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Clearwater to participate in UM Gender Equity Event

UNMASKING CHALLENGES TO CREATE A RESILIENT FUTURE: Exploring Gender and Equity in a Pandemic

The 2020-2021 University of Montana Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) cohort, in partnership with Clearwater Credit Union, will be hosting a community event to engage in reflective dialogue and pioneering discourse focused on how the pandemic has impacted gender and equity.

This event will take place on March 8th and March 9th via Zoom.  

The community event will include keynote speeches, panel discussions, and futuring sessions to unpack the local challenges we have faced in healthcare, education, finance, and more, culminating with a brainstorm of recommendations the cohort plans to share with area leaders.  Many of the challenges we faced in 2020 were not new; rather, they were (and are) existing issues that gained traction and momentum with the onset of a pandemic.  WLI looks forward to this opportunity to bring members of the community together to learn from 2020 and build a more resilient community in 2021 and beyond.

The public is invited to the following keynote presentations:

March 8th from 12:00-1:00 p.m.
WLI invites keynote presenters Jack Lawson and Megan Kraft from Clearwater Credit Union who will share their insight on COVID’s impact on our community.  These leaders will discuss the financial, social, and organizational impacts they’ve observed in their own values-based institution as well as in our community.

March 8th from 4:00-4:30 p.m.
WLI invites Missoula community members to reflect on personal and professional experiences and expertise to identify signals of the future.  This collaborative exercise will explore and highlight forecasts for the future which are imperative to building communities, organizations, and systems that support women and promote equity in the wake of a pandemic.  All are welcome to participate in this brainstorming session.

March 9th from 12:00-1:00 p.m.
WLI invites community leaders Erin Erickson from Missoula Rises and Andrea Davis from Homeword to share their observations of resilience, creativity, and adaptability in the past year.  In addition to personal and organizational reflections, these leaders will discuss strategies and actions that leaders can employ to promote equity and ensure our community is supportive and sustainable in 2021 and beyond.

To register for any or all of these events go to https://grizhub.umt.edu/event/6916250

To learn more about the Women’s Leadership Initiative, go to http://www.umt.edu/womens-leadership-initiative/