Andrews Institute's Music City Girls Lead! Academy fosters leadership skills
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
The next generation of Middle Tennessee leaders is honing their skills at Lipscomb University in two special academies designed for high school girls. Seventeen local high school girls completed the latest Music City Girls Lead! Academy, which wrapped up its third session with a special graduation program Jan. 31.
It was the third cohort to complete the program. The next academy begins this Saturday, Feb. 14, Music City Girls Lead! is a program that gives Nashville area high school girls a unique opportunity to develop their leadership skills through a leadership academy designed specially for high school girls by Lipscomb University’s Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership in partnership with the Champions4Women Committee of the Nashville Local Organizing Committee (NLOC), who hosted the 2014 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Nashville.
Emily Reynolds, vice chair of the Tennessee Board of Regents and former senior vice president, Tennessee Valley Authority, and former secretary of the U.S. Senate (2003-2007), addressed the graduates at the ceremony. Reynolds shared with the young women a history lesson of “how women got to be where they are today.”
“It’s important for you all to know as you move forward with the exciting things going on in your lives how all of us as women go to where we are today. There is an incredible story in government and politics about the roles women have played through the years. History is always a good place to start and gain perspective.”
She used Abigail Adams, the writings of Alexis deTocqueville and the Women’s Suffrage Movement as examples of people and events that have shaped the path for women throughout history. She told the story of Rebecca Felton, a senator from Georgia who served for one day in 1922.
“She gave a speech in the Senate chamber on her one and only day on the job,” said Reynolds. “And it was profound. She said to the men in the chamber, ‘When the women of the country come in and sit with you, you will get ability, you will get integrity of purpose, you will get exalted patriotism and you will get unstinted usefulness.”
Today, there are 20 women serving in the United States Senate.
Reynolds, who also reflected on her experience as a woman in predominantly male professions, challenged the young women to be lifelong learners, to be financially savvy, to be engaged citizens and to keep their sense of humor.
“Be true to your vision. Do exactly what you want to do, but know that having that business savvy is so important,” said Reynolds. “Be engaged in your local, state and national elections. You all are leaders. As leaders people will look to you throughout life to see what you are thinking on the issues and to see you involved. Think about putting your own name on a ballot, so that you can one day make a difference.”
She also encouraged the Music City Girls Lead! participants to support other young women.
“Look out for each other. As women, we need to look out for each other in life,” she said. “We are a team. There are still barriers that women need to break down every day. There are strength in numbers. We strong as a team. It makes such a difference at the end of the day.”
“We believe it is important to build tomorrow’s leaders,” said Patricia Pierce, chair of the 2014 Champions4Women committee. “This program’s content, the experiential activities, the opportunity to meet influential women leaders in our community, and the personal mentor relationship with a professional woman has challenged and will help empower these girls to achieve their fullest potential and become leaders in the classroom and in life.”
Music City Girls Lead! is a leadership academy designed specifically for high school girls in grades nine through 11 in the Middle Tennessee area. It was created as part of the activities leading up to the Women’s Final Four that took place in Nashville April 6-8, 2014, to raise awareness of and to promote women as leaders. Students have explored the topics of developing as a leader, becoming an ethical leader in a multicultural society, developing vision and voice, learning to use technology in leadership roles, promoting wellness and health, and transforming vision into results. The Jan. 31 graduation ceremony marked the third cohort to complete the program. To date, 78 high school girls from the region have participated.
Members of the third cohort include Gagana Borra, Martin Luther King Magnet School; Ella Cameron, Tate Elliott, University School of Nashville; Laura Easter, Station Camp High School; Delany Estrada, Cane Ridge High School; Elizabeth Freeland, Ensworth High School; Margaret Gaw, Harpeth Hall; Ellie Hildabrand, Ravenwood High School; Kassidy Hudgins, E.W. Grove High School; Elizabeth Kimbrough, Amy Nguyen, Saint Cecilia Academy; Jessica Lee, Davidson Academy; Mikayla Lowe, Beech High School; Rojeda Merani, Anna Sager, Lipscomb Academy; Madison Shae, Central Magnet High School; and Kyana Watson, Oakland High School.
“This is truly a legacy program of the Women’s Final Four because it continues on long after the basketball games are over as ours ended last year,” said Pierce. “We believe this is one of the best programs in the country and we feel that the NCAA feels the same way because they think that our program is well designed and we’ve so many successful women come through the program.”
Andrews Institute administrators were asked by the Nashville Sports Council and the Champions4Women planning committee to create Music City Girls Lead! because of the institute’s work in developing female leaders through its CABLE Leadership Academy and other initiatives.
“These young women are already leaders,” said Linda Peek Schacht, Andrews Institute founding director. “This new leadership academy is designed to strengthen girls in their pursuit of excellence through classroom and online learning, community experience and direct mentoring. We have learned from them as they made the most of this opportunity to interact with the phenomenal pool of Middle Tennessee women who have shared their leadership lessons and experiences. Our goal is for them to build lasting relationships with these mentors and with their peers from across the state.”
A number of local leaders and experts on leadership development served as faculty for sessions for Spring 2015 Cohort I. Music City Girls Lead! faculty presenters included Pat Pierce, Champions4Women chair and member of the Nashville Sports Council and CABLE boards of directors; Linda Peek Schacht, founding director of the Andrews Institute; Beverly Watts, executive director, Tennessee Human Rights Commission; Melanie Matthews, program coordinator, Music City Girls Lead!; Monica Wentworth, director, Lipscomb University Career Development Center; and Aerial Ellis, partner, DeGard Ellis Public Relations and Lipscomb University communications instructor; and Catherine Cate, executive director, Leadership Tennessee.
Music City Girls Lead! is a three-session program that culminates with a graduation ceremony and will serve as a lasting legacy of the Women’s Final Four. Two academies were held in 2014 and two are planned for this year. Stacey Levine, an Andrews Institute fellow and graduate student, developed the program as the capstone project for her studies.
Each academy is open to 30 girls. Participants are nominated by high school officials at public and private schools or by a community organization across the state. Schacht said participant selection will be based on a student’s high school academic achievement, leadership in school activities and participation in community activities in addition to references from educators and others in the community, a written essay and the individual’s educational goals.
For more information, visit civicleadership.lipscomb.edu or call 615.966.6155.
NOTE: Lipscomb University underscores that membership or participation in Music City Girls Lead! is not limited by sex and is open to all students regardless of sex, despite its name. The Music City Girls Lead! program was discontinued in 2018.