Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Empower
Peace hosted the 2006 Women2Women International
Leadership Conference + Cultural Exchange to
provide leadership training to young women from the
Middle East, Near East and the United States. The
goal for this conference was to empower future
young women leaders to learn first hand from
established women leaders and inspire them to take
leadership roles in their own communities. The 2006
conference was an opportunity for young women ages
16 – 22 to actively participate in a cultural
exchange, meet with national and international
women leaders, and participate in a series of
leadership development courses. The conference
co-chairs were Diane Caldwell and Shahid Khan.
Students were recruited from high schools and colleges worldwide. Each was nominated by an adult and was required to fill out a program application. Applications were received from 100 students in 11 countries around the world.
In total more than 70 students from 11 countries were accepted and participated in the first Women2Women International Leadership Conference. Countries represented included: Pakistan, Canada, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Jordan, Bahrain, the Palestinian Territories and the United States.
In addition to interacting in person with each other at the leadership conference, students had the opportunity interact through our online community. A Women2Women micro site was built and linked from our Empower Peace website. The micro site provided participating young women with a variety of tools and information. The conference schedule, pictures, videos, and conference information were posted on this site. It also contained information about our guest speakers and their backgrounds.
The Women2Women Conference was held from August 21, 2006 through August 31, 2006, and was divided into two distinct phases, a “home stay” experience for select international participants, and the leadership conference. Empower Peace coordinated all the travel, ground transportation, conference housing and meals, and scheduled activities. Empower Peace also provided adult supervision by teacher chaperones, Empower Peace staff, or a combination of both for the duration of the event.
W2W Cultural Exchange – August 21, 2006 – August 26, 2006
The week preceding the leadership conference, Empower Peace sponsored a five-day cultural exchange program for 15 young women from Bahrain and Pakistan. The young women were paired with families in Stoneham and Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA, all of whom had teenage daughters participating in Women2Women.
Participants were encouraged to share their culture and customs with their host families. Likewise, host families were asked to include their guest in their everyday activities as a way of giving them a taste of American life.
During this five-day exchange, the young women and their host families participated in various group activities in the greater Boston area. This included a VIP tour of Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, a whale watch in Plymouth, MA, and stops at the Peabody-Essex and the Salem Witch Museums in Salem, Massachusetts. The young women also attended a welcome reception at the home of the conference’s co-chair, Shahid Khan.
First Annual Women2Women International Leadership Conference
Working with women leaders from Massachusetts and elite educational institutions such as the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Empower Peace developed a comprehensive five-day program that included interactive workshops, panel discussions and keynote addresses.
The workshops and panel discussions addressed topics including:
• Leadership
• Journalism
• Negotiation Skills/Conflict Resolution
• Democracy/Government
• Building a Business
• Self-Esteem and Overcoming Insecurity
• Community Service
The workshops and special presentations were designed to provide the young women with information, materials and tools to help them better understand and utilize techniques in each of the issue areas above. Curriculum materials and takeaways were also prepared and distributed to each student participant.
The workshops also provided participants with the opportunity to learn from women leaders, specifically the challenges and obstacles each has overcome to be in their current position. Empower Peace worked to provide both a national and international perspective in each of the discussions. In particular, participants spent a day at the Massachusetts State House hearing from elected officials about the important role of women in government.
Empower Peace included workshops that were interactive and engaging. Two renowned art-based workshops gave the participants insights into peace negotiations. The first, “Experiential Conflict Resolution” by Lesley University’s Vivian Marrow-Speiser explored the strengths and sustainable capacities for promoting peace in one’s community through drama-based activities. The second, “Motherblood” by Susan Nisenbaum and Saphira Lindon, opened up the world of two mothers sharing a wide range of feelings regarding their complex personal and political situations.
One of the highlights of the 2007 conference was the panel discussion on media coverage in the Middle East. After a presentation by award-winning journalist and Senior Correspondent for National Public Radio Michael Goldfarb, Journalist Jane Christo led an intense discussion about the role media plays in shaping important global issues, especially in the Middle East. Panelists also discussed the personal and professional obstacles they’ve encountered when chasing and reporting a story. Because of the young women’s interest in the topic and their deep desire for more discussion, the session did not finish after its 2.5 hour time allotment ran out. Instead panelists split the young women into four small groups and gathered in a side room for another hour to continue their discussion.
The panel discussion on media coverage was also broadcast live via videoconferencing to students in Lahore, Pakistan. More than a dozen students from Pakistan participated in the videoconference. The students in Pakistan asked a number of hard-hitting questions of the panelists and welcomed the chance to participate from thousands of miles away.
In addition to the U.S. Department of State, Empower Peace worked with many partners to ensure a successful Women2Women conference. They included Lesley University, Polycom, Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Women and Public Policy Program, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, VBrick, Grossman Marketing, and the Girl Scouts, Patriots’ Trial Council.
Students were recruited from high schools and colleges worldwide. Each was nominated by an adult and was required to fill out a program application. Applications were received from 100 students in 11 countries around the world.
In total more than 70 students from 11 countries were accepted and participated in the first Women2Women International Leadership Conference. Countries represented included: Pakistan, Canada, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Jordan, Bahrain, the Palestinian Territories and the United States.
In addition to interacting in person with each other at the leadership conference, students had the opportunity interact through our online community. A Women2Women micro site was built and linked from our Empower Peace website. The micro site provided participating young women with a variety of tools and information. The conference schedule, pictures, videos, and conference information were posted on this site. It also contained information about our guest speakers and their backgrounds.
The Women2Women Conference was held from August 21, 2006 through August 31, 2006, and was divided into two distinct phases, a “home stay” experience for select international participants, and the leadership conference. Empower Peace coordinated all the travel, ground transportation, conference housing and meals, and scheduled activities. Empower Peace also provided adult supervision by teacher chaperones, Empower Peace staff, or a combination of both for the duration of the event.
W2W Cultural Exchange – August 21, 2006 – August 26, 2006
The week preceding the leadership conference, Empower Peace sponsored a five-day cultural exchange program for 15 young women from Bahrain and Pakistan. The young women were paired with families in Stoneham and Foxboro, Massachusetts, USA, all of whom had teenage daughters participating in Women2Women.
Participants were encouraged to share their culture and customs with their host families. Likewise, host families were asked to include their guest in their everyday activities as a way of giving them a taste of American life.
During this five-day exchange, the young women and their host families participated in various group activities in the greater Boston area. This included a VIP tour of Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, a whale watch in Plymouth, MA, and stops at the Peabody-Essex and the Salem Witch Museums in Salem, Massachusetts. The young women also attended a welcome reception at the home of the conference’s co-chair, Shahid Khan.
First Annual Women2Women International Leadership Conference
Working with women leaders from Massachusetts and elite educational institutions such as the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Empower Peace developed a comprehensive five-day program that included interactive workshops, panel discussions and keynote addresses.
The workshops and panel discussions addressed topics including:
• Leadership
• Journalism
• Negotiation Skills/Conflict Resolution
• Democracy/Government
• Building a Business
• Self-Esteem and Overcoming Insecurity
• Community Service
The workshops and special presentations were designed to provide the young women with information, materials and tools to help them better understand and utilize techniques in each of the issue areas above. Curriculum materials and takeaways were also prepared and distributed to each student participant.
The workshops also provided participants with the opportunity to learn from women leaders, specifically the challenges and obstacles each has overcome to be in their current position. Empower Peace worked to provide both a national and international perspective in each of the discussions. In particular, participants spent a day at the Massachusetts State House hearing from elected officials about the important role of women in government.
Empower Peace included workshops that were interactive and engaging. Two renowned art-based workshops gave the participants insights into peace negotiations. The first, “Experiential Conflict Resolution” by Lesley University’s Vivian Marrow-Speiser explored the strengths and sustainable capacities for promoting peace in one’s community through drama-based activities. The second, “Motherblood” by Susan Nisenbaum and Saphira Lindon, opened up the world of two mothers sharing a wide range of feelings regarding their complex personal and political situations.
One of the highlights of the 2007 conference was the panel discussion on media coverage in the Middle East. After a presentation by award-winning journalist and Senior Correspondent for National Public Radio Michael Goldfarb, Journalist Jane Christo led an intense discussion about the role media plays in shaping important global issues, especially in the Middle East. Panelists also discussed the personal and professional obstacles they’ve encountered when chasing and reporting a story. Because of the young women’s interest in the topic and their deep desire for more discussion, the session did not finish after its 2.5 hour time allotment ran out. Instead panelists split the young women into four small groups and gathered in a side room for another hour to continue their discussion.
The panel discussion on media coverage was also broadcast live via videoconferencing to students in Lahore, Pakistan. More than a dozen students from Pakistan participated in the videoconference. The students in Pakistan asked a number of hard-hitting questions of the panelists and welcomed the chance to participate from thousands of miles away.
In addition to the U.S. Department of State, Empower Peace worked with many partners to ensure a successful Women2Women conference. They included Lesley University, Polycom, Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Women and Public Policy Program, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, VBrick, Grossman Marketing, and the Girl Scouts, Patriots’ Trial Council.
Women2Women
Cultural Connection & Leadership
Program