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PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | WINTER 2016
The first webinar, titled Women in STEM — Fearlessness, Grit and Determination, featured Monica
Bay (Stanford CodeX Fellow), Alison Grounds (Troutman Sanders) and Gail Goehrer (aorney and chair of
the Monica Bay STEM Leadership Commiee). They noted that a common thread among successful women
is their willingness to be fearless, to embrace challenges, to create opportunities for themselves and others,
and to refuse to let setbacks slow them down. Their belief in themselves and their abilities, along with their
determination to make a difference, provides valuable lessons for women at all stages of their careers.
The panel for the second webinar, Women in STEM — Failure Is an Option: The Growth Mindset,
included Lisa Beard (Amazon), Bernadee Bulacan (Thomson Reuters) and Donna Payne (PayneGroup and
member of the Monica Bay STEM Leadership Commiee). The speakers shared personal stories and urged
aendees to recognize that, as women, it's important for us to have the courage to fail –– and learn from
failure –– rather than feel we have to be perfect at every turn. Without failures, we are inhibited from potential
growth and from discovering our true talents and potential. Growth, however, requires being willing to
develop a good strategy while being open to input from others, in addition to hard work. The rewards are rich,
but the path is sometimes hard to find.
Some of the key questions and discussion included how to determine whether you have a growth
mindset, a fixed mindset or something in between; the perfectionist syndrome; why many leaders advocate
failing quickly and learning to pivot and move on; ways to give and receive feedback; how to cultivate
relationships; and how to prioritize and ensure you achieve personal growth.
In our third webinar in the series, Women in STEM — You Don't Have To Be Wonder Woman, a
distinguished panel addressed the fact that confident women in the workplace are oen viewed as being
overly aggressive or even bossy. As a result, women face the challenge of excelling at their jobs while
combaing the negative ramifications of these labels. Some gain confidence by standing in the Wonder
Woman pose made famous by Lynda Carter. Others, however, must look for other strategies. Our speakers,
Leanne Burch (Child & Adult Welfare Specialist Office of Chief Counsel Arkansas Department of Human
Services), Tracy Elmblad (Hinshaw & Culbertson), Monica Bay (Code X Fellow) and Judith Flournoy (Kelley
Drye & Warren and member of the Monica Bay STEM Leadership Commiee), shared their insights on
how to be "acceptably assertive" while staying true to yourself. They discussed ways to succeed while being
unapologetically confident and how to build confidence and find the approach that's right for you.
Inspired by Monica Bay and the interest in the Monica Bay STEM Leadership Award, this year, the Monica Bay STEM
Leadership Committee, in conjunction with the Women Who Lead ILTA subgroup, collaborated to present three
webinars on the subject of STEM, leadership, transition and growth.
by Donna Payne of PayneGroup and Gail Goehrer of Akerman LLP
3 Webinars on STEM, Leadership,
Transition and Growth
EXTRAS
3 Webinars on STEM, Leadership, Transition and Growth
The popularity of these webinars confirms the fact that women are open to learning from the experiences of others, and, more important, we
are willing to share our own unique stories.
Additional webinars are planned for 2017 and will include topics such as "Surviving and Thriving As Leaders in Difficult Work Environments,"
and "How Did I Get Here from There, a Discussion on Navigating Your Career."
For more information, go to www.linkedin.com/groups/monica-bay-stem-leadership-8476540/about. P2P
