Kennesaw State’s Student Leadership and Service committee partnered with the Professional Mentoring Academy to put on a Dinner and Mentoring Round Table focusing on Women in Leadership on Tuesday, March 10.
The event featured a panel of women in various leadership roles around the Atlanta area. It included several KSU affiliates such as Interim Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Dean of University College and Professor of Leadership Studies Lynn Disbrow, Honors College Dean Rita Bailey and Student Government Association Senator for American Minorities Dasia Jones.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe CEO Debbie Pike, Atlanta OB-GYN Dr. Renita White and Ethics Program Coordinator at Wellstar Health System Jamila Young were also in attendance.
The panel was moderated by Interim Director of Cultural and Community Centers Shameka Wells, who began the panel by asking the women what they felt their own personal leadership style was. The women gave their personal testimonies and concluded that great leaders were also great followers.
“Being a leader means you have to also follow … I don’t know everything about leadership, but what I can do is learn from how others lead,” Young said.
The panel stressed that women typically have to work harder for a seat at the table because they are so accustomed to accommodating others.
“You are never going to be seen as an equal leader if you defer for everyone else,” Bailey said. “Take your seat.”
Students that attended the event participated in the round table discussion following the panel. Many asked the panelists for advice on how to better take their own positions and to elaborate on how they juggle life with careers and family. Disbrow said that progress has been made when it comes to the traditional roles of women in families.
“We all value each other,” Disbrow said. “With the growth of leadership opportunity, some of those [familial] restrictions are gone so we can all blossom and all operate at our highest level. That is something unique to us.”
The panel agreed that there is no longer a glass ceiling but a broken rung, meaning that women are not able to make the first leap into management and leadership positions. The biggest piece of advice the panel gave was for women to own every goal they have.
“You can make it happen, you just have to own the entire process yourself,” Pike said. “Look for places that will support you in your growth.”
International Affairs graduate Vanessa Godinez said that this event inspired her to become a woman in leadership. As a minority woman, she said that the diverse group of panelists showed her that anyone from any demographic can become a powerful woman.
“It is important [to have these events] to hear voices from women from different communities to give their perspectives on areas I did not know about,” Godinez said.
