Which of the following facts are women’s leadership issues? (a) Girls and boys are less likely to support other girls in leadership positions. (b) Mothers display bias against girls as leaders (c) All of the above. If you answered “c,” you’re right. Last month, Harvard’s Making Caring Common Project published these findings in “Leaning Out: …
Are You Coming Back to Work? There are a few pregnant women at my office, and as their bellies grow, so do the number of questions they are constantly asked. In addition to the usual queries about gender and due dates, one I frequently hear is, “Are you going to come back to work?” I never …
It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green (But Sometimes It’s Pretty Powerful)
Former GLI Communications Intern, Katie Davis, explains how true leadership means being unafraid to ask questions, take risks, and grow, even in the face of uncertainty.
“You could always just eat cheese all day. You’re good at that.”
I had been out of college for six months, and I’d arranged dozens of informational interviews with nonprofit professionals and drafted hundreds of unanswered cover letters to women-focused organizations before I really hit the low point of my unemployment. It’s not that I lack respect for the fine cheese connoisseurs of the culinary world, but I am not a chef or a foodie, and my friend’s suggestion that my most marketable quality was my ability to consume Cracker Barrel cheddar by the block just about pulled the last Jenga piece out of my increasingly shaky sense of self-confidence.
Mothers’ Leadership: Confidence, Conflict Resolution, and Coffee at 3AM
Mothers are the number one influencers of girls’ leadership ambitions. At GLI, we’re celebrating Mother’s Day and honoring mothers by sharing their stories of personal and professional leadership. In this piece, mother Stacy Peña shares her thoughts on confidence, conflict resolution, and what being the face of leadership means to her.
No one likes conflict. Not the young, not the old. Women in particular learn at a young age to please, and to make nice with those who disagree with us. When the naysayers argue loudly, we learn that if we don’t want to give in, then we had better sidestep them quietly. We’d better stay …
Waiting for Cookies
Shannon writes about her hunch that anyone who is good at anything has to be comfortable with being awful at it, and you can’t wait for inspiration. You have to get to work, even if you’re living in a cookie-less world!
Inspiration is like cookies. It comes in batches. I don’t know why it works this way, but it does. I’m going along, when – bam – a photo, a book, a friend, a stranger, something gets under my skin and makes me want to pick up my pen. The world starts popping with creative energy, …
Camp Update from Residential Counselor, Michelle
Guest Blogger, Summer Camp Counselor, Michelle Gonzalez, talks in this post about how her experience as a GLI staff has been for her!
When I googled “feminist summer camp” last fall, GLI was the first listing at the top of the page. As I checked the link and started learning about the organization, I knew this would be the best place to spend my summer. School could not end any sooner, as my excitement about slip n’ slides …
So, what are you going to do after you graduate?” As a junior in college majoring in the liberal arts, this question plagues me on a weekly basis. By this point in my college career, I have a few standard responses. The hopeful: “I’m going to make cultural change.” The indignant: “I’m going to do …
Young Adult Fiction – YA, to those of us in the know – is all the rage right now. With Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay recently released and following in the age group-transcending footsteps of Harry Potter and Twilight, everyone seems to agree that it’s okay for a grown-up to read a kid’s book. Even the New York …
When people told me that post-college life would be difficult, I believed them. I just didn’t believe that it would be difficult for me. I graduated from Smith College on May 17th 2010. I moved back home to Harlem and my mother’s couch ready for the next phase of my life. It’s August 2010 and …
It’s hard to believe I started my first GLI camp experience just one week ago. It started with four days of intense training. I admittedly thought we would be spending our days sitting around going over important guidelines and schedules for camp. However, I was pleasantly surprised to begin our first meeting with an emotional …