Annual Women's Leadership Conference

Last night I was privileged to attend the 4th Annual Women’s Leadership Forum held by the Washington DC Police Foundation at the Women’s Memorial at Arlington Cemetery.  Here is a picture of District of Columbia Chief of Police, Cathy Lanier and myself.

The November issue of FAMILY Magazine features Chief Lanier on the cover and includes a wonderful article about her and how she has been so successful in a male dominated world.  If you haven't read this insightful article written by our own Cynda Zurfluh, please read it today.

The event featured a panel of 3 great role models for young women:  Police Chief Cathy Lanier, Beverly Perry, Special Advisor to the CEO, Pepco Holdings and Alisa Ulrey, Group Director for Target Corporation in DC, Maryland and Virginia.

The evening started off with a bang when the two wonderful moderators (young DC women) asked each of the panelists what was their most difficult challenge.  Ms. Ulrey answered that balancing her life as a mother and a professional woman was definitely her biggest challenge.

I knew right then and there I was going to like this panel of influential women. 

Here are some significant quotes from the panel:

Beverly Perry, “I tell my team I won’t ask you to work harder than me.  Just try to keep up.”

Chief Lanier, “The decisions I made when I was young made my life much harder.  Consider every decision you make carefully.”

Alisa Ulrey, “My motto is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”

Beverly Perry, “I found my passion when I focused on helping my community.”  (Interesting information – Beverly is the highest-ranking female African American in the energy community) 

In case you are not aware of the Washington DC Police Foundation, the mission of the Washington DC Police Foundation is to bring together business, professional, civic and nonprofit organizations and individual citizens to promote public safety by providing financial and in-kind resources to the Chief of Police and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Their goal is to make Washington, DC a safer place to live, work and visit for everyone.

Last night Joseph Persichini, the Executive Director spoke about the Foundation’s summer mentoring program.  He was very motivating and I am going to explore having FAMILY Magazine participate next year.  Please look into this great organization that is definitely making a difference in the lives of youth in the District of Columbia.  The young women in attendance last night were really impressive and you can expect great things from them.

Brenda