|
Women in Leadership – Double the Fun
By Debbie Gosselin, ICOYC Director
Annapolis Yacht Club
When the conversation turns to women in leadership or any other specific role, I cringe a bit. As a commodore at Annapolis Yacht Club, I declined regular requests to comment on the “first female” aspect of my election. Like many, many other members and their spouses, I was a volunteer and certainly hope that I was not nominated as a token woman. As with any leadership position, it is important to focus on the skillset required. At Annapolis Yacht Club, where membership is individual rather than family, most of our members are men, and most are married. The benefit of attracting spouses to become members and including spouses in Club activities is very simple: the pool of qualified candidates is bigger, and the opportunity for member participation is doubled. And, you are doubling the fun.
At AYC, we bet on that premise. How did it turn out?
Very well. The needle on the demographics has moved slightly: 14% of our 1,600 regular members are women, as opposed to 12% in 2018. One-third of our members under the age of 36 are women. The biggest statistic is our wait list: It is currently at 277 names, with another 37 in process, totaling 314. With an average of 40 openings per year, the wait list is assumed to be eight years. AYC took the unusual step of suspending the acceptance of applications for regular members in March of this year. We believe our outreach to families via programming and facilities is responsible for this outcome. We’ve created value for men and women and children by taking the whole family into account when planning our Club facilities and programs. Additionally, we hope to formally modify our application process to ensure that applicants can better demonstrate their interest in boating. This has been fun and effective! Member sponsors are taking prospective young adults, both male and female, sailing, cruising, even racing and they are having a great time.
At the ICOYC World Forum in 2018, we had a lively discussion regarding women and yacht clubs—I invite you to review some of those moments in the Insights below, and reflect on how your club can improve its outreach to this crucial, inspiring and up-and-coming demographic.
|
