2023 Women in Leadership Agenda

February 9-10, 2023 | Saint Mary's School, Raleigh
Agenda

February 9, 2023
10:00 am Registration Opens for Orientation Participants

10:30 am Optional Orientation for Attendees - All Are Welcome | Linda Nelson & Stephanie Keaney
During this session, we will conduct a high-level overview of the NCAIS Women in Leadership program over the past ten+ years as well as take a deep dive into our own DISC results.

11:45 am Registration

12:00 pm Welcome and Opening Activity

12:30 pm Lunch

1:15 pm Tools for a Leadership Journey: Polarity Thinking | Donna Orem, NAIS President
A polarity is a dilemma that is ongoing, unsolvable, and involves ideas that appear to be opposing. It is distinguished from a problem in that a problem has a best solution, but a polarity is virtually unsolvable; it is a dilemma that needs to be appropriately managed. And, how it is best managed can change over time, as variables affecting the particular challenge evolve. Polarity management involves moving from seeking solutions to challenges—aka “either/or” thinking—to embracing the two “rights” (or poles) that need to be most effectively managed. Current leadership requires navigating between extremes, bringing two forces together for the benefit of the school and its community. Join Donna Orem as she shares her own leadership journey, filled with examples of polarities she has encountered along the way.

2:45 pm Stretch Break

3:00 pm Breakouts Sessions | Select One
Shaping Your Leadership Journey: Moving From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be | Patricia Sasser, Saint Mary’s School, and Susan Perry, Forsyth Country Day School
We invite you to join us for a highly interactive and fun workshop co-created to bring voice, reflection, and action steps to where you are in your leadership journey. Participants will work directly with Patricia and Susan in facilitated small groups to explore four themes we have learned that can help in grounding awareness for how to move from where you are to where you want to be.

Stop and Go, Flow Or No: Using Journaling and Art to Reflect and Gain Insight (part 1) | Sandra Litzenberger
Using a visual journaling exercise as means for relaxation and reflection, participants will draw geometric designs with rulers and compasses and then use watercolor to color in the spaces created. There is tension in creating boundaries and allowing watercolor to flow into the spaces. Observing the process allows one to reflect and gain insight into how such tensions are managed in other areas of one’s life. (Part 1: Painting and Reflecting)

4:00 pm Affinity Groups | Susan Perry, Facilitator
Spend intentional time with fellow Women in Leadership participants in the same phase of their journey, whether that is your common interests, background, or experience. It is an opportunity to share successes and challenges you have encountered along the way.

5:00 pm Wine and Wisdoms

Dinner on your own

February 10, 2023
8:30 am Continental Breakfast

9:00 am Start With Your Why | Erin Hawk, World Leadership School
Do you wonder why some elements of your job seem to energize you, while others deplete you? This interactive and inspiring session will connect you to the answers at the root of that question, and to the "why" at the center of Y-O-U! We'll use World Leadership School's tools to examine your personal and professional purpose, and identify that "golden thread" that keeps you afloat as a leader and a human."

We will explore the essential question: “How can we, as female leaders, explore, clarify and articulate our sense of purpose?” The workshop is designed in three distinct phases:

Connect - The workshop will begin by connecting with fellow women in leadership. We explore the theory and science of purpose and understand why purpose helps adults and students learn deeper, manage stress better, and feel more alive.
Share – Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the unique gifts they bring to their school and how these gifts can be used for the greater good. This experience will ground us in relationship-building before action planning. We will work to share and formulate new ideas in the spirit of believing that "all the ideas we need are in the room" we will work to share and formulate new ideas.
Plan - We end our time together by creating a “Purpose Map” to help us navigate work and life with intention. Before we can coach students to discover their purpose, we have to do the hard work ourselves.

11:00 am Grab and Go Break

11:15 am Breakout Sessions | Select One
Ebb and Flow: Using Journaling and Art to Reflect and Gain Insight (part 2) | Sandra Litzenberger
Using a visual journaling exercise to relax and reflect, participants will draw geometric designs with rulers and compasses and then use watercolor to color the spaces created. There is tension in creating boundaries and allowing watercolor to flow into the spaces. Observing the process allows one to reflect and gain insight on how such tensions are managed in other areas of one’s life. (Part 2: Background and Drawing)

Preparing for a Future with AI in Education: ChatGPT and Beyond | Sarah Wike, Ravenscroft
As AI technology advances, it is increasingly capable of handling tasks that were once thought to require human expertise. ChatGPT is a prime example of this, as it can generate human-like responses to a variety of queries and assignments. While this may pose a threat to traditional education models, which often rely on teaching students to develop certain skills (such as reading, writing, and arithmetic), it also presents an opportunity for educators to adapt and incorporate these tools into their classrooms. In this conference session, we will discuss the potential implications of ChatGPT and other AI technologies for education, and explore ways in which we can harness their power for the betterment of students. Join us to learn more about this exciting and rapidly-evolving field.

12:15 pm Lunch

1:00 pm Women's Ways of Leading | Imana Sherrill, Head of School, Trinity Episcopal School & Doreen Kelly, Head of School, Ravenscroft

2:00 pm Program Wrap-Up and Next Steps | Tiffany Gregory

2:30 Adjourn