W2W Year in Review
Updates on WILMA's Women to Watch Leadership Initiative
WILMA’s Women to Watch Leadership Initiative has updates to share as we continue to work on the mission of helping develop more women leaders in our area. Here’s what we’ve been up to in 2022:
WILMA AWARDS: Thirty-six finalists were recognized in our annual Women to Watch Awards in October, this year held at the Wilmington Convention Center.
LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: This year’s class selected for the nine-month WILMA’s Leadership Institute program started orientation at Double Run Farm. Leadership skills topics this year included strategic thinking, effective communications, strengths-based leadership, and more. The forty members celebrate their graduation this month. Applications are now open through January 31 for next year’s program. Info: WILMALeadership.com
FUTURE LEADERS: This year, we launched a youth leadership component to our initiative, selecting sixteen 11th graders to participate in a yearlong mentorship program and a Future Leaders Fest event.
LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR: Our annual half-day women’s conference took place in June at the Wilmington Convention Center, featuring workshops, networking, and keynote talks from Kate Groat, Live Oak Bank; Velva Jenkins, YWCA Lower Cape Fear; Sheri Shaw, UNCW CHHS; and Jennifer Turnage, xElle Ventures.
GET ON BOARD: The Get on Board program, held in partnership with UNCW’s QENO, prepares women for joining boards of directors. Training also took place at our Accelerator conference.
MENTORING: We matched up twenty women with mentors this fall for the yearlong mentoring program in which participants work one-on-one with each other once a month on leadership goals.
