On February 23, Stacy Allison — the first American woman to summit Mount Everest, in 1988 — will be visiting Chattanooga for a presentation called “Beyond the Limits: Leadership Lessons from the Top of the World.” She is the keynote speaker at the Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute’s 7th Annual Leadership Address to the Community. The event is at the Chattanooga Convention Center, with a VIP reception at 5:30 and the dinner/talk at 6:30.
In support of CWLI we are giving away two free tickets and passes to the VIP reception and dinner with Stacy. Visit our Facebook page for a chance to win:
Want to learn more about the Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute and why they’ve chosen to sponsor this event? Read our interview with Virginia Anne Sharber below:
Q: Can you tell me a bit about the Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute?
A: CWLI was founded in 1996 by seven women who wanted to provide other women with the skills, associations and opportunities to develop as leaders personally and professionally. Since its founding, CWLI has developed into a premier training and networking organization, comprised of over 200 women from the greater Chattanooga area.
What does CWLI do for the community? As a non-profit, non-partisan, membership organization, CWLI achieves it mission through education, training and networking. With respect to the education and training,
(i) we host quarterly leadership luncheons at which local female civic and business leaders speak about women’s issues and other topics relevant to a woman’s development as a leader;
(ii) we host a series of lunch ‘n learn seminars that provide women with the financial know-how to grow as leaders in the board room and in their personal and professional lives;
(iii) we conduct an 10 week course that fosters mentoring skills in women so they can model and teach other women about leadership; and
(iv) this year, CWLI is exploring programs designed to increase the number of Chattanooga women involved in politics, whether as candidates themselves, as voters educated on the issues or as persons involved in campaigns or influencing policy.
Our other tool for achieving our mission is networking. We provide monthly opportunities for women to gather, sometimes introducing attendees to a venue they have not previously attended and other times inviting attendees to the business of one of our members. At the networking sessions, women have the opportunity to make connections and share stories. More experienced businesswomen serve as mentors for those women just getting started.
Q: Stacy Allison’s story is obviously a compelling one. What made CWLI seek to bring her story to Chattanooga?
A: CWLI has hosted a nationally recognized woman leader at its annual Leadership Address to the Community for the past six years. The Leadership Address to the Community has featured such notable speakers as former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller, activist Gloria Steinem and FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair. Last year CWLI expanded the typical audience attending a leadership address when it hosted FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair to speak. Having an audience of as many men as women last year, we realized the event was a valuable tool for modeling female leaders to all types of audiences.
Stacy Allison, famous for her achievements as a mountain climber and an accomplished business woman, has a very compelling story to tell that should have universal appeal. The leadership example she models is vastly different, but still impressive, from the leadership example modeled by last year’s speaker. Because of her experience in the outdoor community, Stacy offers us the opportunity to appeal to another group of folks – the outdoor community – while still being relevant to the business community who has supported the event in the past.
The real value we think Stacy will bring is the demonstration of how lessons learned from excelling in the extreme outdoor sport of mountain climbing can be translated to success in business and everyday life.
Q: What do you hope that women will be able to take away from the Beyond the Limits presentation?
A: We like for women and men to meet women who have been successful in what they do. Seeing models of successful women is helpful for all, male and female alike. Not only will Stacy share with the entire audience tools to be successful, she models that success as a female.
Stacy’s message will be about providing tools for success – skill development, training, discipline, persistence, team building and leadership. All these tools she developed as a climber and fine-tuned and applies to what she is doing now almost 25 years later. Everyone in the audience ought to be able to learn from her message and her example.
Winners will be chosen on February 15th, so you’ll have to act fast if you want a chance to win!
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