Women’s Leadership Institute welcomes alumni and students for Healthy Leadership Workshop during MSU Homecoming week

October 24, 2024 - Emily Jodway

The Women's Leadership Institute held a workshop on Clifton StrengthsFinder with its Student Cohort on October 17, 2024. The session was led by WLI Board Member and Executive Coach Stacy Sollenberger and Professional Growth Coach Jennifer Higgins. Photo by Jacqueline Hawthorne

The Women’s Leadership Institute held its fall Healthy Leadership Workshop on October 17 inside the MSU Union. Members of the 2024-25 Student Cohort got together with Executive Board members and alumni supporters for their first opportunity this semester to meet and mingle in person, followed by an interactive workshop and networking dinner. 

“I think that the magic of the WLI for me is the connections that our students make with our alums and our board members,” said Amanda Guinot Talbot, PhD, Director of the WLI. “ It's something like today in the workshop that we're doing, there's so much productivity, so much energy and enthusiasm in the air. I think a day like today is my favorite day of the year, one in which I connect with friends, feel supported, feel empowered, and it’s a day where we're going to be energized and excited to impact the world and ignite women leaders.”

The workshop, led by alumna and Executive Board member Stacy Sollenberger and fellow alumna Jennifer Higgins, both of whom are in the career fields of executive and professional growth coaching, focused on understanding and applying one’s greatest talents and strengths, building confidence, and effective strength-based leadership and communication. 

“Particularly why I was excited about this workshop is, for the first time, we've mapped out our learning objectives for this year for the cohort and made units of study,” Guinot Talbot said. “This first one is also all about building confidence.”

Sollenberger and Higgins discussed how our strengths can shape our leadership and impact us throughout our professional careers, as well as how they can impact our approach to problem solving and decision-making. Cohort members got together in small groups with alumni to discuss their strengths, how their biggest strength impacts them in their daily lives and which strengths they feel are the most influential to their style of leadership. 

Students also learned how to craft a personal brand statement, explaining who they are, what they do best, what motivates them and how they bring value to the organizations they are a part of. Alumni contributed stories from their own professional lives based on their years of leadership experience across an array of career fields. 

Second-year cohort member and political science-pre law major Anjali Konkipudi was looking forward to returning for another year with the WLI Student Cohort and to continue building her leadership skills. 

“The experience I had last year is unlike anything I've had in my entire life,” she said. “The bonds I've made not only with other peers in the cohort, but the professionals, mentors, were all so genuine, and it just felt so real, and honestly turned into something more than just professionalism. Leadership is more than just being able to lead people, it’s also to be able to lead yourself, and I think that's something that people really, really came to terms with here, and we all became a support system for each other.”

Mary Grace Styblo is a first-year member of the cohort and a student in the College of Arts and Letters. She was encouraged to join the WLI by her cousin, fellow cohort member Emily Mason. 

“I'm excited to meet new people and make connections, because I love listening to people and hearing them tell their stories,” she said. “I heard about this from my cousin (cohort member Emily Mason) and it just sounded like a great opportunity for me to build up my resume and experiences and such.”

The networking dinner included an introduction from Guinot Talbot, a welcome message from Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and a speech from student cohort member Adena Norwood. A senior majoring in anthropology with a minor in international development, Norwood has been a member of the WLI Student Cohort since its inception in 2021 and for all four years of her undergraduate career. Norwood is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and hopes to one day work in the field of political foreign service, aiding in issues surrounding immigration and prison reform. 

The WLI is supported by a large group of alumni from across the country who are passionate about giving back to Michigan State and encouraging young women leaders in their pursuits. “The biggest reason I came back to campus to support the WLI is that I love my school,” said Jill Windelspecht, an alumna of the College of Social Science. “Right now, a lot of what I do in my own executive coaching is focusing on helping people, especially women, with confidence and their mindset. So as soon as I learned about the Women’s Leadership Institute, I wanted to see how I could help and be a part of it. That’s why I’m here today.”

For more information on the WLI and its plans for the rest of the academic year, click here.