Women's Leadership Academy begins fourth year

The Women’s Leadership Academy met for the first time this semester Aug. 25. (photo courtesy of Stacy Roberts)

By Timberly Fernandez | Staff writer

The Women’s Leadership Academy is an annual program for undergraduate women to develop their leadership and professional skills at Augusta University.

Stacy Roberts, a lecturer at the Hull College of Business, is the program facilitator. The program begins in August and will have monthly sessions until March of the following year. There are 25 participants this year, which is the most participants enrolled since it has the program started.

The Women’s Leadership Academy started in the fall of 2019 after the Hull College of Business received a grant from the ADP Foundation. The grant funds $1,000 scholarships for each participant and $1,000 for the peer mentors assigned to new participants. New participants will be given a peer mentor and a mentor from ADP. A peer mentor is a member who already completed the program and were chosen to lead new members. There are five peer mentors in the program this year. They will be the “big sisters” over the new participants.  

Accounting senior, Jordan Taylor was chosen to be a peer mentor this year and she looks forward to her new role in the program. 

“Being a peer mentor this year, I look forward the most to sharing my knowledge with others and learning from others as well,” said Taylor. “We have gained so many new participants this year, and I know that I can learn valuable new skills and perspectives from them!”

The Women’s Leadership Academy is the first activity she had done for school outside of her classes and she is thankful she chose this one. Taylor said that the most impactful thing she learned from the Women’s Leadership Academy is how to advocate for herself and helped her recognize her strengths and skills. This program teaches the members the professional and leadership skills to further advance them in the business world.  

Roberts’ takeaway from this program is seeing the young women grow in this program.  

Roberts said, “Each participant takes a different nugget from the program. For some, it’s developing the professional powerhouse within. It also exposes young women to wisdom which will greatly assist them in their careers.”  

The young ladies will be taught subjects such as professional dress, networking, overcoming burnout, salary negotiation, conflict resolution, mediation and advocating for oneself. These are important for women to learn before entering the workforce.  

Aside from learning professional skills, the members will also participate in an outreach project. This will allow the members to serve and give back to the community.  They will also attend networking events, business site visits and other activities to develop their leadership skills.

By the time the program is completed, the Women’s Leadership Academy Class of 2024 will be prepared for the professional business world and Roberts will be in the front row witnessing this progress.  

“I LOVE witnessing the participants grow,” she said. “Every year they blow my mind with their development and tenacity. Watching them get what they need to succeed and truly valuing what they learn means so much”