10 Reasons To Give To Take The Lead Now: How Your Gift Powers The Future
Vada Manager, founder & CEO of Manager Global Holdings, and president, CEO of Manager Global Consulting Group, with Gloria Feldt, Co-founder and president of Take The Lead at the recent Power Up Conference 2024.
In 10 years of operation, under the visionary direction of co-founder and president Gloria Feldt, Take The Lead has accomplished immeasurable successes and directly influenced hundreds of thousands of people.
On this Giving Tuesday, Take The Lead is shouting out 10 of its greatest programs and resources, so you can see exactly how your generosity powers a path to a future of gender equity in leadership across all industries and organizations. There are so many more reasons to support Take the Lead, but this is a solid guide to what your giving enables to continue long into the future.
1. Take The Lead’s mission. In 2014, Gloria Feldt co-founded Take The Lead with this declared mission and purpose: “Take The Lead prepares, develops, inspires, and propels all women of all diversities and intersectionalities to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025.” Looking at a decade and a year ahead, Feldt was projecting as well as deliberately working with intention to meet that mission.
Feldt says, “Starting any new organization is challenging, whether nonprofit, like Take The Lead, or entrepreneurial business. Many fail. We’ve had rough patches. But I am so committed to equality and leadership parity for women, and my sense that the time is now is so strong, that I had to keep going. Thank goodness so many supporters and our great team feel the same way.”
“Starting any new #organization is #challenging, but I am so committed to #equality and #leadershipparity for women that I had to keep going. Thankfully so many #supporters and our great #team feel the same way. — @GloriaFeldt1”
With recent political and cultural setbacks including the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a stagnant wage gap, and blockades to women in C-suite positions, the mission is even more urgent.
“Being clear about the mission is the heavy-lifting necessary for success,” Allison Quigney writes in New York Media. “Clarity surrounding the nonprofit’s mission should permeate the entire organization.
To achieve this, it is crucial to develop a succinct mission statement that details the nonprofit’s purpose, the issues it aims to address and the strategies it employs for its resolution. Following this, creating specific criteria that align with and embody this overarching mission becomes essential.
Read more Take The Lead resources on improving workplace culture with mission
2. Mentorship, sponsorship, coaching and allyship. No one person can do it all themselves. We need instructions, direction, insight, and advice from someone who has traveled the path before us. Take The Lead offers director and virtual mentorship through its courses, coaching, programming, webinars, events, and conferences. Coaching programs are for individuals, small groups, and corporate levels. Pursuing goals requires the support of a direct mentor, a loyal sponsor or a male ally who aligns with your goals and progress.
“No one person can do it all themselves. We need #instructions, #direction, #insight, and #advice from someone who has traveled the path before us. @TakeTheLeadWomen offers director and virtual #mentorship at all levels. ”
Learn more about Take The Lead coaching programs
Sheryl Sandberg, author, former COO of Meta Platforms, and founder of LeanIn.org, writes, “Long before the #MeToo movement, a lack of mentorship from senior leaders was already a significant barrier for women in the workplace. This is a big problem, because it undoubtedly will decrease the opportunities women have at work. The last thing women need right now is even more isolation. Men vastly outnumber women as managers and senior leaders, so when they avoid, ice out, or exclude women, we pay the price. Men who want to be on the right side of this issue shouldn’t avoid women. They should mentor them.”
Rupa Dash, co-founder and CEO of the World Woman Foundation, tells take the Lead, “I feel it’s important for women to have mentorship and skillsets in order to make stronger families, communities, and countries with access to education and opportunities.”
“I feel it’s important for women to have #mentorship and #skillsets in order to make stronger families, communities, and countries with access to #education and #opportunities. — @rupadash”
3. The new 9 Leadership Power Tools Courses. The most innovative takeaway from the 9 Leadership Power Tools Course designed and revamped by Gloria Feldt is shifting the narrative of having “power over” someone or something and energizing your own “power TO” accomplish and achieve what you intend. Hundreds have taken advantage of the wisdom and directly applicable practical tools and two new options are available. One option is for a person on the leadership track in an organization, and the other course is for the entrepreneur, creating the organization independently and managing the creation of a workplace culture.
These courses are priceless and deliver the skillsets so many need to achieve their goals. The courses help if “you’re ready to take the lead in your life and career, bringing your power and leadership forward so that you can live and work in your full authenticity with confidence, passion and grace.”
4. 50 Women Can Change The World. These transformative programs have produced remarkable outcomes for cohorts in journalism, finance, law, media & entertainment, entrepreneurship, and healthcare. Scores of participants report they have changed titles in their organizations, taken on more leadership roles, launched a business or side startup and most importantly, have changed how they do their work and see their work. Applications for future 50 Women Can cohorts is here.
Read more in Take The Lead on 50 Women Can
With the purpose of addressing intersectionality of gender and racial oppression through healing conversations, the goal is to continue building a total of 20 supportive cohorts – technology, finance, media and entertainment, human resources, public service, and entrepreneurship – leveraging their influence for leadership parity in their sectors. By connecting those 1,000 women to 10,000 who elevate their vision, voice, and visibility through continued engagement and ultimately activating 10,000,000 women with messages to eliminate systemic inequity.
The four-month program that offers in person and virtual gatherings as well as a graduation delivers to participants industry-specific strategies. For the inaugural 50 Women in Media & Entertainment cohort, for instance, colleagues learned skills from Feldt and select leadership ambassadors “for asking for what you want (funding and financing); legal insight for women in the industry; tools to navigate difficult people and situations within the industry; supporting industry game changers—and becoming one; self-care and personal development; and creation of a personalized leadership action plan that will be aided and followed up on throughout the year by the program’s managers.”
5. Team and individual trainings. From The Women’s Economic Forum to summits, workshops, seminars, and series, Take The Lead offers corporate, organization, community and team trainings on topics critical to leadership embracing the 9 Leadership Power Tools. With results-driven training aimed at advancing yourself or the women in your organization through the leadership pipeline by providing new thinking about power, Take The Lead’s training delivered by Feldt , Leadership Ambassadors or members of the Take The Lead team, participants learn to embrace strategies with confidence while learning breakthrough skills and leadership tools and making a plan to use them. Training for Leadership ambassadors is available here.
“@TakeTheLeadWomen offers results-driven, #corporate, #organization, #community and team trainings on topics critical to #leadership embracing the 9 Leadership Power Tools. #learnsomethingnew #genderparity #workplace”
SHRM Research found recently “that 55 percent of workers said they need more training to perform their job more effectively, and 38 percent want training that is more relevant to their current role. Another 32 percent want training to have a social element, such as peer-to-peer learning or learning groups.”
6. Take The Lead Podcasts, Videos. Hundreds of valuable interviews and conversations with world-changing leaders are part of the Intentioning This Podcast series with Gloria Feldt interviewing the guest and offering insights on leadership, confidence, rule-breaking, diversity and more. A library of Power To You podcasts feature Feldt in discussion from icons including Soledad O’Brien and Carla Harris and more leaders influencing culture and history. Tackling specific questions and topics, the podcasts dig deep and offer learning listening opportunities.
Podcasts continue to grow in popularity and the podcast market is expected to reach $30.03 billion by the end of 2024, according to Word Press News. “For people aged 13-64, podcasts are more popular than radio (41% vs. 39%).” Yes, there are 4.2 million podcasts available, and Take The Lead’s podcasts are specific to the goal of reaching gender equity in leadership, elevating women’s voices and eliminating the pay gap, so the content is specific and helpful.
7. Power Up Concerts and Conferences. To date, thousands of speakers, leaders, and community members have attended the in-person and virtual concerts and conferences held on Women’s Equality Day in August every year for the last five years. The event this year, with the theme, Together We Lead, featured Lynda Carter, actor, entrepreneur, and activist, and a schedule of experts on health, wealth, leadership, and equity.
The Power Up Concert featuring Emmy award-winning, globally revered composer, equity advocate and classical music piano performer/singer, Marina Arsenijevic always wows audiences. In 2024, Sweet Honey In The Rock performed at the Power Up Concert as did the group BETTY.
Read more in Take The Lead on Marina Arsenijevic
“Voice is an essential power for women,” says Arsenijevic, who has performed original and iconic music at Every Power Up Conference. Take The Lead is planning the Power Up Conference 2025 in August 2025.
“Voice is an essential power for women. — @MarinaArsenije1 #powerupconference #useyourvoice #genderparity”
8. Power To Change Stories. With contributions several times per month from changemakers from around the world identifying as women, these individual declarations of what one person has the power to change serves as a constant reminder of what each one has the power TO accomplish. Since 2020, more than 350 people have shared specific stories about what they have the power to change from transparency and community to inclusion and empathy.
As part of Take the Lead’s robust editorial offerings, these stories are driven by the individuals in their own words sharing triumphs and complications on hundreds of topics, concerns, and joys. The Power To Change Stories are in line with Take The Lead’s goal of amplifying women’s voices.
9. The Movement Blog. Each week Take The Lead offers a timely take on an issue affecting leaders in the workplace from all levels of participation—from early career to top spot in the C-Suite. The blog covers issues with a diverse generational approach. Each blog contains up to a dozen or more references for further investigation and links to Take The Lead resources, stories, research, news and options for further discovery. Winning a first place award for business writing from the National Federation of Press Women, the Movement Blog dives into communicating urgent issues in a meaningful and well-crafted style.
“Each week @TakeTheLeadWomen offers a take on an issue affecting leaders in the workplace. Covering issues with a #diverse #generational approach, each blog contains many #references and options for further #discovery. #movementblog”
Gloria Feldt’s blog, The Sum, is a weekly dive into what is urgent to know in the drive to gender and racial justice and equity. Examining the personal and universal, Feldt offers a wealth of insight from decades of groundbreaking leadership.
Now ranked #10 in the Top 35 Women in Leadership Blogs, each week the Movement Blog, The Sum, and a new Power To Change Story are posted on the website and then featured in the weekly newsletter.
10. Building Community. The connections made from partnering with Take The Lead as a sponsor, donor, contributor, participant, leader, or manager —join in the movement to reach gender parity in the near future. 2025 was the initial goal at the founding 10 years ago, and we need to celebrate the progress. With additional support, Take The Lead can keep making inroads producing tangible outcomes toward gender parity in leadership. You can give $10 today in honor of the 10 years of Take The Lead’s 10 outstanding offerings.
“With additional support, @TakeTheLeadWomen can keep making inroads producing #tangibleoutcomes toward #genderparity in #leadership. #donatetoday #linkinbio”
Please donate here to Take The Lead.
Leadership Takeaway of The Week:
“I am so committed to equality and leadership parity for women, and my sense that the time is now is so strong, that I have to keep going. Thank goodness so many supporters and our great team feel the same way.”
Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president, Take The Lead
