Ready to Make History?

Knowing how busy things become once school is back in session and the countdown to the holidays begins, I’d like to ask you to take a moment right now and set aside your evening on Wednesday October 12, 2011 to forget about being “behaved” with  New Directions Career Center. You see, October 12 is the night NDCC will be holding our Fall event, and it’s shaping up to be an experience you will not want to miss.

I am thrilled to announce that Gloria Feldt, nationally renowned activist, author, and former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, will be our keynote speaker for the evening. Gloria is the author of No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think about Power and a faculty member at Arizona State University where she teaches “Women, Power, and Leadership.” We are very excited about hosting her, since our mission here at NDCC, to empower women, is so closely aligned with her message and her passion. 

One of Gloria Feldt’s favorite sayings, often worn on one of the tee shirts she’s become famous for wearing, is “Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History.” This comment, originally made by historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, sums up the approach Feldt thinks women need to have in life, both individually and collectively. She has this to say about the phrase:

“When women come together and collectively decide to stop being well behaved — to shuck the shame and have the courage to stand up for ourselves, with our sisters — then that’s a movement. Banding together to speak our truth and effect change allows us to get through the barriers of shame and fear, as well as barriers of law and custom. Together we’re a force to reckon with — and people might as well get out of our way.”

Passionate about social justice, Gloria Feldt is a woman who understands the struggles our clients face on a daily basis. She explains, citing her own experiences, “Even if I had wanted to change the situation and break the rules of expected behavior, I couldn’t have done so because I had no employable skills, which meant few employment opportunities.” This same frustration that Gloria experienced in the 1960’s is echoed by our clients today. 

Feldt explains, “When a woman is prevented from earning money, she can't tell the jerk to go jump in the lake if she lacks the financial means to support herself and the children. She's hobbled as surely as Chinese women of old with bound feet, and for exactly the same reason. She's trapped, controlled, powerless; she can't get away.” 

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But Gloria Feldt found ways to “misbehave” – to challenge the status quo and transform her life –and she will spend an evening sharing her insights with us, helping us throw traditional ways of thinking and behaving out the window.

Named by Vanity Fair as one of “America’s Top 200 Women Leaders, Legends, and Trail-blazers” and Glamour’s “Woman of the Year,” Feldt has been a bright light on the path to gender parity. She uses her own life experiences, going from teen mom to successful CEO, to empower women to take control of their lives. Feldt believes the last obstacle preventing women from achieving parity is their learned resistance to embracing their own power. Once women “stand in their power and walk with intention,” says Feldt, they can lead unlimited lives and reach parity for good — their own, and society’s as well.

Join us on October 12 from 6:30—8:00 p.m. at Hilton Columbus at Easton for what is certain to be an empowering evening. Feldt’s presentation will inspire and motivate you, as she shares her “Power Tools” for work and life. Cost is $25 for admission or $50 for admission plus a signed copy of Gloria’s book, No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. Visit our website for more information or to register for the lecture. 
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