Join us for Women in Leadership: Harnessing Strengths, Shaping the Future, part of the EDUCAUSE Leadership Series. This three-session experience combines synchronous sessions, asynchronous content, and meaningful conversation to support practical learning. With Meg’s expertise and lived experience as a leader and a coach for others, participants will gain practical insights into navigating the journey of leadership in higher education technology. NOTE: Each session builds on the previous one—participants are encouraged to engage in all three to maximize their learning.
Schedule
- Session 1: Monday, March 16, 2026 | 12:00 noon–1:30 p.m. ET
- Session 2: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 | 12:00 noon–2:00 p.m. ET
- Session 3: Monday, March 23, 2026 | 12:00 noon–2:00 p.m. ET
Themes
Session 1 | Women in Leadership: Our Natural Strengths vs. Societal Biases
Research increasingly highlights that qualities often associated with women, such as collaboration, empathy, and long-term perspective, are powerful drivers of leadership success. In this session, we’ll look at the myths and assumptions that can undervalue these strengths, including how we may internalize such biases ourselves. Together, we’ll explore how embracing a broader range of leadership qualities can strengthen teams, organizations, and individual confidence, while affirming that effective leadership is not one size fits all. It’s time for female leaders to be more confident, assertive, and unapologetic for our natural gifts and styles of leading!
Learning Outcomes:
- Examine common myths and assumptions about leadership that undervalue collaborative and empathetic approaches.
- Recognize how internalized biases can shape women’s own leadership confidence and style.
- Examine leadership qualities as strategic strengths that drive organizational and personal success.
Session 2 | Grit vs. Resilience for Women Leaders
Many leaders succeed because of grit—the determination to push through challenges no matter what. Yet when grit is overused, it can lead to burnout and undervaluing of one’s contributions. This session helps participants recognize when grit is no longer serving them and how to shift toward resilience—pausing, resetting boundaries, and accessing support to sustain high performance. We’ll also consider how unique challenges, such as balancing multiple roles inside and outside of work, can shape leadership, and how these experiences can be reframed as sources of strength. Participants will learn a practical, neuroscience-informed three-step model to build resilience that enhances both effectiveness and well-being.
Learning Outcomes:
- Differentiate between grit and resilience, identifying when perseverance shifts from being productive to harmful.
- Apply a neuroscience-informed three-step resilience model to strengthen well-being and leadership effectiveness.
- Reframe the challenges of balancing multiple roles as leadership assets that can enhance perspective and influence.
Session 3 | Superpowers of Female Leaders and Empowering the Future Generations
Research consistently shows that emotional and social intelligence are among the strongest predictors of leadership success. In this session, we’ll define these skills clearly and explore the advanced dimensions of inspiration, influence, and building deep team commitment. Participants will learn behaviors that signal high effectiveness in these areas, as well as strategies grounded in psychology to further strengthen them. This session will also explore strategies grounded in psychology to continue to take your relational skills to a whole new level, accelerating your leadership success.
And finally, we’ll close the series by discussing how to mentor and empower the next generation of leaders—sharing lessons learned, addressing unique challenges, and exploring how to provide thoughtful, equitable support that helps emerging leaders thrive.
Learning Outcomes:
- Define advanced dimensions of emotional and social intelligence and analyze their impact on influence, inspiration, and team commitment.
- Practice strategies grounded in psychology to strengthen relational leadership behaviors that signal high effectiveness.
- Demonstrate approaches to mentoring and empowering emerging women leaders, fostering equitable opportunities and long-term leadership growth.