Investing in women

As the Clinton Global Initiative holds its annual meeting in New York, it continues its focus on investing in girls and women.  Why?

Because an educated, empowered and employed woman reinvests more than 80% of what she earns back into her family and community — compared to less than 30% reinvested by each working man.

Although this was not the impetus for the first Global Women’s Leadership Institute, it has become the slow burning flame of intention and action among the institute’s first participants.

While in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, the institute began to bridge the divide between vision and action — which is what separates aspiring leaders from accomplished leaders.  We started by setting the leadership table with multicultural groups of ambitious women seeking tools and strategies for making a leadership difference.

These women want to DO something — something meaningful that requires leadership expertise.

Consequently, we provided opportunities for them to learn from us and each other, in conflict and in quiet reflection; to acquire leadership tools and test their leadership acumen; and to design and implement a leadership project in their home community that reflects their passion and their commitment to meaningful change.

Not surprisingly, most of the women seized the opportunity and have been seeking partnerships, securing resources and launching projects as varied as multicultural mentorships for aspiring women in health care, a cross-cultural blog for young Saudi women, development of a community college,  and a new, global women handicrafts enterprise constructed in partnership with an established global NGO.  Most of the women have focused their considerable energy and expertise on projects that contribute to the long-term sustainability of their communities.

Some of the projects are underway and others are still taking shape, but one thing is clear — these women are committed to staying connected and making a difference not just in their home country but beyond.

In November, we will distribute leadership medallions to the US women who have successfully completed their project plans and have achieved a project milestone.  In January, we will hold a similar ceremony in Riyadh.

The medallions are a recognition of this point in time and cannot begin to celebrate the long-term contributions that are yet to be revealed.  My experience with this group is that their investments in women will reap rewards well beyond anything we imagined.

A community of leaders

The cacophony of voices speaking English, Arabic and a mixture of both fills the beautiful workshop space where we have gathered for the past 5 days.  It is hard to believe that these women come from two such different cultures. 

They pass around iPod’s, sharing family photos.  They huddle on the beautiful veranda, four floors above the main campus, discussing work challenges and proposing solutions — with the chants from the large mosque  projecting in the background.  They discuss difficult bosses and balancing family commitments with a full work day.

The Saudi women come from higher education, government, non-profits and business.  They are hard driving, savvy leaders; and they are committed to increasing access for women in this economically active region.  They are inspiring.  They are focused.  They are talented (some poets and some engineers).   We share a common experience and we are teaching each other everyday about what it takes to balance energy and drive with reflection and compassion.

To some extent, it was enough just to put this group together.  It has become a petrie dish of activity — producing innovation, collaboration and, sometimes, the giddy laughter of women who recognize each other’s common experience regardless of cultural difference.

I have said many times this week that even if we stopped today, the institute would have been an unqualified success.  What is miraculous and inspiring is we are not done — we will complete personal leadership maps and from these will sprout leadership project ideas.  Then, we will continue the conversation across continents, mentoring each other as we make progress on this new model of multicultural leadership. 

I am certain that laughter and tears will mix together, and through the prism of emotions we will make meaningful change.

A note about the author:  Dr. Michelle Stronz is the founder and director of the Global Women’s Leadership Institute — a collaborative effort that promotes the empowerment of women leaders across cultures.  The institute provides an immersion experience for global women’s leadership, where the participants investigate current global challenges, construct a purpose-driven leadership map that connects those challenges to personal experience, explore and expand their leadership competencies and practice those skills in a leadership project in their workplace or home community.

We’re off to the desert!

More than a year ago, I began a dialogue, across continents, to launch a multicultural ‘leadership & sustainable communities’ workshop in Saudi Arabia, and last week, in what can only be described as a payoff for tenacity, I got my wish.

In early June, I will be traveling with nine US women leaders to  Jeddah.  In this ideal setting, between the desert and the sea, established and emerging women leaders from both Saudi Arabia and the US will be enriched by the diverse culture, geography and economy.  The women will seek new experiences, challenging dialogue, and relationships outside their comfort zone.  During our 12-day immersion experience, we will explore economic development, environmental ethics and leadership development — focusing on purpose, vision-to-action, and service.

At the end of the journey, each woman will identify and lead a project at work or in her home community that coincides with a topic that resonated for her during her leadership journey between the Arabian Desert and the Red Sea.

This blog will document our shared journey in words, pictures and video.