A Black Girl’s Movement: My journey in podcasting

Check out LINKS Leader, Miss Chase Clark, video and article feature discussing her podcast journey and how Leadership LINKS was at the beginning of her leading and influencing through media.

Watch the video.

Miss Chase currently a student at Wake Forest University. Chase Clark is a college student attending Wake Forest University. She graduated from Southwest Guilford High School in 2022, where she served as Senior Class President and Homecoming Queen.​In high school, she was involved with the Black Cultural Awareness (BCA) Club, Honor Society, Young Visionary Club, and served as a Guilford County Schools Math Tutor. Her future plans include graduating from college and traveling to as many new places as possible. In addition to leading her organization, Chase is very active in her community. She is a proud Girl Scout, a member of Leadership LINKS, a choir and member with the Sister2Sister Mentoring program at Oak Ridge First Baptist Church. She worked with the Teen Grant Writing Committee and ran track with AAU High Point Panthers. ​Chase also serves as an Ambassador for Make-A-Wish Greensboro, and Board Member for the YWCA of High Point (2020-2021) and the Teen Grantmaking Council (2019-2022.) In 2021, Chase founded The Renaissance Project: A Black Girl's Movement podcast. Find the podcast on Apple, Audible, and AmazonMusic.

Black History Month spotlight on Leadership LINKS, Inc.

The non-profit, NC Child, is working to build a stronger North Carolina by focusing on key opportunities for children and their families. The organization’s priorities are: High-Quality Early Childhood Education, Healthy Children, Nurturing Homes and Communities, and Family Economic Security. NC Child shares resources and information with the community to advocate for programs and advance public policies to ensure all children have a chance to thrive.

The NC Child Director for Program Stategy, Fawn Pattison, announced in early February that Leadership LINKS, Inc was selected as 1 of 5 organizations recognized for building black youth leaders in North Carolina. The honorary organizations would be featured on the NC Child marketing platforms in recognition of the mission and work of each organization to encourage the community to support and learn more. The blog and social media promo featured organizations around the state focused on building the leadership of Black children and youth, from early childhood through young adulthood. The blog which recognized the honorees was published on Tuesday, Feb 7th along with posts to Instagram and Facebook.

The blog excerpt opened with a statement from the Community Engagement Specialist for NC Child, Moriah Collins, saying “Black History Month is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements of Black leaders throughout history, but it’s also an opportunity to uplift the vision and work of Black leaders who are making a difference around us right now.”

Leadership LINKS, Inc. is pleased to be recognized by leaders within the community who acknowledge our mission. Our program offerings seek to enrich communities through leadership, mentoring, and education to “Connect people with Purpose.” Visit the NC Child website to read the blog post.

After the initial published post, Leadership LINKS, Inc. was also featured on the EducationNC media site with a reprint of the NC Child announcement.

EducationNC (EdNC) works to expand educational opportunities for all students in North Carolina, increase their academic attainment, and improve the performance of the state’s public schools. They provide residents and policymakers with nonpartisan data, research, news, information, and analysis about the major trends, issues, and challenges bearing on education. The organization gathers and disseminates information employing the most effective means of communication, primarily through the Internet. In addition to the content distributed, EducationNC encourages an active and connected community of those interested in education policy and practice throughout the state. Their work encourages informed participation and strong leadership on behalf of the students of North Carolina. 

We welcome NC Child and EducationNC to our Leadership LINKS Network!

Our leadership team looks forward to partnering with their leaders in the future to help continue this like-minded mission of raising up the next generation of leaders. Together, we are Mentoring Across Generations!

Former Youth Leadership Commitee President, Nilah Williamson, achieves her leadership goals and peer mentorship

Midshipman Nilah Willamson is pictured in uniform standing proudly flanked by the Youth Leadership Committee (YLC) 2022-2023 selected by a vote of their peer Youth LINKS Leaders. Many of the young women in the photo served alongside Miss Nilah two years prior when she was selected by her peers to become the first president of the YLC in the 2020-2021 term.

Nilah Willamson was the only graduating senior in the Leadership LINKS Mentoring Program for Girls in June 2021 when she graduated on June 18, 2021 from Yorktown High School in Virginia. Miss Nilah and the Williamson family have been long-time members of the Leadershp LINKS Network and she holds the status of the Youth LINKS Leader with the longest involvemnet with Leadership LINKS Inc. In 2015, she completed the first Leadership Summer Program for Girls in 2015 as a member of the Leadership LINKS “Inaugural Twenty”, the collective name of the twenty graduates of that pilot program held on the campus of SHABACH! Christian Academy. During that summer program, Miss Nilah discovered the leader she wanted to be and the career that she wished to pursue the moment that a Leadership LINKS Founding Director, Arthur J. Johnson, Jr. US Navy Retired Admiral, introduced her to a flight simulator. He is a veteran U.S. Navy aviator, licensed civilian pilot and the CEO of Destiny Aviation Service, LLC.

As a result of that life-changing experience, Miss Nilah set her sight on a career in military aviation. Miss Nilah desires to follow in her father’s footsteps to become a United States Marine Corps Officer. Her father, Ahmed Williamson, is a 1994 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and currently serves as an active duty Brig. Gen. Miss Nilah was inducted with the plebe class of USNA midshipmen in summer 2021. Now, in her sophomore year at the U.S. Naval Academy, she is excelling academically and performing well in several extra curricular activities.

Prior to her enrollment to the U.S. Naval Academy, Miss Nilah achieved another career highlight. Since that simulator experience, she always dreamed of flying her own plane. She obtained her private pilot’s license in the fall of 2021. Her accomplishment was featured with several news media stations to include Virginia Department of Aviation, Arlington Now Magazine, and Good Morning America.

Miss Nilah says that she “credits the leader that she is today to Leadership LINKS, Inc.” and her parents believe the exposure that the programs provided for their daugther helped her to focus on her goals and achieve them. (See video testimonial on the Leadership LINKS YouTube Channel.)

The Williamson family believe in the mission of Leadership LINKS, Inc. and support the vision of Mentoring Across Generations. Mattrice Williamson has also served as a mentor with the organization’s middle and high school students. Miss Nilah’s long-standing involvement with the organization inspired the Mentoring Program for Young Women (ages 18-30) that began in the fall of 2021 funded by partnership with the Forum for Theological Exploration. In order for graduating high school students to remain connected to the Leadership LINKS Network, they now have the opportunity to obtain career mentors to help them navigate the transition from high school to career. In addition to career mentors, the young women have peer mentors.

Miss Nilah continues to serve as a peer mentor to the Youth LINKS Leaders who are still enrolled in the middle and high school programs. She supports their leadership journeys by offering advice and encouragement for the YLC. She remains a great inspiration for the youth and continues to refer to all of the program participants as her “sister LINKS Leaders” and celebrates their growth and development.

Leadership LINKS, Inc. shines at Social Justice Town Hall (Greensboro, NC)

With 2020 being such a dismal year, we all welcome and are Inspired by good news. The Board of Directors and LINKS Network are pleased to report that our youth leaders continues to do great work in the Triad and beyond. We recently celebrated our five year anniversary and just launched the fourth season of our LINKS Mentoring Program with 22 girls! Most of the girls are located in the Triad area, but since the program is virtual this year, we have representation from five different states. 

Recently, our youth LINKS Leaders participated in the Social Justice Town Hall Meeting hosted by Accountable Youth, Inc. Miss Alanna Thornton (pictured second from the left in the photo above) was selected as the youth moderator for that event. The attached article was written by our youth leaders and representatives, Network Relations Officer, Miss Alanna Thornton (of Greensboro, NC) and Marketing Officer, Miss Ashley Robinson (AL).

Article: Leadership LINKS Shines at Social Justice Town Hall

Miss Alanna Thornton represented the organization and her youth community so well during the discussion on social justice that Leadership LINKS, Inc was invited to moderate the second discussion on government. Youth LINKS Leader, Miss Ramiyah Summers of Jamestown, NC, participating in follow-up event with Greensboro, Mayor Nancy Vaughan. on October 14, 2020 at 6 PM.

Miss Ramiyah Summers was invited to be the guest moderator after submitting questions to the Chief of Police and the Mayor of Greensboro on the topic of voting. These were timely conversations during a historical election of 2020 demonstrating that the youth are listening and encouraging youth leaders to use their voices.

Following the events, the Youth Leadership Committee, Network Relations Officer, Miss Alanna Thornton submitted the following press release summarizing the events and highlights from the town hall discussions.

Article: Town Hall Meeting Discussing Government

Leadership LINKS, Inc. featured story in WaveTops Publication

July 23, 2019, JULY 2019 Edition of WaveTops published by the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation, Class of 2002 Natasha Sistrunk Robinson.

“When you attend a place like the Naval Academy, you’re taught the importance of honor, courage, commitment, giving it your best shot every time, being people of integrity, looking out for others and telling the truth,” says Natasha Sistrunk Robinson ’02. Now she and six fellow alumni are paying it forward with Leadership LINKS, a non-profit offering leadership education for middle- and high-school girls focused on impactful living, spiritual and character development.

Continue reading at WaveTops.

Nonprofit: Leadership LINKS Connects People with Purpose

Greensboro, NC, July 5, 2019 - Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2002, had a dream.

“When you attend a place like the Naval Academy, you’re taught the importance of honor, courage, commitment, giving it your best shot every time, being people of integrity, looking out for others and telling the truth,” Robinson said.

In 2015, she gathered six Naval Academy graduates to form Leadership LINKS, a nonprofit organization with a mission to offer leadership education that facilitates impactful living, spiritual and character development.

The core values of Leadership LINKS — Love, Inspiration, Network, Knowledge and Service — are woven into its mission to connect people with purpose.

Modeling female leadership for middle and high school girls, Leadership LINKS provides programs and experiences designed to encourage young women to embrace their potential.

One of the goals is to expand the vision that girls might have for themselves and to help them see that their future holds a wide range of possibilities, said QuaWanna Bannarbie, a member of the organization’s board of directors.

Since 2016, Leadership LINKS has grown its programming to include the annual Walk in Purpose Leadership Summer Program for Girls; the LINKS Mentoring Program that meets monthly throughout the school year; college preparation and campus visits; and the annual Leadership Experience Tour, or LET.

For the past two years, participants who satisfy their mentoring requirements are invited to attend the LET, whose purpose is to expose LINKS leaders to historical and modern influential leaders in a selected geographic area.

Officials with Leadership LINKS believe the LETs greatly enhance the understanding of transformational leadership.

The LET sites are selected so that LINKS Leaders can walk in the footsteps of and gain understanding from the conscious and influential leaders who have gone before them.

Continue reading at Greensboro News & Record.

Leadership LINKS: Developing our Future Leaders

“It started with a dream and a prayer,” begins visionary founder, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, U.S. Naval Academy, class of 2002, when asked how she brought together six Naval Academy graduates to form a nonprofit with a mission to offer leadership education that facilitates impactful living, spiritual and character development.

Natasha prayed for a connection to like-minded people who were interested in coming together with the understanding that whatever would be done together, united in faith, would be stronger than anything that could be done individually. She developed a list of names of men and women, all of whom were Naval Academy graduates from different generations and backgrounds.

Natasha holds dear a quote from cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Her initial thought was to create a network—a community—that would encourage and support one another in their dreams for the future. She envisioned a safe space where people could thrive individually and collectively, continue their personal and professional growth, and commit to raising up the next generation of leaders.

“When you attend a place like the Naval Academy, you’re taught the importance of honor, courage, commitment, giving it your best shot every time, being people of integrity, looking out for others and telling the truth,” Natasha says. These are the people she would choose to partner with, and she reached out to them in 2012.

Continue reading at USNA Women Shared Interest Group.

USNA Women Shared Interest Group recognizes the leadership education and development of young girls in Leadership LINKS, Inc.

In 2012, visionary founder and chairperson, Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, shared the vision of Leadership LINKS, Inc. with people who she believed shared her desire to grow a collaborative, educational, and encouraging community of like-minded individuals. She wanted to connect others who had the same passions and desires. She reached out to like-minded individuals from her life’s journey—each of them are passionate about sharing their gifts, knowledge and expertise. She began with two friends, QuaWanna Bannarbie and Nicole Hayes. They began sharing ideas regarding our spiritual voyages and how God had laid upon their hearts to encourage others. Acknowledging their expertise in the fields of community service and education, respectively, she requested their feedback, and invited them to join her in forming an organization where they could collectively share with others.

PICTURED: QuaWanna Bannarbie (left), Dr. Tracey Nicole Hayes (middle) and Natasha Sistrunk Robinson (right).

These three leaders at the helm of the organization have more in common than just being great friends. They are graduates of the United States Naval Academy. Dr. Tracey Nicole Hayes is a graduate of the Class of 1992. Mrs. QuaWanna Ne’Cole Bannarbie is a graduate of the Class of 1999. Mrs. Natasha Sistrunk Robinson is a graduate of the Class of 2002.

After her two friends said yes to the vision, Natasha later contacted Arthur Johnson (1979), Davede Alexander (2001), and Tasya Lacy (1997), all of whom would become the founding board members of Leadership LINKS, Inc.

Robinson and Hayes, who are both published authors and editors, recently submitted an article on the topic of this unique sisterhood with LINKS Leader sisters. It was published with the blog of the United States Naval Academy Shared Interest Group.

Read the article here.

Nonprofit: Girls Leadership Edge Helps Middle Schoolers

GREENSBORO, NC, July 6, 2018 - The program is designed to help middle school girls develop the courage, compassion and confidence to be lead themselves and others. Lillian said her confidence has gone from about a six before the program to a nine or even a 10 after the experience.

“I found out that it is very good for girls to be both smart and confident,” she said.

In 1984, Women’s Professional Forum Foundation, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, was created by members of The Women’s Professional Forum to promote, facilitate and support the education and leadership skills and qualities of girls and women. Two years ago, WPFF decided to invest in a leadership experience for middle school girls.

“In middle school, girls can be insecure and sorta lose themselves,” Lillian said. She echoes what the research suggests as a most difficult time in a female’s life.

This life stage, spanning ages 11 to 13 and grades six through eight, is one of extreme transitions. Physical changes, emotional growth and social upheaval are hallmarks of this stage of development. More than any other time in their lives, girls need adult and peer support and guidance to come through the middle school years relatively unscathed.

In partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership and Guilford Nonprofit Consortium, WPFF underwrote the research, design, facilitation and testing of an interactive curriculum for middle school girls ages 13 to 15 in Guilford County.

Lillian McNeal, 14, feels ready for high school, and Girls Leadership Edge was a major factor.

During the fall, 18 Guilford Nonprofit Consortium members whose nonprofits serve middle school girls, took the training on Girls Leadership Edge at The Center for Creative Leadership.

Facilitators received a Resource Tool Kit, a Resource Guide, Girls’ Workbook Exploration Card Decks and experiential activities for each of the five two-hour modules. For six months, the facilitators have offered the program to middle school girls throughout Guilford County.

Tracey Nicole Hayes, founding board member of Leadership LINKS, Inc. and trained GLE facilitator, offered the program to a group of middle school girls through her nonprofit. She said it gave middle school girls an opportunity to be vulnerable in a safe space.

Continue reading at Greensboro News & Record.

HPU Partners with Leadership LINKS, Inc. with Event to Prepare Students for College

HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 29, 2017 – Preparing for college early is not always easy for middle- and high-school students, but a recent event – “LINKS Leader Path to College” – which partnered High Point University with Leadership LINKS, Inc. aimed to do just that.

Leadership LINKS, Inc. – a High Point-based nonprofit organization that focuses on leadership development for young people – teamed with HPU to give seventh to 12th graders, along with their families, educators, and community leaders an opportunity to learn how to best prepare for college while still in middle and high school. It also gave students and families a chance to visit a college campus and hear about potential leadership and scholarship opportunities on campus, such as the Bonner Leader Program. Additionally, they had the opportunity to hear from representatives in the HPU Office of Student Life and the HPU Office of Admissions, as well as students in the Bonner Leader Program.

“Preparing for college early is important not only for admissions and scholarship purposes, but also for the purposes of being successful in college,” says Dr. Allison Blosser, assistant professor of education at HPU who is also on the advisory board of Leadership LINKS, Inc. “Students who have worked hard in high school to develop solid study habits, communication skills, and their ability to manage time effectively will be miles ahead of their peers once they enter college.”

Life preparation, development, and having a strong work ethic speak to the mission and values espoused by the Leadership LINKS organization. Blosser notes that as a society, we talk often of the achievement gap, but one of the less frequently discussed “achievement gaps” in education is the gap in college access for minority and low-income students.

Continue reading at the High Point University official website. 

Summer Program links Future Leaders

TEENAGE GIRLS URGED TO LIVE THEIR DREAMS

August 7, 2017

JAMESTOWN — More than 20 teenage girls sported green T-shirts with the slogan “Live Your Dream” on their backs as they celebrated completion of a faith-based summer leadership program designed to help them accomplish their dreams.

Most of their mentors wore the same shade of green or military uniforms as they gathered with parents and family members at The Point College Preparatory School as Leadership LINKS’ weeklong Walk in Purpose Leadership Summer Program for Girls wrapped up Friday afternoon.
The girls shared their business plans, sang the “Live Your Dream” theme song and repeated Leadership LINKS’ core values creed. Those values focus on connecting people through the links of Love, Inspiration, Network, Knowledge and Service.
Leadership. 

Continue reading this article with a subscription to the High Point Enterprise newspaper. 

Leadership LINKS facilitates the Girls Leadership Edge Curriculum

Eighteen Guilford County Facilitators Earn Certification to Provide New Girls Leadership Edge Program

Greensboro, NC – February 1, 2017 –  The Women’s Professional Forum Foundation congratulates the first eighteen Certified Facilitators of the Girls Leadership Edge program. Girls Leadership Edge is a series of learning modules to be delivered by qualified, highly trained facilitators   across Guilford County. The program modules provide middle school girls age 13 to 15 with the skills to become lifelong leaders in their lives and the communities in which they live.  The program is designed with an emphasis on developing Courage, Confidence and Compassion. 

Building capacity to develop girls in our community was important to WPF members. The following facilitators’ certification is the culmination of a rigorous application process followed by four days of classroom and experiential training at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro.

            Pat Fehlig -  College Planner, College Funding Innovations

            Charlene Gladney - Executive Director, Operation Xcel

            Kelly Graves - Executive Director, Kellin Foundation

            Bridget Gwinnett – Upper School Counsel, Greensboro Day School

            Dr. Tracey Nicole Hayes – Professional Editor, Leadership LINKS, Inc.

            Tasheka Jordan – Teacher, Guilford County Public Schools

            Britt Lassiter – Executive Dir., PEAK Adventure Ministries

            Ellen Lloyd – President, Butterfly Creations, Inc.

            Maria Mayorga – Latino Family Center Coordinator, YWCA, High Point

            Ashley McKiver – Unit Director, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater High Point

            Brenda Mewborn – Founder, Empowered Girls of North Carolina

            Jacqueline Pippens – Parent Educator, Children’s Home Society of NC

            Megan Sappenfield – Program Director, YWCA High Point

            Kristen Tuma – PE Department Chair, Greensboro Day School

            Myrna Wigley – Community Volunteer, Diamonds & Pearls

            Amanda Wycoff – Recruitment/Girl Engagement, Girl Scouts

Girls Leadership Edge is made possible by a grant from the Women’s Professional Forum Foundation (WPFF) in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership(CCL) and the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium.  The WPF Foundation provided the funding and ongoing inspiration for CCL to research, design and test the highly interactive curriculum; develop the robust tool kit of resources; and build organizational capacity by training eighteen community facilitators.

Sue Kennedy, a WPF Foundation board member and Girls Leadership Edge spokesperson, said, “The WPF Foundation has been making grants to organizations with programs that empower girls and women for more than twenty years. After interviewing so many leaders of programs that serve girls, the WPF Foundation recognized a need for an experiential learning curriculum that would support and elevate the remarkable work already being done by those organizations.”

The Guilford Nonprofit Consortium and some of the organizations that serve girls in Guilford County participated in background research and prototype sessions of the five modules.   Feedback from girls and their leaders indicate that the program will make a significant impact. 

Each Certified Facilitator has scheduled Girls Leadership Edge modules into their programming during 2017.

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Dr. Tracey Nicole Hayes, Leadership LINKS, Inc. Founding Board Member, and Girls Leadership Edge Facilitator

About Women’s Professional Forum Foundation

Women’s Professional Forum Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization founded in 1984 by the members of the Women’s Professional Forum in Greensboro, North Carolina to promote, facilitate and support the education and leadership skills and qualities of girls and women. The Women’s Professional Forum is a 173-member organization whose purposes include providing support to professional women, exchanging and sharing information, ideas and experiences, and encouraging women to attain high career goals and enhance their careers through a network of professional contacts.

About Center for Creative Leadership

The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®) is a top-ranked, global provider of leadership development. Ranked among the world's Top 5 providers of executive education by Financial Times and in the Top 10 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CCL has offices in Greensboro, NC; Colorado Springs, CO; San Diego, CA; Brussels, Belgium; Moscow, Russia; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Singapore; New Delhi-NCR, India; and Shanghai, China.

Adam and Ezer: Raising Girls to be More Than "Helpers"

Contributor: Natasha Sistrunk Robinson

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and it was good. The light was good. The land and the sea were good. All of the vegetation was good. The separation of the light from the darkness was good. Every bird and sea creature was good. Every animal God made was also good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,” so he created “man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” “God saw all that he has made, and it was very good (Gen 1:31).”

After God created man to work his beautiful creation (Gen 2:4-7), and steward its resources causing all things to flourish as he desired, man took responsibility. He physically worked and cared for God’s creation alone (Gen 1:15). Then GOD said, “It is not good for the man to be alone (Gen 2:18).”

ADAM AND EZER

What God created from man was not an animal, nor was it like anything else in all creation. God created woman, in his own image and in the image of Adam (Gen 1:27 and Gen 2:23). She was created to be like Adam, yet different. She was created as a solution to right what God saw as a problem, “Adam’s aloneness,” and to also carry the

responsibility, Godly leadership and stewardship of God’s creation.

In the Hebrew language, the Word states that God’s created an “ezer” for Adam. Our English language simply translates the word to “helper” which does not capture the essence of the original language. This word ezer is used throughout the Old Testament often referring to God himself as a helper, warrior, or military aid to his chosen people, Israel. It has connotations of being a strong power or force.

According to the Bible, an ezer does not create more work but rather lifts the burden or lightens the load because none of us, in our human condition, can do the work of God alone. Author Carolyn Custis James writes extensively about this research beginning with her book Lost Women of the Bible. On this topic, I also recommend the book, Reclaiming Eve: The Identity & Calling of Women in the Kingdom of God.

When I think about fundamentals of Christian discipleship, specifically as it relates to women, I am convinced that women need to first Know and Love God, only then can they affirm their identity in Christ Jesus, and love their neighbors as they love themselves. These are the tenets outlined in my book, Mentor for Life. The identity piece is so important because from the beginning of all creation, women need to know that we are created in God’s image and are ezers in God’s kingdom.

SETTING MEN AND WOMEN FREE

All women are ezers. We are leaders. This is an identity we must embrace from a God we desperately need to know, who in love has called us his very own and given us a new family and community where we will never again be alone. This truth shakes the gates of hell, transforms lives, and changes generational curses on families and community. This truth sets men and women free!

Women as leaders was God’s good plan from the very beginning. Indeed, this was a gift to Adam. It is sin that caused the curse and division between men and women, and it is Christ who resurrects it. Christ did not die for us to live a little bit better than our sin. Christ died for us to live as God originally intended in the first place. Therefore, we must unlearn our cursed behavior, and walk in the newness of Christ and live!

This is why I offer leadership education that cultivates character development and spiritual formation. Through the nonprofit, Leadership LINKS, Inc., female and male leaders partner together to model and teach biblical leadership to the next generation. We have begun by first offering education through an annual leadership summer program for girls. Girls who lead become women who lead.

THE FALL AND THE GAP

Because of The Fall, we must unlearn bad behavior and then model and teach new ones. Last summer, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released a report for the Making Caring Common Project. The title was “Leaning Out: Teen Girls and Leadership Biases.” The report stated what many of us already know:

Gender gaps persists: male leaders still far outnumber women leaders in many fields, including business and politics. Many teen boys and teen girls appear to have biases against girls and many women leaders and teens perceive their peers as biased against female leaders.

These problems are all heightened when you consider the prevalence of racial and ethnic biases.

Some mothers are part of the problem, and mothers can indeed be part of the solution.

One of the recommendations to encourage leadership among girls, and to address the unconscious bias against girls as leaders was to use programs and strategies that build girls’ leadership skills. The report recommends that high quality programs include exposure, skill development, collaboration, mentorship, and high expectations and meaningful opportunities. We offer this and more through our summer learning opportunity.

Our week long leadership program includes professional skill development, leadership and team learning opportunities, and features youth-led projects and opportunities for the youth to teach. We also provide a biblical framework for community service and global advocacy.

Our Leadership Exploration Series provides exposure to career fields where women are traditionally underrepresented or underpaid: Military and Government, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), Media and Arts, and Business and Entrepreneurship, while providing access to inspiring female and male leaders in these various fields. Our entire program is managed by Jesus-loving, military veterans with a wealth of leadership and mentoring experience in the military, government, education, community, church, and nonprofit sectors.

When I became a Christian, it gave me the opportunity to walk in the fullness of what I already knew as a girl…I am a leader. Exercising leadership and being a good steward of our work is part of what it means for humans to be created in the image of God. For young people to lead well, we must model this truth and teach it to the next generation. We must raise up girls who lead!

Excerpts from this article first appeared on the Missio Alliance website where Natasha serves on the writing team.