A big thank you to all of you who were able to attend the Fall Leadership Conference on Saturday, September 12, 2020.  We had 123 registered participants which included several guests from Colorado and Utah.  I have received many positive notes from many of you…thank you.  If you missed it or would like to hear one of the presentations again, the program was recorded so that you can view it at your leisure at the AAUW of CO website as well as the AAUW of CO YouTube site.  

The following is an excerpt from my introductory remarks.  “In preparing for this conference, I became very mindful of our past six months, with both the COVID-19 Pandemic raging in our country and throughout the world, as well as our civil unrest coupled with the Black Lives Matter movement. As we hear our presenters this morning, ask yourself, ‘What does leadership mean to me?’ and ‘What kind of leader am I?’ The goal of today’s conference was greatly influenced by the following quote by Rumi:  ‘Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself'.”

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Dena Samuels, during her interview with Susan Brodie, our state Programs Co-VP, pointed out that there are different tools for leadership, and led us in a discussion to experience leadership from the inside out, through Mindfulness.  Mindfulness can influence our thinking and actions, and helps bring peace and calmness, so that we slow down and not just react.  She suggested that we respond to others with “a pause.”  When we use some of her

techniques, we actually lower our bias, and this allows for us to focus on the individual and appreciate all that they bring to the discussion.

The second presentation was under our “Mission” part of the conference, presented by Laura Segal,  AAUW national Senior Vice President of Communications and External Relations speaking on 2020 Vision:  Fighting for Equity.  Laura pointed out that COVID-19 has stretched the inequality for women even more during these difficult times, especially with pay and health inequalities. She then emphasized how AAUW is looking internally in regard to policies and practices, and that our organization is in the process of making relevant changes during these challenging times.  She did share success stories within the organization especially for the training of Start Smart and Work Smart of over 1000 participants in the programs.

The third presentation was  Membership Matters: Tools for Success presented by Melanie Hudson, membership VP for the Colorado Springs branch, and myself.  I opened the session with some history of the National organization and the Colorado state organization. Melanie then presented various branch activities that interest new members, as well as sharing her “toolbox of success” which emphasized welcoming events for new members, and continued one on one interaction with a potential new member.  We both concluded that the AAUW mission is the heart for membership, and that active members are most important in recruiting new members.