Top Priority: 5 Key Pledges to Take The Lead

Issue 271 — September 2, 2024

Who’s still glowing from the energy of Take The Lead’s Power Up Concert and Conference? I am for sure!

There were so many extraordinary moments. We saw a “genre bending” concert on August 25th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts featuring pianist Marina Arsenijevic, indy rock group BETTY, and iconic acapella singing group Sweet Honey in the Rock.

There was a champagne toast to Take The Lead’s first 10 years at the end of the all-day conference on Women’s Equality Day August 26th. And we opened enrollment in our powerful 9 Leadership Power Tools online course. The event lived up to its theme and our promise to each other: #TogetherWeLead.

A big shout out of gratitude to filmmaker Alicia Ontiveros who made this inspiring video tribute to Take The Lead’s 10th anniversary. It chronicles the top 10 accomplishments of the first decade of impact from 2014–2024.

Please watch and celebrate how far we have come:

I’ll be unpacking many of the rich elements, actionable lessons, and inspiring highlights of the event in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, catch up on the concert in Editorial Director Michele Weldon’s blog post, reporting the powerful words of actress and musician Lynda Carter: best known for her portrayal of Wonder Woman, who received the organization’s Leading Woman Award.

Lynda Carter (L) and Gloria Feldt at the Power Up Concert event in the Kennedy Center in Washington,D.C.*

The big “Sum of This Week” reflection on the event I’m sharing with you is the commitments participants made to take action. This was as a result of what we learned or was sparked by the concert and/or speakers at the conference.

As the video reminds us, Take The Lead has a core principle of focusing on solutions rather than rehashing the problems we know all too well. With that in mind, we always ask participants to make their commitments to action in writing and/or verbally to the group.

Some of this year’s participants’ commitments!

I’ve grouped this year’s commitments into 5 categories and summarized them:

1. Commitments to self

— Advocate for myself
— Clean up the inner monologue. Attitude is everything!
— Go all in for that job I want!
— Take action on first talk show
— Stand unapologetically in my power! Even in front of those boys…
— Speak up in the rooms I am in

2. Commitments to other women

— Share the “Brand Your Brilliance” with young women I am mentoring
— To empower other women to speak from their spirit
— Support each other
— Bring others into community — make sure new folks always feel welcome
— Help Take The Lead with its technology
— Make the 9 Leadership Power Tools to Advance Your Career available and accessible to more women in its new digital format (OK I snuck that one in, but I hope you’ll take advantage of it!)

3. Commitments to impact policies that affect women most

— Share ERA info with my network, spreading the word about the ERA to my communities via my platforms
— Educate all of my friends, family, and network on the ERA
— ERA passage now! Agitate and mobilize for ERA passage
— Support Amendment 3 in Missouri to restore reproductive freedom
— Raise money for a state senate candidate
— Continue pushing forward to get our voices heard; Speak up in public!

4. Commitments to lead

— Remember to lead with kindness and empathy
— Use data to inform
— Write it down
— Set the goal
— Expand access to healthcare and education about our health
— Set a SMART target

5. Commitments to motivate, inspire, and create a new vision of what is possible

— RISE UP!
— You can Be the One
— Don’t Stop
— Find your motivation and be a motivator!
— Nothing is impossible

Whether you were at the event in person or virtually, or weren’t there at all, I challenge you to make your own commitment to action by posting it in the comments.

We’ll keep collecting them and creating the opportunities and circumstances to enable us to lead together to achieve them.

To further inspire you, tune into Marina Arsenijevic’s performance at the concert, including the concluding rousing rendition of my favorite feminist march song — you can sing along.

Enjoy and watch this spot for the next installments, highlighting award winners, information, action-packed panels, and much more 🤓.

*This performance is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rentals Office and is not produced by the Kennedy Center.

GLORIA FELDT is the Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.