Women’s Leadership Institute Closing Ceremony Keynote Address - 4.30.10

At the close of the year, Women's Leadership Institute has a ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of its participants throughout the academic year. I am asked to give a keynote address. This year, I thought I would incorporate some of the activities WLI participants experienced during our Woman II Woman sessions. This is an excerpt from the speech given during the WLI Closing Ceremony:

"Good Afternoon Greatness!

Here is your 30 second commercial – Are you feeling insecure, unprepared, alone, and uncomfortable with your place in life? Are you feeling like you’ll never realize your potential? If so, we have the perfect solution for you!

The Women’s Leadership Institute is a program designed to provide emerging woman leaders with the opportunity to gain self-acceptance, learn the importance of reflection and self-evaluation, become emotionally strong, gain empathy, and build relationships while learning leadership skills that last a lifetime. Soon after joining the Women’s Leadership Institute, you will no longer feel insecure, unprepared, alone, and uncomfortable. With the Women’s Leadership Institute, you will find a place that is welcoming, supportive, and dynamic. You will find a place that will help you to grow and accept who you are. But wait, there’s more! The Women’s Leadership Institute will provide you with a new family – a family of sisters, mentors and friends – that will last a lifetime. We are so sure of this that we offer you a lifetime guarantee!

One of our wonderful ladies asked the following question during a Woman II Woman session: 'I love WLI, we are the best women on campus. What makes us so fabulous?' Well, I will tell you – I have a 'What Makes WLI Awesome' list to answer that question:

What Makes WLI Awesome!
• It is a place that helps you learn self-acceptance
• It teaches you not just to talk the talk, but also to walk the talk
• It helps you develop empathy for other women
• It decreases the level of cattiness between women
• It teaches you that knowing yourself is paramount to becoming a leader
• It provides a safe space for growing individually and as a group, disguised as “girl talk”
• It gives you the strength and confidence to stand on your own two feet

In short, Women’s Leadership Institute is beneficial, enriching, inspiring, powerful, and amazing! To answer the question, this is what makes WLI fabulous!

I want to thank all of this year’s participants of WLI for trusting us with your time, energy, and hearts. I want to thank you for these words that I have shared with you, because they all came from YOU.

Last but definitely not least, I want to thank the Program Development team for going above and beyond, for your commitment, for keeping me grounded, for allowing me to be myself with you, and for your dedication and commitment to the Movement that is known as Women’s Leadership Institute.

Thank you!"

Written by Patricia Gonzalez, Women's Leadership Institute Program Advisor
April 2010

Hope for the Future

During the Women’s Leadership Institute’s closing ceremony I suddenly became strongly aware of how significant this organization has been to me this year. Like Kisha and Maya related to during the ceremony, I too was very picky about who I was friends with if they were female because of bad experiences in the past. WLI not only challenged my assumptions of women as catty and competitive but gave me a whole new outlook; women as supportive and strong influences in my life. I can truly say anytime I am around a WLI member (or Ms. G!) my heart warms. They somehow make me feel special, worth something and encourage me to keep fighting the good fight.

Becoming a member of WLI could not have come at a better time. My Mom had been recently told she had several thyroid tumors and they were not sure if they were cancerous or not when I first joined. Seeing my Mom, who has always been a pillar of strength for me, be so afraid literally scared me to my core. If she wasn’t brave how could I be? Thankfully, this is when I started attending WLI Saturday programs, Woman II Woman sessions and started seeing WLI members much more often. Seeing all these young women like myself unashamed to be nervous of all the “unknowns” in their lives because they each believed in their own inner strength to carry them through, gave me the confidence I needed to have faith that my Mom would be okay. On my 21st birthday her results came back and no cancer! This was the best birthday gift I could have ever asked for. I remember sitting down as my Dad told me the good news and immediately praying. I thanked God for all those in my life who helped me through this, and unknowingly all the WLI women who gave me the strength to have faith in myself and most importantly…hope for the future.