LM Sept. 2018

IASA to Kick Off “Celebrating Women in Leadership” Series at Annual Conference #IASASuperWomen By Mary Schaefer IASA Director of Communications & Marketing

The IASA “Celebrating Women in Leadership” series will officially kick-off at the IASA Annual Conference this month. On Wednesday Sept. 26th, female superintendents will gather for the first annual meeting of “Celebrating Women in Leadership” as part of the IASA Annual Conference. Dr. Nancy Blair, Professor Emerita of Leadership Studies at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, WI will lead the kick-off session discussing opportunities, challenges and successes that females face in the role of superintendency. And in October, IASA will host Super-Region luncheon meetings in three locations across the state: October 1 in Glen Ellyn , October 4 in Springfield and October 22 in Mt. Vernon . The luncheons are a free event for all female superintendents in Illinois. Registrations are required the Friday before the event. Individuals can register here . Planning for the year-long launch of “Celebrating Women in Leadership” started in February when IASA appointed a special planning committee co-chaired by Dr. Courtney Orzel, superintendent of Lemont-Bromberek CSD #113A and Sara Boucek, IASA Associate Director/Legal Counsel. The planning committee met in February to begin the scheduling of several networking meetings around the state throughout the year to build supports for female superintendents as they share stories of leadership. “Recognizing the unique needs and challenges faced by our female superintendents is the first step in taking action to bringing programs, professional development and support for their work in leading school districts,” said IASA Executive Director Brent Clark. “IASA remains committed to creating opportunities that help support this segment of our membership.” The planning committee’s objective was to examine how to bring women superintendents together for leadership, encouragement and networking opportunities. Many superintendents find the top job can be lonely and seeking out avenues for networking and support can be a challenge. The planning group discussed some of the unique barriers and challenges that females face in the role of being

a superintendent in addition to the fact that females are a minority in superintendent ranks. “Our planning committee came together with big ideas and said, ‘let’s do something about this’ and move forward to create spaces of support for female superintendents. We discussed some of the potential reasons why we are seeing such an underrepresentation of female superintendents. Overall, we want to examine some potential things we can do to grow those numbers,” said Dr. Orzel, co-chair of the Women in Leadership Planning Committee. “From our discussions, we’ve scheduled several official meetings throughout the year for female superintendents to gather to network and explore unique challenges and opportunities. We want to hear from female superintendents in the state on what their needs are, how IASA can serve them better and at the same time we want to celebrate the work that they do.” As part of the kick-off annual conference meeting, individuals in attendance will be given an opportunity to participate in a book study later in the year at the Joint Annual Conference in November in Chicago. The Joint Annual Conference Workshop will be held on Friday, November 16th from 9 a.m.–noon. Dr. Blair will lead a three-hour workshop for female superintendents and host a book study. The various meetings throughout the year will examine ways female superintendents can grow their ranks and encourage more women to enter leadership roles in the field of education. Special thanks to the IASA Women in Leadership Planning Committee: Dr. Kim Boryszewski, Schiller Park SD #81 Dr. Alicia Geddis, Danville CCSD #118 Dr. Lindsey Hall, Mahomet-Seymour CUSD #3 Carrie Hruby, O’Fallon CCSD #90 Dr. Crystal Johnson, Rossville-Alvin CUSD #7 Julie Kraemer, Hutsonville CUSD #1 Dr. Kimako Patterson, Prairie-Hills ESD #144 Dr. Bhavna Sharma-Lewis, Diamond Lake SD #76

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