15th Women's Leadership and Empowerment Conference [WLEC2024]
1st - 3rd of March 2024, Bangkok, Thailand
Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit

​VIDEO PRESENTATIONS

Empowering Diverse Women to Disrupt Academic Leadership in Dominant Spaces

Dr. Sandra Dixon - University of Lethbridge [Canada]
Millie Batta - University of Lethbridge [Canada]
Historically, there has been a gender imbalance in academic leadership, in which diverse women continue to be underrepresented in academic spaces (O’Connor, 2018). Leadership structures and discourses are strongly influenced by Eurocentric and Androcentric worldviews, which construct, maintain, and legitimize biases that impact the career progression in senior leadership positions of diverse women populations (Wright, 2021). Data collected in the United States (U.S.) on educational leadership found that Black women experienced the “twin hurdles of racism and sexism in their present leadership roles” (Johnson & Fournillier, 2021, p. 3). This realization emphasizes a need for change in higher education institutions as it pertains to the intersecting factors of race, gender, and class, for diverse women faculty (Cukier et al., 2015; Mendoza-Reis & Lu, 2010). More so, there is a scarcity of research within the Canadian context on diverse women's experiences in academic leadership positions, namely Blacks, Asians, and those who belong to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two Spirit, plus (LGBTQ2S+) community (Cukier et al., 2015; Statistics Canada, 2021). As the university population continues to diversify, there is a concurrent call for reckoning on matters of equity, diversity and inclusion ([EDI], Moody, 2014).

Women Empowerment and Collaborations:
​A Case Study: The #GiveHope Campaign-Uplifting Kenyan Women and Children from Gender-Based Violence

Dr. Elena Einstein - University of La Verne [USA]
Leah Nyalobo - LEC Community Organization Centre [Kenya]
According to the United Nations, “Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.” Women empowerment is a global issue that strives to increase women's economic, social, and political power. Through the #GiveHope Campaign Case study, the research provides an overview of the concept of women’s empowerment and its importance in achieving Sustainable Development Goal number 5-Gender Equality. Moreover, it explores the various challenges that hinder women’s empowerment and identifies the kinds of collaborative relationships and partnerships that lead to sustainable activities such as education, access to skill based training, and safety. Lastly, the case study provides a framework and model to advance and empower women and girls.

Step into Your Spotlight:
​Elevate Your Influence, Impact, and Income with a Book that Transforms Your Business Growth

Melanie Herschorn - VIP Book Marketing & Publishing [USA]
Your message holds the power to profoundly benefit those who need it most. Publishing your signature book is like rolling out the red carpet for your personal brand and your business as a whole, simultaneously elevating your visibility, impact and income. In this presentation, discover how you can step into your own spotlight with a book and unlock the limitless potential of your mission to transform the world.

Leadership When Replacing Concern With Confidence During the 3C Situations: Calm, Change, Crisis

Kennetia Brooks - Brooksleadership [USA]
All leaders, at one time or another, struggle with efficiency and confidence in problem-solving and leading their team to success during the common 3 C situations of calm, change, and chaos. Knowing which leadership styles and tools to use makes all the difference. This presentation explores effective practices, strategic tactical skills, and problem-solving techniques supported by proven scientific methods, which give you immediate confidence in their simplicity and effectiveness. We'll explore how and why communication, listening, and decisive action achieve goals. We'll examine how to create and use resources and networks to make each future occurrence easier to handle. Learn techniques of the leadership styles that match the 3 Cs situations and create the mindset, reassurance, and direction your team and clients are seeking. Understand and discuss team dynamics and the advantages of proper and timely use of transformational, servant, autocratic, situational, and other leadership styles. You will leave this session equipped with skills you can immediately implement, to increase your team's confidence in your ability to lead them with greater effectiveness to greater successes.

Scaling the Pinnacle of Leadership: Stories of Women in Leadership

Dr. Neerja Singh - Department of Human Services-Minnesota [USA]
We have attempted to honor and narrate the stories of 20 women leaders with diverse backgrounds and allies on how they walked this tight rope of leadership across a bottomless pit. We will share their narrations including their struggles, risks they took, challenges they maneuvered, times when they wanted to give up, their social and emotional assets and most importantly what kept them going. Using case study format, the project will highlight the interconnections of various subsystems in the lives of women leaders and how these systems pose risks in the form of marginalizing, diverting, or attacking their courage. The project will identify the unique courses these women took to engage in reflection, how they assessed their environment, led transformational change and enhanced their emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical well-being. The focus of the presentation will be on the themes generated through their narrations that can be used as practical strategies of wisdom and lessons for the current and future women professionals who will put themselves on the line when they lead change in the world.

Enhancing Leadership and Teambuilding Skills:
​A Case Study of Social and Emotional Learning in Japanese Female College Students

Dr. Megumi Okugiri - University of the Sacred Heart Tokyo [Japan]
This study investigates the results of a questionnaire administered to 13 students in Japan taking a leadership practicum course at a female college in Tokyo. It demonstrates that teambuilding, particularly in event planning, enhances students’ competencies in social awareness and relationship skills, as defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). CASEL originally designed a platform to foster skills that promote students’ development, and this study has applied it to measure college students’ leadership competences. Social awareness involves the ability to embrace different perspectives and exhibit empathy towards individuals with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and circumstances. Relationship skills encompass the competence to form and sustain positive relationships and navigate diverse settings adeptly with individuals and groups. Additionally, this study illustrates that engaging in the planning and execution of events promotes students’ competencies in self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision-making. Therefore, the findings of this study suggest that interpersonal competencies are enhanced through team discussions and teambuilding during project planning, while self-reflection and a sense of responsibility are cultivated through the execution of a project.