Hello everyone and welcome to the very first blog post about PRUDE Inc.’s Women’s Leadership Program.
We are so excited have rolled out this new program in the fall of 2020, but the journey started so much earlier than that.
Looking back to April 2019, I sat with our Executive Director Li Song and we talked about what new programming we wanted to bring to Saint John and PRUDE. I was excited when Li mentioned creating a program for women. As I sat and wrote out a proposal for the program I told Li “…if we get the funding, this is mine…”. And we did! Over 1 ½ years later, here I sit writing this post.
In April 2020 my new position started, it was time to start planning a program! I did some online training and researched in order to help prepare and drafted a rough outline of what the weeks would look like. I focused on creating community connections, leadership training, entrepreneurship, and mental health & wellness. These were the foundation to creating the program.
I then started meeting with community partners and getting their feedback on my plan and also inviting some to be guest speakers. This community outreach was priceless and I found helping hands from not just within my own organization but also from those around us. It was very exciting to hear the feedback and even though Covid-19 created obstacles, we were able to deliver a new and exciting program.
Each woman came to this program with different goals, but that didn’t stop them from connecting, forming friendships, supporting each other and learning something new along the way. It is a pleasure being the facilitator of this program and having the privilege of being a part of all the women’s journey’s.
I want to thank my colleagues and community partners for their invaluable support in delivering an amazing first cohort and we look forward to all the fantastic cohorts in the future!
I will close with this quote by Victoria Principle “When women work together, it’s a bond unlike any other.”.
Thank you,
Amanda
