Women in Leadership and Philanthropy

a. Welcome and introduction of hosts by Pat Lampkin. Opening remarks by alumnae hosts Cheryl Mills (A&S ’87) and Renee Ring (Law ’76).
b. Brief update remarks by Jenny Wyss-Jones— Highlighted what we’ve done so far — prior focus groups, questions posed, themes surfacing (communications, networking, volunteering).
c. Introductions; 2002-2003 Work Plan overview (Jenny) - What we’re currently doing; what we’re planning for 2003.
d. Discussion

Broke into small discussion groups to address following question:
- How do we increase the influence of alumnae and women friends at the University and regionally?

Ideas that surfaced, organized by category:
Discussion about definition of "Influence" —where decision-making power rests. Ways to create influence should include increasing dollar contributions and raising the visual presence of women leaders at the University — alumni, in academic community, on the Board of Visitors. Influence is in different realms: financial (investments); academia (core business); culture (hospitable and embracing of women); undergraduate programs.
Mission, Vision, Strategy for Women in Leadership & Philanthropy
- Must focus and prepare mission statement and objectives ASAP for this group to be effective and to start organizing support. Take Thought, Then Take Action. Mission Statement should include: Impact, Influence, High Level, Broad Topics; Crafting, Development Policy, Direction, Vision for the University of Virginia. We must be "impactful," meaningful; need to be involved with the "larger" issues. We want U.Va. to be visionary in this area, not reactionary.
- We need to have resources, recognition, and to be an "insistent voice" in order to succeed.
- Make the work plan "actionable." We need to create a list of short-term action steps and deadlines to stay on task. Need to prioritize steps. Also need to communicate regularly what’s happening so supporters stay connected, can help where needed.
- "Bottom Up" and "Top Down" approaches simultaneously. Employ a grassroots effort — for example, each focus group participant should recommend 5 other women to participate as speakers, leaders, volunteers, etc.
- Create a visual identity for WLP as a subset of the University — mailings, etc. should not look like "everything else."
- Look at University of Pennsylvania and their Women’s Council.

Communication/Networking/Programming
- We need more transparency of information from the University — we should know the real story of what’s happening with women at the University (statistics, progress, roadblocks), and be able to compare this with our peer institutions. This could also be web site content.
- We should compile and publicize information on the power of women — numbers of students, alumni, their giving participation and amounts — to use in reinforcing to the power groups (e.g., BOV) that they need to take women’s interests seriously.
- Also, the University could send a mailing highlighting intellectual achievements of women — focus on one female lecturer in each department or school each semester and send out a calendar of their activities so we can support each other. "Involvement needs to create a personal community in order to improve retention, commitment of individuals."
- Communications regionally — e.g., get the Women’s Center Alumna of the Year to speak regionally; or employ other strong women in the regions.
- Use meetings of U.Va. women in the NYC club — provide networking, programming around affinity group of women. This will help create "connectivity" with what’s happening at U.Va. in C’ville.
- Consider "local" events, in-home, for prospective women students or new students for a networking or bonding event. The more we can reach out in a personal way, the more people will stay connected in some way after finished with school.
- We should do outreach to each school at the University in order to help move the plan along. Make sure we loop powerful schools into our efforts, such as Darden and Law. Be sure we tie into other appropriate existing boards, like the Women’s Center, Young Alumni Council, etc.
- We should use technology to stay connected on these issues as a group; by staying connected we can increase our collective influence. Perhaps we could have a monthly conference call that people can join in as they are available. We should at least create a listserv of all women who have been involved in focus groups to date.
- Sports camp participants could well be U.Va. alums and they should be identified so that alums can connect while there with their kids. Perhaps this could be done more formally through the Alumni Association.
- U.Va. could establish an "affinity program" for alumnae nationally such as it has for African-Americans, U-Guides, etc.
- Are women well-represented in student government and leadership? If student leaders ultimately have leadership positions at the University and in business, then women should be cultivated as students.

Providing Leadership Opportunities
- It would be helpful to post a list of volunteer opportunities, noting commitment levels, times of year they are active, etc.— could be web site content.
- Harness the women who are working at home — identify opportunities that are appropriate for them. There should be a range of flexible options so that women can participate in different ways at different times in their lives.
- We shouldn’t assume all women have the same interests (e.g., "women’s issues"), just because they want to be involved in advancing women. Need to provide a variety of opportunities, nationally, regionally, locally.
- Create a database of women alums with their areas of interest (already occurring). If the University Boards knew to contact a centralized "women’s board member list" when they solicited women board members, whoever controlled that group would have significant power — especially if those women were already trained by the same central group.
- Remember that women will participate if asked, but don’t recycle the same women for appointments to boards, etc. We are a large group, with diverse ideas and offerings. Find new people to cultivate fresh ideas.

Supporting Women Leaders
- We should create a proactive plan to reach out at the University and on the local level. It's not enough to compile a list of potential women leaders, we need a strategy for putting women in power. Target specific women to promote for service.
- Once women are elected to board positions, they should be trained in the particular political climate and strategies of the University. One specific suggestion was to conduct leadership training/opportunity seminars. Would be 4 times per year. Would include refreshers on public speaking, fundraising and planning, Board membership training - corporate and non-profit (how you get on, what obligations are, what you should know before "jumping"). A nominal fee would be charged. To be used as an avenue to train for leadership and identify prospects for giving. Lisa Bowers has been involved with an organization that trains women volunteer board members and would be happy to connect us with them.
- We need to have a strategy for supporting women once they get into power at the University - a "kitchen cabinet" of advisers.
- We should also be aware of faculty women; numbers are low - we should help in supporting them to move into tenure-track positions.

Philanthropy
- One of the most meaningful ways to be influential is through giving; men know that giving money creates influence.
- We should concentrate our power in our giving, by making gifts in the name of a group of powerful women, or under a group umbrella. Note the success of the Law Women’s Giving Opportunity in the last campaign. Do this in a way that women can still designate their gifts to a specific school or project. Emphasis will be placed on the accretion of funds, and will make a statement about a powerful and unified organization of women.
- Alumni should know that they can target their gifts to departments or specific efforts.

Long-Term Strategies

- Exert political pressure on the Governor to secure BOV slots (the Women’s Center National Council has already identified this as an area of interest). As a resource, investigate working with/talking to the "White House Project" — a group dedicated to putting more women in governorships (Marie Wilson is chairperson).
- U.Va. investments should reflect commitment to women — invest in equity for women and minorities.

e. Next Steps 1. Jenny will send notes to the group; once approved by the group, they will be distributed and place on the web site: www.virginia.edu/supportuva/womeninphilanthropy/. Jenny will also send list of those who participated today and their e-mail addresses
2. For additional ideas or suggestions, e-mail Jenny at jennyw-j@virginia.edu or Patrick Ingram at patingram@virginia.edu
3. Sharon Davie will send out statistics concerning women at UVa. Jenny will send out information about UVa. Women’s giving. Jenny’s committee will also work to get this information put on the web site
4. We’ll continue to inform you of our progress, through our web site and periodic e-mail updates. We’ll ask your help in further refining the work plan and mission statement.