Letters From CWL Participants

The following excerpts were written by women who experienced Cultivating Women’s Leadership between 2006 and 2008. The women who’ve written range in age from 23 to 58. They represent diverse ethnicities and backgrounds. Their work addresses diverse issues from differing perspectives. All are working to create a better world.

"I carry my time at Cultivating Women’s Leadership (CWL) with me, and it continues to evolve in what it means to me and the ways in which it strengthens my trust in my own leadership. I am the Co-Director of a human rights organization called International Accountability Project--a position I came into unexpectedly at 25, and have now been in for almost 3 years. I sought out CWL to help me take seriously my own development as a leader, and in hopes of gaining new tools and confidence to lead with my own style and integrity. I also came because I am increasingly pulled to explore the connection between the work of protecting our earth, and the phenomenon of women 'taking up the drumbeat' as leaders in the time of global crisis."
- JOANNA LEVITT, Co-Director, International Accountability Project (IAP)

"The results of sitting with intention and openness with the women for those days has produced surprising results—surprising, in that in the immediate weeks and months to follow, I had a sense of a lack of worthiness. It felt as the other women in the group had such direct and focused purpose and that I lacked that clarity. There was an exercise where we stated our focused purpose and intention for our coming days. During preparation, I wrote and rehearsed my piece, yet just before presenting, I completely edited and shifted what I said. Still, I felt inauthentic after presenting. I felt I lacked clarity of purpose. I was grasping to 'know.'"
- DeeAnn Downing, Owner RedAnt Landscaping, Park City, Utah