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Students Who Lead Among the recommendations in the Self-Study Steering Committee's report Envisioning Our Future was one that students develop and administer leadership conferences-weekend workshops, presentations and seminars enabling students to hear and engage with outstanding women leaders, be they activists, scholars, community leaders or business executives. The steering committee felt that these workshops should focus on developing such skills as public speaking, nonacademic writing, team-building, fiscal management, program development and decision-making. Organizing a conference is a tall order, especially for students who must tend to their academic work as well. But a handful of students, all participants in the college's innovative January-term Leadership Program, took up the challenge last spring and, lo and behold, it all came together on a weekend in October. "It was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I've had at Smith," said Amy Christie '01. "I had the opportunity to work with some amazing women and test myself and my leadership skills in the process." With funding from the college, the students took on tasks ranging from planning the schedule, reserving meeting locations and inviting speakers to arranging meals and transportation, ordering flowers and maintaining the conference's Web site. The first Smith Leadership Conference, "Women Breaking Barriers," offered a variety of lectures and workshops. Two speakers were featured on Saturday: Julia Erickson '80, CEO of City Harvest, a New York City organization that collects and distributes millions of pounds of food to disadvantaged people each year, and Sylvia Peters, director of the Compact Schools Project in Baltimore and nationally recognized urban educator. Three alumnae talked about their experiences breaking barriers during a Friday evening panel presentation: Ann Winkelman Brown '59, chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission; Melinda Moore '72, senior international health official from the Center for Disease Control; and Lynne Gorman Berentson '66, former marketing director at Seventeen and creator of Real Style magazine. The Saturday presentations were led by consultants from the "outside world" and by some Smith faculty members. They dealt with such topics as "Building Your Leadership Tool Kit" and "Internships: Real Students, Real Advice." The student organizers were justifiably proud of their accomplishment-and a little behind in their course work. Said Denitza Jilkova '01: "I felt as though we had contributed something important to the Smith community. It was great to know that I could actually return something for all that Smith has given me." Candace Hewitt '01 was impressed with the program's success, particularly when she reflected on "the point when we didn't think we'd make it through." Also on the committee were sophomores Juliet Christian-Smith, Hanh Dao and Lisa Williams, Jennifer Schultz '00 and Amber Watt AC. Said President Ruth Simmons in a note to the conference organizers: "We are indebted to you [for launching] this 2020 initiative. We hope that your achievement will inspire future Smith leaders to continue this new and impressive tradition." |
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