Leaders come in all shapes and sizes – and genders. This past Saturday, October 11th was International Day of the Girl. You may not have heard about this as it’s a relatively new day of recognition that was established by the United Nations in 2011 to raise awareness about gender inequality around the world. Our own Lisa Schauer is the current chair of H-ROC, a local political action committee that promotes women in leadership positions. Lisa is a great role model for other women and girls who aspire to be leaders. She has either been very active or held leadership positions on several local non-profit boards, committees, and organizations. So many, in fact, that I have lost count -- not to mention she is the first female partner in the 40 year history of MacKay Sposito! So you may be asking, “How do these relate?” Well, Lisa and the H-ROC Board discovered one good way to encourage and support more women leaders was to mentor them at a young age. So, they formed a Girls ROC group earlier this year. The Girls ROC group is focused on encouraging middle and high school aged girls to take on leadership roles.
The efforts of H-ROC, Girls ROC, and the United Nations came together this past week in Clark County. The members of Girls ROC spent the summer meeting with City Council members from Vancouver and Camas to identify barriers to women and girls and to write proclamations for each City to recognize the Day of the Girl. Lisa said it was a big effort with lots of meetings required to get proclamations written that each City could move forward. Both Cities accomplished this earlier in the week. Then, this past Saturday at Clark College there was a Day of the Girl reception which included a screening of the documentary “Miss Representation.” The film challenges the media’s limited portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself. The guest speaker for the reception was Clark College Alum Dr. Caroline Heldman, a professor at Occidental College who took part in the film. Dr. Heldman also is the co-founder of Critical Response, a group that provides help when disasters strike.
Lisa says the Girls-ROC group is gaining more attention and will likely grow to be much more than a local group. She was amazed at how the families of the girls participating in Girls-ROC are so engaged and committed to empower the girls. I think they found inspiration in Lisa and the rest of the H-ROC members and realized some of the limitations they face just needed to be stared down. Way to demonstrate how to be a strong woman leader, Lisa!
http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/oct/10/international-day-girl-roc-clark-county/
