Committee’s purpose is to align women in leadership roles
By Samantha Johnson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on January 9, 2024.
reporter@medicinehatnews.com The Women in Leadership Committee is a partnership between Local No. 1 Alberta Teachers Association and Medicine Hat Public School Division. There are 36 members on the committee, and their purpose, explained chair Amanda McGarry, is to unite likeminded women and allies who wish to open the conversation around women as educational leaders within the local association and school division. One of their goals has been to collaborate with both Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education and Prairie Rose Public Schools. To that end, women from both school divisions have been invited to committee meetings to foster a collaboration and create a more powerful movement. Supporting community initiatives has also been a focus since the committee formed in March 2023. Members are asked to bring items to the meeting for the organization being supported and donations have been made to the Women’s Shelter, Santa Claus Fund and the Mustard Seed. The committee gave a presentation at the December meeting of the MHPSD board. “It was really positive,” stated McGarry. “One of the board members, Mr. Massini, suggested collaborating with the Women in Leadership business group in Medicine Hat and reaching out to see if we could partner with them for a particular event or to continue to grow larger and be more impactful.” In January, the committee will be starting a book study and have four books that were handed out last June, giving everyone time to read them. The four books – two by Brene Brown, ‘I Thought it Was Me’ and ‘Dare to Lead’, ‘Wolfpack’ by Abby Wambach and the ‘Culture Code’ by Daniel Coyle – were the top four that came out through a survey process. The committee is also reaching out to speakers, and one from the ATA joined them in 2023 to discuss educational research around women in leadership positions. They are hoping to bring in another speaker in April who will guide each member through their own leadership journey and how they see themselves as leaders today. “Our goals moving forward are to continue to support the community, partnering with Prairie Rose and Medicine Hat Public, continuing to discuss research around the field of women in leadership, and how can we continue to share our journey with others,” concluded McGarry. 9-8
