Feb. 13, 2014
Schulich at Global Leadership Summit
Womensphere participants tour the Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy at Columbia University, and learn about ambient carbon capture from Senior Staff Associate Allen Wright.
Imagine sitting in a room with the co-founder of Indiegogo, one of the world鈥檚 biggest crowdfunding sites, a physicist who hosts a Discovery Channel show and 400 other strong, driven and influential leaders from around the globe. All around you are engineers researching cutting-edge technologies, award-winning film producers and CEOs of major business and media companies.
And they鈥檙e all women.
Brandi Chuchman and Rachael L鈥橭rsa from the Schulich School of Engineering were among the crowd attending the in New York City in January.
鈥淎ll the women at the summit had passion, and a willingness to take risks to share their ideas with the world,鈥 says Chuchman, the director of Schulich鈥檚 program, which matches girls with female scientists and engineers across Alberta using an online mentoring platform. 鈥淲e all have something important to contribute鈥攊t鈥檚 a matter of finding what that impact looks like for you, and then being bold.鈥
, a global social enterprise, launched five years ago to drive women鈥檚 leadership and innovation and unleash the potential of women to create a better world. It focuses on seven areas including Science and Exploration, Technology, Entrepreneurship and more.
鈥淪uccess depends on how you measure it,鈥 says L鈥橭rsa, a graduate student in electrical engineering and founder of the . 鈥淚f your version of success has you striving for the top of a competitive heap, then regardless of gender, you will need the plan, the passion, and the supporters to get you there.鈥
Here鈥檚 a snapshot of knowledge from the leaders at the summit that you can use to unleash your own potential:
- Don鈥檛 be afraid of failure. Falling on your face is a forward movement.
- Mentorship can overcome gender bias; lift other women as we climb.
- Don鈥檛 think about the steps to reach the top. Instead, think about what you want to do when you get there.
- Passion and purpose are more important than work-life balance.
- If you want to change the system, you need to get inside the system first.
- People are bombarded by messages. Cut through with storytelling 鈥 find the soul behind your story.
- Cultural Intelligence is becoming crucial. Know the numbers, and experience the communities you want to understand.
- Be clear about your networking intentions. Know what you want from connections.
- Don鈥檛 ask if you are good enough 鈥 ask who you are, and what you have to offer.
- Diversity isn鈥檛 just about equality. It鈥檚 about returns.