Hello, From Women Who Succeed
A Note from Erin,
We launched Women Who Succeed on March 23, 2021, and in two short months so much has been accomplished, and yet there is still much to do! I am grateful for the brilliant minds, willing hearts, and valued perspectives of all those joining our efforts. Building a plane while you fly it, isn’t for everyone; but the courageous, strong women of this group don’t seem to mind at all! I hope this update finds you all well and I look forward to seeing you in person as our world opens and our events begin this summer.
Meet the Team
Mark Your Calendars
Women Who Succeed Kahlert Mixer
Thursday, July 29, 5:30-7:30 pm, Kahlert Village at the University of Utah
The core objective of Women Who Succeed is to help young women envision and build an educational pathway to the future they aspire to. That is why we are excited for the first WWS engagement with young women to be held at our own esteemed institution of higher education, the University of Utah! Join us for guided Village tours, thoughts from Kahlert Institute on Technology students, and to shake the hand of your mentor/mentee. Thank you to Heather Kahlert for sharing her extraordinary Village with the girls, young women, and ladies of Women Who Succeed.
Women Who Succeed Image Photo Shoot
Thursday, August 12th from 5:30-7:30 pm, Vega Media Studio
Dependent on Covid-19 vaccine distribution and health department guidance, our plan is to host an in-person photo shoot at Vega Media Studios. Our purpose is to provide a networking opportunity for our membership, as well as take group photos and gather visual collateral for WWS marketing and promotion. Join us for light appetizers, music, and fun—YOU are the face of our good work! Thank you to Brandy Vega for hosting this event at her studio.
Women Who Succeed Mentor Orientation
Thursday, July 22nd from 5:30-7:30 pm, Virtual Zoom Meeting
Women who have signed up to be a mentor for the 2021-2022 school year will receive an invitation to our mandatory orientation and training session. During this time, we will review the curriculum, expectations and tools that will support you in mentorship. Please watch for a virtual calendar invite from Mallory, as well as instructions for completing your mandatory background check. Thank you to Susan Madsen from the Utah Women’s Leadership Project and Utah State University for providing this training.
Our Good Work in Action
Women Who Succeed Virtual Luncheons
We have held two excellent virtual events as we welcome our membership and introduce you to our goals. Thank you to Kathi Garff, Board Chair, for orienting us to the WWS purpose and sharing her ‘why’ behind this initiative. Thank you also to student speaker, Sierra Johnson, for excitedly sharing the impactful moments that bridge experience and education and inspire her career pathway. We are also grateful to Dr. Angela Dunn for giving us a behind the scenes update on COVID-19 in Utah and what trends we can expect. If you missed either event, please catch up by listening to the recordings here:
Women Who Succeed Brand Roll Out
We are excited to roll out the awaited Women Who Succeed brand and logo! We appreciate the many insights and perspectives we received, ensuring our brand expresses the focus to uplift women and welcome diversity. Visit our website womenwhosucced.org, to see our exciting brand and logo. We also ask that you to follow our social media platforms on LinkedIn and Instagram and begin to like and share our content with your circles.
Women Who Succeed Internship
In partnership with the Goff Strategic Leadership Center, in the David Eccles School of Business at the U of U, we are excited to announce that we have placed five young women in summer internships! Thank you to the following women who have welcomed these hands-on experiences at their companies:
- Sui Lang Panoke – Zions Bank
- Ginger Harris – B10 Capital
- Carol Finegan – Nicholas Foods & Co.
- Julie Turner – Wildworks Studios
- Sandi Gulbransen – University of Utah Health
We will be reaching out to others who have requested internship placements as we on-board more young women over the summer. Stay tuned!
Member Video Vignettes
Nearly 100% of our membership offered their time and allowed us to capture their thoughts and stories on film—what a gift this is to our viewers! The edited footage will be shared through our Keys to Success app (please provide embedded link) which reaches over 65,000 students across Utah, as well as showcased on the WWS website, social platforms, and YouTube channels. This strategy is designed to ignite a spark inside young women and inspire them to follow their dreams and push through adversity. Our hope is that she may see what is possible through the evidence your story provides!
Women Who Succeed Junior Mentors & Mentees
The waterfall mentoring strategy our program will be modeling develops girls from two age categories, efficiently uses our resources, and most importantly makes the mentor/mentee relationship relevant and relatable.
College-age women will be mentored by WWS women members, and receive a stipend for their work as they develop leadership skills in mentoring the younger women (junior high and high school students). Through this model, we will have 261 total young women mentored, with 21 college-age women serving as mentors to younger students.
Applications for young women to participate have been pushed out state-wide through the Keys to Success app, student counselors, student advocates, NGOs, and other partnering agencies. To date, we have: 55 applicants
Racial minority background (45%- 25 young women)
3 young women from Native American tribes and 2 international students
First generation to pursue higher education (44%- 24 young women)
Rural communities (53%- 29 young women)
Students from Escalante, Milford, Ephraim and Manti, Vernal, and San Juan
Attend Title 1 Schools (13%- 7 young women)
Applications are open through June 30th. To apply young women may submit our online application form.
Tying it Together!
As we buildout the elements of Women Who Succeed, you will find that all monthly activities and content tie back to a monthly theme that is spotlighted with podcasts, speaker series, mentoring meetings and events. We are in process of mapping out this unique and strategic plan and will share it with you as soon as we can. Thank you to everyone who has offered to be a mentor, interviewer, interviewee, speaker, workshop host, event sponsor, and more! We are grateful that you are onboard for a dynamic year that will make a significant impact on the lives of young women throughout the state.
A Letter from Nicolette Miller
Dear Miss Erin,
I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to be a part of the Women Who Succeed program. Both having and being a mentor are privileges that will shape the trajectory of my life. They will help me grow as a student, as a leader, and as a member of a community of strong women who seek to create change.
I haven’t always recognized the value of my education. I’m blessed to have attended amazing schools that prepare their students for college and beyond, and as I near the end of high school, the impact of my education has become much clearer. Hearing about the Women Who Succeed program shifted my perspective to the young women who haven’t had it as easy as I have—who haven’t received an influential education or been encouraged to pursue the path to college. As a student at Judge Memorial, I have friends from all over the valley, including many who are receiving an education that their parents never got and striving to be first-generation college graduates. These girls recognize the value of what it means to simply be guided as a young woman, to be believed in, and to fight the barriers that tell them to give up. And I admire them for that.
The Women Who Succeed program gives this same opportunity to girls who haven’t been in the fortunate positions of my friends and myself. It gives young women a chance that they may never have otherwise–an opportunity to break the cycle, to discover who they are, to create relationships with inspiring, successful women in their community, and more than anything, to understand their worth and potential as individuals. This is what makes me so passionately excited to be a part of this program.
When I think about the impact that the Women Who Succeed program will have, I think about the hope that it will give each young woman for their future, no matter their background. I think about the relationships that will be created among individuals with different stories, different experiences, different educations, but the same understanding of what it means and feels like to be a woman. I am so grateful to be in the position to journey alongside young women and assist younger girls on the path to becoming women who succeed!
Thank you again,
Nicolette Miller
Building the Women Who Succeed Network
If you know dynamic women that would like to know more about our game-changing efforts, please email jenniferb@sieutah.org. We look forward to adding to our strong and diverse network of women leaders.
