Introduction

Welcome to my Leadership page and blog!

This page/blog was created for a course in Women and Leadership at Oregon State University where I am pursuing my masters degree in College Student Services Administration with an emphasis on Leadership Development. I have chose this leadership portfolio to not just be a product of my exploration of Women's Leadership but as a beginning of my conversations and learning as a leader, a student affairs professional and as a leadership educator.

As an introduction I will explain that my goal for this page is to be a sounding board for discussing leadership in any way, with a particular focus on inclusive leadership practices. If you read over my mission and values you will learn that I believe that everyone can be a leader. I have spent a lot of time in graduate school and before when I wasn't aware of what being inclusive in leadership really means. One of the main themes of the course was feminist leadership. Feminist leadership is collaborative, making this blog as a perfect forum for the discussion of leadership, it allows many to engage in conversations on leadership. Below is a description of Feminist Leadership that I wrote, the source is a great book on Women's Leadership


Feminist Leadership is, “encouraging the voices of those who are vulnerable and promoting skills needed to effectively question authority and end social injustice.” (Chin et al, 2006, p.27). Chin suggests that women may need to aspire to change the system rather than learning to work with the traditional leadership structures. The approach suggested is Feminist, according to Bond, Belenky and Weinstock as quoted in “Women and Leadership” is: “creating an inclusive setting in which all members…are heard and engage in growth and development…working collaboratively with reciprocity and mutuality” (p.27). This model is about mutual empowerment of those who have been oppressed, self-awareness, and confidence that the person is an expert about their lives. Feminist Leadership is democratic, collaborative, and encourages relationship building and sharing the power and decision making. Feminist leaders must take into account the needs and values of different populations striving to change the traditional leadership systems into ones that are inclusive and collaborative” (Chin et al, 2006).

Also in this skeleton of this blog you will learn some things about my strengths, resources and my leadership influences, and a few other documents that I composed in the Women and Leadership course that were part of my exploration of Women's Leadership. I hope that you enjoy all that I have to give and invite you to participate in the discovery and discussion on leadership!

The conclusion to this introduction, and to this portfolio is that there is no conclusion. This is the beginning of a discussion on leadership. As leadership is a process that creates opportunities for growth through exploration and experience; this blog serves to become an outlet for leaders to discuss issues, use their critical eye to investigate leadership that they see in their lives.