If you didn’t know, Women in Leadership is a student initiative on campus which motivates and encourages young women to take on leadership roles in both their personal and professional lives. The club was founded in 2011 by a group of young women in business, known as the Odette Women in Management. OWIMA later became WIL, and decided to be inclusive to all students on campus, in all faculties. In the past, WIL has created a number of successful initiatives like #HeForShe by UN Women, Lean in Circles, and a number of collaborations with other student groups and societies.
When I sat down to talk to their president Erin Dufour, I was inspired by her motivation and drive to keep feminism well and alive on our campus. Women in Leadership plans on hosting a number of events on campus for the 2016-2017 academic school year. Events like Ted Talks, round table discussions, communication strengthening seminars, confidence building activities, and so much more will be offered on campus. When I asked Erin what she’s looking forward to the most about being president of such an influential group, she said, “I am looking forward to seeing all of the accomplishments we can make as a group working with a feminist agenda, as well as making an impact in the lives of many young women on campus.”
The group of young women wants to work alongside other women’s groups like Students Advancing Women in Sport, Women in Engineering, Odette School of Business, and the Women’s and Gender Studies Department. Dufour told me that “A lot of women are scared to identify as feminists and this year we’re making a bigger effort to be visible on campus in order to inform students about who we are and what we do.”
Dufour is most excited about a leadership training this fall hosted by LAWS and SAWS (Leadership Advancement for Women in Sport and Students Advancing Women in Sport). The training will cover Maxwell’s 21 irrefutable laws of leadership led by a certified Maxwell trainer and those who successfully finish the program will receive a certificate of completion. The training will be held this fall every Wednesday night from 4:30-6:50PM and it begins October 19, 2016.
If you’re interested in becoming a member of WIL or in attending any of the training workshops, look out for them at Clubs Week or you can also contact them at wil@uwindsor.ca for more information.
Wishing this group of motivated young women the best success this year.