Women inspire girls at North Carolina leadership conference

To lead by example, sometimes it is as simple as that: Being the person others see so they can see what’s possible for themselves.

There wasn’t a lack of successful women at the Abby Winthrop SMART Girls Inspiring Women’s Leadership Conference, nor were the stories of overcoming difficult events in their childhoods before they got to where they are today. One of those was state senator Vickie Sawyer, who told the story of her upbringing and the challenges she overcame.

“She was very honest with us, she didn’t sugarcoat anything,” Anna Rufty said. “She went from a not-so-great place to being very successful.”

While the young women come from a variety of backgrounds, overcoming obstacles and achieving their goals was the message heard over and over and the conference this week. Stories like that from Sawyer, County Commissioner Melissa Neader, Dr. Alvera Lesane of Durham Public Schools, and others were ones of sometimes being the first from their family or the first in their position. That resonated with the young women this week as the camp has given them a chance to meet and speak with women that are leaders in Statesville, Iredell County and the state of North Carolina.

Abby’s Smart Girls program coordinator Alethea Hyde said these examples of successful women help the young girls see a tangible example of success, not just the idea of it.

“It’s not always been easy for them to get where they are, but they did get to where they are. They are in the positions they are in because they worked hard for it,” Hyde said. “You can do anything you put your mind to, but show them in leadership positions and how they got there.

Putting these young women in that forward-thinking mindset, giving them tangible examples around them, and giving them a chance to see and experience it firsthand was the goal of the conference, according to Brady Johnson, the Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont’s director of development. Russ and Vicki Winthrop, who founded the club and helped organize the camp, wanted to expand on the program’s success, according to Johnson.

“They wanted to focus on leadership, and what female leadership in the community looks like,” Johnson said. “We’ve got some of the top women leaders in the county, and this week they came in and told their personal stories. There are some resounding themes the girls have gotten to hear this week, about being resilient, and not letting your current circumstances dictate what your tomorrow looks like.”

“It’s a really good lesson in what leadership looks like, and they are being inspired by these local leaders to realize that they can achieve these same lofty goals if they set them early and persevere and work hard.”

The camp at Mitchell Community College consists of a number of speakers sharing their stories, tours of Statesville city hall, the county’s government complex, and other downtown locations as well as other speakers from local groups speaking on different topics.

The week will be capped off Friday with the girls being paired with mentors who will continue to advise and guide them in the years ahead.

“They will serve as mentors now until they graduate from high school,” Johnson said. “That’s the icing on the cake: These lessons won’t end on Friday afternoon.”

Learning by example

The conference, as well as Abby’s Smart Girls, is open to young women in middle school and high school. And while many of the lessons apply universally across all backgrounds, some of what the young students have learned can apply particularly to young Black women who often face more scrutiny in their appearance and behavior, and what is considered professional.

“It can be really difficult how you present yourself as a person of color, certain hairstyles, types of clothing, or a certain way I want to express myself, that could be deemed unprofessional, so it’s sometimes just finding a good balance,” Promise Lovelace said. “You have to figure that out early on in life, or you’ll be set back.”

She said she can early see that at times in school, even people that may have good grades, treat people well, but might do things that lead to them being judged otherwise.

And sometimes, being judged as a woman simply doing something traditionally seen as a more masculine activity.

“Even though we’re working just as hard, or even harder because of the setbacks we have,” Lovelace said.

Even with that, just like the women that have spoken to the girls this week, there is something anyone can learn from, or be reminded of as challenges present themselves to everyone in any walk of life.

One of the things they picked up on throughout the week was the passion behind the work of those speakers, a reminder that money can’t be the only motivator at a job.

“Money can’t be the only thing, and that’s something I really thought in middle school when thinking about a career. You have to like your career to be successful,” Keyannah Graham said.

And along with that passion, having a plan and adapting is important as well.

“I have a vague idea of what I want to do, but I want to have a plan and do the best to follow that plan, though the plan most likely won’t go the way I expect it, I still need to have that option that if things go as expected, I can do that, by I’ll still have room for changes, and I can accept what happens either way,” Lovelace said.

Planning for the future isn’t always easy to think about, or something they have been thinking about, but the young women said that had been more on their minds this week as they listened to the speakers at the conference.

“It’s helped me to think about my future, I haven’t thought a whole lot about it yet, but it’s got me thinking of career options,” Anna Rufty said.

“Talking about what could happen in the future, people talking about the way they handled it, what to do, and how fast things go,” Ava Sweatte said.

Looking ahead

Abby’s Smart Girls was founded by the Winthrops after their daughter Abby Winthrop died in 2019 at the age of 24 while awaiting a heart transplant. The club provides support to young women at the Boys & Girls Club in Statesville.

Johnson said that the work the club is doing today is the type that Abby would have been doing once she graduated from college.

“We’re carrying on her legacy, and we hope to continue to do that with this conference next year as well,” Johnson said.

He said they hope to double the size of the several dozen young women, as well as possibly split it into middle and high school groups.

Johnson also expressed gratitude to all the local leaders and groups involved for their time and said many plans to take part next year as well.