alexandria
The Last Day of the WPSP Training Program
Sorry everyone for being MIA for the last few days. I had to travel from DC to Boston, pack, and then fly from Boston to San Diego…and had to rush to finish a final paper! But I am back and will be posting more in the next few days about my thoughts on the conference. I wanted to, first, quickly recap my last day at the conference in DC.
The very last day of the emerging leaders training program of the State Department’s Women in Public Service Project (WPSP) was bittersweet. We were proud of the work we had done and the things we learned, but were sad to leave each other.
Though the first day we discussed the barriers that women need to overcome to be more visible in public service, the last day focused on action plans we could implement when we returned to our countries and communities. Many women discussed creating caucuses or coalitions of women in their parliament, others mentioned creating education plans to implement in local schools to teach young girls about the options available to them, others made plans for a database of women qualified for public service jobs (Christine Lagarde mentioned she has this!), while others thought that social media campaigns could help to show women that they are welcome in jobs of public service.
What are my plans? I plan on using social media (like this blog!) to target student populations to inform young women that they are just as qualified as men to participate in positions of leadership. I also plan on mentoring Wellesley College First-years (what we call FreshMEN because there are no men) and Sophomores about how they can become involved in public service.
I say that the day was bittersweet, though, because we ultimately had to leave and say goodbye to each other. In the two days that we worked together at the program, we had formed bonds and became good friends…united by working towards a common goal. Even though I was just student attending, all of the delegates treated me as if I was one of them. Rangita de Silva de Alwis, from Wellesley Centers for Women and the woman who organized the entire training program, even told me I had to write that I was also an “emerging world leader” or she would comment with it on the blog! haha
Luckily, our conversation from the training program has not stopped and we have been sharing ideas over an email group and a group on Facebook. Hopefully, this conversation will never stop and, eventually, we can bring the issue out of our Facebook group and into mainstream society.
P.S. So what will you do to promote women in public service positions? Any thoughts?
posing before saying goodbye to my new friends, emerging women leaders from around the world
Women in Public Service: Are we living up to less than our dreams?
“Because man and woman are the complement of one another, we need woman’s thought in national affairs to make a safe and stable government.”-Elizabeth Cady Stanton
When I was little I wanted to be President of the United States, but I remember being told that it’s primarily a man’s role. Unfortunately, I think a lot women end up settling for less than their dreams.
Did you know that in the US women make up 52% of the population and nearly half of the workforce, but only about 17% of the seats in each the House and Senate? I feel fortunate to be at Wellesley where, for obvious reasons, there are few men competing for leadership positions and academic attention. I think this helps women to feel comfortable and more empowered to assert themselves. I’ve found support for my new political dreams as a student at Wellesley — I now plan to go into political PR.
Next summer, Wellesley will be hosting the first of The State Department’s Summer Institutes, which are being established to provide women in leadership roles from around the world with training on how to become more active in public service. This initiative will try to identify the main issues preventing women from being involved in politics and attempt to break the political “glass ceiling.” I’m really looking forward to being part of the planning for it.
I opened with a quote – I’ll end with one too. When she was National Democratic Institute Chairman, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright (a Wellesley Alum!) commented: “Every country deserves to have the best possible leader and that means that women have to be given a chance to compete. If they’re never allowed to compete in the electoral process then the countries are really robbing themselves of a great deal of talent.”
What do you think: can the government effectively represent our entire population if women are not equally represented? Comment below!
P.S. Follow my posts while I’m at the Women in Public Service Project Colloquium at the State Department December 15th!
About Me, About this Blog
The About Me, About This Blog page is up! Check it out either in the link here or click on the tab at the top of the site (below the banner) to learn about this blog.
I want this to be an interactive site, so feel free to give advice and respond to posts. I look forward to your future comments!
-P.S.Ali
