Women's Leadership Training

 

Why Invest in Women's Leadership Training?

Fact:  Women represent 47 percent of the workforce in the United States but             constitute 63 percent of all workers earning the minimum wage or less.

Fact:  Women earn .77 for every $1.00 earned by a man; African American                 women earn only .64 and Hispanic women .52.

Fact:  Women represent only 15.2 percent of the Fortune 500 board director             positions.  Women of color hold 3.2 percent of all board director                         positions.

Fact:  Only thirteen Fortune 500 companies have women as their CEO's

Fact:  The United States is 60th in the world when it comes to women in                     positions of political leadership; at the current rate of change it is                         estimated that we won't see gender parity for several hundred years.

Fact:  There are significant barriers to women's leadership in this country.

Research shows:

• A 2004 study, "The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity" found that corporations with large percentages of women on their executive leadership teams gained returns that are 35 percent higher than those with few women in positions of leadership.
• Once women occupy about 20 percent of the top positions in an organization, the organization's agenda begins to change.  Bills that have been passed by congress due to a critical mass of women being present include: the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Women's Health Equity Act; and the Child Support Enforcement Act -- legal changes that are beneficial to all in our society.
• Women make great leaders (see Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership)

What women need:

• Equal access to mentors and social networks
• Equal pay for equal work
• To work with others to understand and dismantle internal (i.e. low self-confidence) and external (unequal pay for equal work) barriers to leadership
• To connect across the divides of difference and build stronger and healthier businesses, organizations and communities

Women's Leadership Training

The Women’s Leadership training provided by CatalystLead  focuses on developing the leadership of each woman while also highlighting the importance of building communities across the boundaries that traditionally separate us from one another, such as race and class.  Themes such as recognizing the leader within all women, bringing diverse women together as planners and participants, and creating an environment that allows for equity in participation are key foundations of our work.  For example, in relation to recognizing the leader within, CatalystLead believes there are a myriad of internal and external barriers to women’s leadership in our society.  The culture in which we live often teaches women not to see themselves as leaders and even women in officially recognized positions of authority struggle to name themselves as leaders.  Leadership is practiced daily by women and often goes unacknowledged and undervalued.  It is our deep belief that by empowering and valuing the leadership of every woman our families, businesses, organizations, and communities will become healthier, more successful, and more supportive of all individuals.

Leadership training programs can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a company or organization:

• Workshops range in length from a half-day (3-4 hrs) to five full-days (which can potentially be spread out over a course of several weeks).
• Content of the workshops will be decided upon in collaboration with each client.
• Examples of workshops offered by CatalystLead

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