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How did I get here?
Sometimes life gives you unexpected opportunities…
In early March, I attended a Women’s Junior League Leadership Conference. Throughout my career, I have embraced education sponsored leadership offerings; I was curious what I could learn from the business world. I wasn’t disappointed. Women leaders expanded my view of what it means to lead.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the variety of women present. As we changed rooms for breakout sessions, I decided to sit with women I didn’t know and women who looked unlike me just for the experience. That’s how I met Giftie Umo.
She is a delightful young woman from Nigeria. As we chatted, she shared how she came to this country as an International Intern, funded by Urban Promise Wilmington. Her fellowship is focused on her passionate commitment to assist girls in third world countries who don’t have the opportunities so many of us take for granted every day.
Last year, she founded the Leading Girls Network, “a nonprofit organization with a mission to equip girls in elementary and high schools in rural communities with skills and educational support necessary to live their dreams and contribute towards the development of their communities through afterschool and vocational training programs.”
I shared my work with her, and we have stayed connected. Then, last week, she contacted me. She asked if I knew that the United Nations declared August 12 as International Youth Day (since 1999), an annual celebration of the role of young women and men as essential partners in change. She sent me an article about the 2019 theme “Transforming education.”
Then she surprised me with her invitation to be the guest expert on next week’s Twitter chat. What an honor! I hope you can join us – apparently we will have participation around the globe.
You never know what might happen when you introduce yourself to somebody new.
If my ideas here resonated with you…
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