We are so happy to be sending out this newsletter as we start the month of May. After the longest year ever, we are still surprised we are into the second quarter of 2021! At Leadership Women we have a mix of emotions – fatigue from having to make so many changes; satisfaction that we could learn so much new stuff so we could continue our program offerings without actually meeting in-person; worry that we would lose our connection to our classes; relief that didn’t happen; and excitement about the ‘new world’ that is taking shape as the vaccine whips the Coronavirus into history. It seems fair to say that no one – individuals, families, employers – escaped unscathed from this crisis that suddenly descended in March of last year, with as usual, some people taking more of the brunt of it than others. (And we know that overall, women have definitely taken the brunt of the job losses and additional family commitments that Covid brought about.)
We have heard so many stories from those of you who participated in one of our many virtual sessions – some heartwarmingly positive and others heartbreakingly sad. We can assume our experiences with Covid will remain a topic of conversation for a long time to come. Now I understand why my parents still talked about World War II even though that had ended many years earlier – it seemed to us kids that they were just reminiscing, but of course, they were still commiserating with each other, still trying to condole and console after experiencing such a traumatic and disturbing major event. Now we, the succeeding generations, have our own version of a traumatic event.
But – with the aid of science and the miracle of vaccines as well as people working together to do the right thing, we are quickly climbing away from this and daring to imagine what things might look like in the months ahead. Which is exactly what we have been doing to sustain us here at Leadership Women.
In a month’s time, we will be holding our first in-person meeting for our Leadership Texas program in the seaside town of Corpus Christi – and we and the class can’t wait! Luckily we will be able to be outside for a lot of the time, but the combination of having most of the class vaccinated and the agreement to still practice social distancing in a responsible way give us confidence that we can do this safely. And the program is fantastic – so this is something we are all looking forward to.
Unfortunately, we will not be in-person for our Leadership America program at the end of June. Because of the location and current restrictions in Los Angeles, many of the locations we intended to visit are just not opening their doors yet. We understand the city is getting things under control very quickly and we look forward to when we can safely travel there. But for now, we will conduct this session virtually featuring the amazing slate of speakers we had hoped to visit in Los Angeles, providing our Leadership America class with the same informative and engaging content as if we were there – the beauty of virtual programming! One of the (few) benefits of the pandemic is the opening up of a whole new way of communicating with all of our members and partners through Zoom – and we intend to weave that in between our in-person activities to keep a closer connection to everyone and open up opportunities for more interaction and networking. Last week we had two more virtual sessions for both the 2020/2021 classes of Leadership Texas and Leadership America with additional sessions planned, and on June 17th we have our all- day Leadership Pipeline program – take a look at the program in this Newsletter.
In addition, we have had the time to develop a whole new program designed for women that are in, or contemplating, ‘their next act.’ It’s all about “Reconnect/Restore/Restart” with this program, which will kick off in June (details on the website shortly). In the meantime if you want to find out more about this program, please contact me at [email protected].
The energy and excitement level here is building, and we are looking forward to a much more enjoyable 2021 with you. Some reminders – if you need to renew your membership, please do so by clicking MEMBERSHIP – and you know how much we appreciate and need your DONATIONS as well if you can. Sign up or send a young woman to Pipeline, get in touch with us to recommend a woman you know that is deserving of accolades for her contributions to the community, or just send us an email to tell us what you are up, or how you have survived the year – we always want to hear from you! Email us at [email protected].
Happy Spring Everyone!
Linda Crompton