initiative is currently working with the International Women Business Leaders Forum and embassies throughout the world to execute future partnership forums for women. These conferences will also serve as the foundation for research studies conducted through the McDonough School of Business.
New Knowledge You Can Use
In Fall 2004, the Initiative started a New Knowledge You Can Use Forum
as a way of engaging academic researchers with a business executive to discuss
a topic relating to women in the workplace from their different perspectives
of scholarship and experience. Academics and practitioners rarely have the
opportunity to interact with each other and to reflect upon their different
perspectives. Yet, their perspectives complement each other. Scholarly
knowledge, arrived at through systematic research, offers a rigorous analysis
of how often, and under what conditions, phenomena (such as gender barriers)
occur. Professional knowledge, arrived at through first hand experiences, can
validate the accuracy of these findings, offer a context for understanding
their complexities, and suggest prescriptions for addressing these barriers.
The first Forum The Glass Ceiling: Breaking Barriers to the Top was held
at the Main conference room of the McDonough School of Business and as
expected the space was filled to capacity. Dr. Catherine Tinsley, Associate
Professor at the McDonough School of Business, presented the findings of her
research with colleagues from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management on the
effects of mentoring and the career progression of male and female MBA
graduates. Their results question the conventional wisdom that mentorship
programs help women break through the proverbial “glass ceiling.” Ms. Ann
Sarnoff, the chief operating officer of the Women’s National Basketball
Association, and a distinguished McDonough School alumna and member of the
Board of Advisors, shared her perspective on the implications of the research
for both personal growth and organizational policy.
The Forum was well attended by members of the McDonough School’s Board of
Advisors (including Mr. Robert McDonough, himself, for whom the school is
named), prominent female faculty and administrators at Georgetown, students
from mostly the McDonough School of Business and the Georgetown Public Policy
Institute, as well as friends of the Initiative. A second year MBA student
remarked, “Dr. Tinsley’s research really brought to life many of the gender
issues we have faced in our own careers, and Ann Sarnoff offered inspirational
advice.
Workshops
In Spring 2006, the initiative launched an annual
workshop series, sponsored by Ernst & Young, dedicated to improving skills that
may not necessarily be learned in the classroom such as: effective conflict
management, leadership, and self-presentation. The inaugural workshop
“Effective Business Communication” held March 31, 2006 was led by Sally Romansky
from Oratorio Communications. Space was limited to 60 participants and was
filled to capacity. During the half day workshop, participants developed
‘powerful vocabulary’ through a series of demonstrations, exercises, lecture,
and personal reflections from female professionals. As one student noted, the
session “opened my eyes to the subtle differences in the way each gender
communicates. It is amazing to see how women can unknowingly undermine
their authority by simply using the wrong word or expression.”
Research
The initiative supports research aimed at understanding and promoting women's advancement. Current activities include a longitudinal analysis of the influence of women's opportunities on national economic indicators, and analysis of how to enhance the effectiveness of mentorship programs.
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