Written by February 27th, 2018 marked a very special day in my career. I was proud to be a woman, proud to work at Upper Canada College and proud to be a part of the Cohort 21 family. Each and every aspect of these three identities that I carried with me on that day contributed to the success of our event.
(Click here to see my Cohort21 Action Plan slide deck)
Luckily, we were graced with a glorious day (nothing like what we are experiencing in April) and at around 4:30 pm, our participants started to arrive. The energy was incredible, there was excitement, nerves, anticipation, and everyone seemed so happy! It was wonderful to see connections being made right from the start of the evening.
We were absolutely blessed to have the amazing Emily Doukogiannis set up a headshot booth, free of charge, for our participants. Emily took my headshot a few years ago when I started my journey with Cohort21 as I was searching for a picture of myself that I was proud to share online and I couldn’t find one. I wanted to be in charge of the online footprint that I was leaving behind and this was an important first step for me. Emily is patient and funny and creates an atmosphere that allows for the headshot to truly represent the person who is standing in front of the camera. It feels like magic. Thank you, Emily. I was so proud to have you at the event. I was so excited to offer our participants the opportunity to have a headshot that will make them feel comfortable and proud to be present online.
Around 5 pm we ushered everyone into the remarkable David Chu Theatre, a black box theatre, which instantly created the perfect ambiance. It was intimate and allowed for our panelists to feel comfortable and connected to the participants. What followed can only be authentically described by the following reflections we received:
“It was so interesting and energizing to listen to the journeys of three courageous, strong, and knowledgeable women with such differing stories that ultimately lead to a wealth of success. Not only did I leave feeling empowered as a support staff member, I also felt more
open to the endless possibilities and pathways available to me. I enjoyed hearing Ms. MacNicol, Ms. Perry and Ms. Evans’ perspectives, all of whom shared their unique stories while ‘keeping it real’.”
“I really enjoyed last night’s panel discussion. How great to open up that conversation among women and ‘give permission’ in a way to talk about aspirations/disappointments etc – those things that we all experience, but maybe don’t discuss openly.”
“It was very empowering to listen to the poignant, honest reflections of your expert panel of Educational Leaders.”
The panel was truly magical.
Moderated by Sarah Craig – CIS Ontario Executive Director, our three panelists, Rosemary Evans – Principal of UTS, Martha Perry – Principal of St. Clements and Patti MacNicol – Chief Administrative Officer at UCC, all offered an honest
and open window into their world. As mentioned above, they laughed, some of us cried and most importantly it felt like a collective
sigh of relief was taken inside the room.It didn’t feel competitive, stressful, busy or hard. Time almost stood still. Everyone was just listening and enjoying and reflecting. There was some time for participants to ask questions like “what if I am a highly sensitive person and find myself emotional in my work” and a response of “good for you, you work in education with children and if there isn’t space for that in this profession, what does that say about the work we are doing”.Validation. There was validation to be female, validation to try and fail (and fail again), and validation that the days can be hard but the journey is worth it.
There was empathy. Empathy that despite what you might see, people are doing their best with what they have at that time. Children or no children, families or not, everyone has a world with which they live and empathy and compassion is critical in order for us to thrive as a system. And finally, there was hope. Hope that what you are doing is enough and that what you want to do tomorrow is great and to give yourself time to get where you want to be.
Following the panel, everyone went back upstairs to the student center. Participants were given the opportunity to grab some delicious food prepared by the Cheese Boutique, enjoy a glass of wine, and connect with one another. We started the facilitated networking shortly after in order to give participants the opportunity to truly engage in
conversation and make new connections. We opened with the following 2 “five corners” exercise and observed that some participants engaged in the experience while others chose to network and connect in their own way. Which was great, we wanted this event to feel worthwhile and meaningful and this flexibility allowed for individuals to tailor the experience to their own needs.
The evening concluded with individuals finding someone in the room that had a different coloured “dot” on their name tag allowing them to find someone at a different stage of their career. Perhaps some mentoring relationships were realized in this somewhat organic opportunity to meet someone new and someone experiencing different joys and challenges on a day to day basis.
Leading from the middle has changed the way I see the world. Just do what you see as needing to be done. You don’t need permission to shine.
It was a wonderful collaborative experience with Tina Jagdeo, Deirdre Timusk, and Sarah Craig. Thank you to each of these women for making this experience so valuable for all.
Tina, Deirdre, Sarah and I are reconvening next week to determine next steps for this exciting initiative now that we have survey data from participants. Many of the women want another women’s network event to occur in 2019. We might start an online book club and an overnight retreat is on the table. I am grateful for being a part of this inaugural women’s network event and I can’t wait to see how this network of strong voices will continue to grow.
Here is a sample of some of the other follow up emails we received. They meant a lot to us. In sharing, I hope it helps to share more of the details of the event. Enjoy!
“Sometimes it is hard to pinpoint just what is ‘missing’ in it all- especially given just how busy everyone is day to day. However, your networking event answered that question for me and many others on Tuesday night at UCC. I saw a colleague the next morning and from down the hall, we both just started shaking our heads in silent agreement as we met to both say in unison, “wasn’t last night amazing?” It was very empowering to listen to the poignant, honest reflections of your expert panel of Educational Leaders and I left the talk feeling inspired and motivated by some well-executed facilitated networking.”
“It is so amazing to make space for these important capacity building events for women and I thank you and your team for this opportunity. It filled my cup and has already impacted some next steps which I am planning both personally and professionally.”
“Every bit of feedback I have had,
from those who attended, to the Twitter postings,to the people stuffing their face with meat and cheese, all align with the fact that it was a spectacular event last night! Congrats. It is the start of an excellent network!”
“Three Greenwood teachers came to the event with me and they were still talking about the panel discussion today. All of the panelists gave them things to think about and they appreciated the different perspectives and experiences.”
“I know there were many introductions made and some good sharing of women’s professional lives. In particular, you created a freedom to presume that people could and should approach people they did not know. This was really significant when some women newer to the profession could freely ask questions about growth and next steps. One woman I had never met before, after sharing her hopes with me over the cheese platters (which were delicious) whispered that she had never discussed her aspirations with someone out loud before. It was a very genuine and vulnerable moment. I am sure that there were numerous ‘moments’ like that in the room.”
“I’m sure that everyone there was making connections to their own experiences in some way as they listened.
Thank you for being brave and proactive enough to follow through on your idea.”
“You don’t need permission to shine” — lovely words, @amacrae.
An impressive lesson on leading from the middle, creating important space and the power of taking risks.
I loved the women’s night and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Congratulations, @amacrae, on what sounds like an incredible evening. I just wish that I could have been there! I hope that this culmination of your action plan is, like all of Cohort 21, the end of the beginning and that there will be more events and ongoing connections in the future! This is amazing.
Kudis, Allison!