November ‘Lead Out Loud!’ Conference Aims To Inspire Young Women

By John Voket

In September 2005, Paralympic Athlete Aimee Mullins and Olympic Gold Medalist Kristine Lilly headlined a day of inspiring workshops and roundtable discussions with leaders from a wide variety of fields at Newtown High School. With more than 200 girls in attendance, the first annual “Lead Out Loud!” conference helped attendees learn more about competition, self-confidence, how to deal with stress, be their own coach, and much more.

The students and parents attending had an opportunity to speak directly with leaders in business, education, fashion design, sports, media, performing arts, politics, and science. Separate workshops were held exclusively for parents focusing on “Stressed Out Girls,” “Raising Healthy Daughters,” and “Nonviolent Communication,” according to conference volunteer Joan Conlon whose daughter was also involved in planning the event.

“As far as I can find this is the only conference of it’s kind in the region,” Ms Conlon said. “The program and production for the day is put together by a core committee of high school girls who work with Esteemed Woman Foundation founder Suzie Galler and Ella Opuszynski, along with Newtown Athletic Director Gregg Simon.”

Ms Conlon said volunteers have been meeting since the summer and have scheduled a great slate of speakers and workshops for the second annual “Lead Out Loud!” conference, Saturday, November 18. Student organizers including her daughter, Maricate Conlon, Sally Tabler, Sara Parker, Dana Gnerre, and Jax VanWaalwicjk are holding free drawings for T-shirts and free passes to the conference during lunch periods to publicize the event at the high school.

“Last year attendance was over 250; this year the girls hope to increase that to over 300,” Ms Conlon said.

The second annual “Lead Out Loud!” conference is produced by the Esteemed Woman Foundation, sponsored by Wachovia Bank, and hosted by the Southwest Conference Athletic Directors at Newtown High School. Besides Mr Simon, Principal Arlene Gottesman is working closely with volunteers on the event.

“Last year’s ‘Lead Out Loud!’ conference was a great event…very moving and inspirational. I hope more female students and parents take advantage of the opportunity to come this year,” Ms Gottesman said. “The role models in the world of business, politics, medicine, coaching, and science are too few and far between as far as those getting a lot of publicity or recognition.”

Ms Galler explained this week that leadership in women is more important now than ever.

“We’re hoping there workshops inspire the next generation of great female American leaders,” Ms Galler said. “I’m seeing some great leadership already from the core committee members, who are much more a part of shaping the structure of the conference than they were last year.”

In a recent op-ed column, Ms Galler said she wrote about her frustration in not seeing enough women leaders outside the entertainment realm.

“Every time I think of Katie Couric hosting the evening news, I get a little teary eyed,” she wrote, “not because I swell up with pride when I consider the historical significance of actually having a woman anchoring a news broadcast solo!

“While I greatly admire Katie and how hard she has had to work to reach this level of success, that’s not what gets me. No, I think it has more to do with the fact that 30-plus years after the start of the women’s rights movement, I find myself asking, is this is the best we can do?”

Ms Conlon said the conference is open to all high school age girls with priority registration for Southwest Athletic Conference schools. Using sports as a metaphor for leadership, “Lead Out Loud!” is bringing together leaders from a variety of fields with the goal of helping young women develop leadership skills, and inspiring them to look at their fields of interest from a leadership perspective.

The day will begin with a keynote address from WNBA star and Olympic Gold Medalist Kara Wolters.

“It’s amazing how everything I’ve learned through sports — such as teamwork, discipline, self-motivation, sacrifice, and dedication — all apply to the real world. The skills needed to become a world-class athlete are the same skills needed to be successful in school and the corporate world,” Ms Wolters said.

Her address is followed by interactive workshops and round table discussions with women leaders from a number of fields. Throughout the day workshops will be conducted on topics including, “How to Be Your Own Best Coach,” “Ethical Competition,” “Finance,” “Finding Your Voice,” “Journey To Power,” and more. 

Like last year, there will also be special workshops for parents and educators. The day’s events will culminate with a performance of the highly acclaimed one-woman show, “In Our Right Minds” starring actress Dale Allen.

“This will be a fantastic one-woman show, and a very uplifting way to end the day,” Ms Galler said. Ms Galler, who has produced the acclaimed documentaries I Am Beautiful and I Am My Mother’s Daughter, will be screening the latter during the parents track at the Newtown conference.

“My film is exactly what I want to say to mothers who always want to be presenting a positive message to their children,” she said.

Registration begins October 1 with priority seating going to the students in the South West Athletic Conference. Preregistration is required; no tickets will be available at the door.

Those who register early for the November 18 conference will get first priority of workshop sessions plus an early bird discount. For more information visit www.esteemedwoman.org or call 938-8833.