Top Story
WLI luncheon – Getting to the top – Recap
September 19, 2013
September 17, 2013
Panelists: Pamela Davies, Ph.D., President of Queens University,
Pat Garrett, former President of the Charlotte Housing Partnership, and
Jill Swain, Mayor of Huntersville
Moderator: Sonya Gantt, Anchor, WCNC-TV
On Tuesday, September 17, members and non-members of ULI, at various stages in their careers, gathered to hear successful women discuss opportunities and challenges faced during their career path. The network luncheon featured an impressive panel withPamela Davies, Ph.D., President of Queens University, Pat Garrett, former President of the Charlotte Housing Partnership, and Jill Swain, Mayor of Huntersville. Sonya Gantt, Anchor of WCNC-TV, moderated the panel.
Panelists openly conversed on how they’ve managed to accomplish success in multiple areas of life, accrediting lessons learned along the way. Family, work-life balance and impactful tactics women can employ on the path to success were themes of discussion.
Networking with peers, luncheon tables talked about the following:
· What strengths do women bring to leadership roles?
· What do women need to do to earn credibility as a leader?
· There can be a double-standard for women in the work place, have you found ways to work through this?
· Is there a leadership course, program, website or reading material that you would recommend?
· Who have your mentors been? Are they men or women? Do you think it makes a difference?
An overall theme of the event was in alignment with a quote from a popular book, Lean In, which is largely a conversation on the ways women are held back—and the ways women can hold back themselves. Author Sheryl Sandberg mentions in her book a career path is “not a career ladder, but a career jungle gym.” 
The days of conventional career progression are changing, and those who attended Tuesday’s luncheon tended to agree. In order to achieve great things, sometimes you have to raise your hand to do the work – and do it well. Career paths are not determined on paper by a progression ladder and opportunities do not present themselves; one must actively participate to make opportunities occur and progress within their career.
– Jennifer Swink, Regional Marketing Coordinator, Grant Thornton LLP
For photos from the day click here.