Mount St. Mary’s College Women’s Leadership https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/proposals-2013/mount-st.-mary2019s-college-women2019s-leadership https://grants.dudleytdoughertyfoundation.org/@@site-logo/sitelogo-75x75.png

Mount St. Mary’s College Women’s Leadership

Additional Information
Used for	Every student at Mount St. Mary’s College (MSMC) is considered a leader. MSMC’s Women’s Leadership provides our students, from diverse backgrounds, with the tools to become effective leaders, as well as an understanding of how to make substantive changes in the world. A grant of $10,000 from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will enable Women’s Leadership to continue its core mission of giving students the ability to recognize their leadership potential and utilizing it to take active roles in their lives and communities.
Benefits	Women’s Leadership at MSMC is a critical part of the College’s mission to provide a superior education that prepares students to serve as leaders in the community. As agents of social change, Mount graduates are committed to using their knowledge and skills to better themselves, their environments, and the world. Students who participate in Women’s Leadership not only gain invaluable leadership skills, but are also actively exposed to a community engaged education that builds a strong sense of social responsibility and civic participation that lasts a lifetime.
Proposal Description	As the only Catholic women’s college west of the Mississippi River, MSMC’s mission since 1925 has supported students becoming women of influence, prepared to view professional life as a service to the broader society. In 1975, Women’s Leadership was established as the first college leadership program for women in the western United States. Through workshops, internships, nationwide conferences, and other co-curricular activities, Women’s Leadership continues to help nearly 1,000 students each year to develop the leadership skills necessary to meet their future goals and be engaged citizens. As MSMC begins its new 2013-2018 Strategic Plan, we have made a renewed commitment to provide a transformational educational experience which empowers and challenges women to strive for excellence, both as scholars and as contributors to a more just society. A catalyst for the promotion of women’s issues locally, nationally, and globally, the Mount continues to emphasize the development of women as leaders. Renewed support from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will be instrumental in these efforts. Specifically, by 2015, in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the program and in collaboration with multiple academic departments, Women’s Leadership will launch the Women’s Leadership and Civic Engagement Initiative. This new initiative will provide Mount students and students from the local community with leadership development and skills which will support their engagement as active citizens in their communities and the world. This is a critical component in leadership building. A recent report from the National Task Force on Civic Learning and Engagement highlighted findings that students who participate in civic learning opportunities are more likely to: 1) persist in college and complete their degrees, 2) obtain skills valued by future employers, and 3) develop habits of social responsibility and civic participation that lasts beyond graduation. The Women’s Leadership and Civic Engagement Initiative will move students toward a greater appreciation of their role as citizen-leader and provide them with a strong sense of connectedness to the broader society. By 2016, Women’s Leadership, in partnership with academic departments and the Division of Student Affairs, will launch a campus-wide initiative encompassing all aspects of leadership development (curricular and co-curricular). This will provide a comprehensive leadership experience so that students will graduate with an understanding that they are leaders and that they have the knowledge and skills necessary to effect positive change. This experience will be documented with a Mount Leadership Transcript. Of the many Women’s Leadership activities available throughout the College, the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation’s past support has been especially helpful with the Leadership Scholars and the Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. Leadership Scholars encourage students beginning in their freshman year to become actively involved in the Mount community and to expand their leadership potential. In the last academic year, MSMC had 69 active Leadership Scholars, ranging from freshmen to seniors, who participated in the program. The Annual Leadership Conference had 180 students exploring leadership topics of interest to them and learning how they can apply lessons to their everyday lives as leaders both on campus and in the community. In preparation for changes related to the new Strategic Plan and in support of its core programming, MSMC seeks a grant of $10,000 from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation. Your gift would enable the continued expansion of the Women’s Leadership and allow the College to provide increased internships, support student leadership service projects, send more student leaders to national conferences, maximize the number of student participants in the Annual Women’s Leadership Conference, and hire additional support staff. We are grateful to the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation for your past support and we hope that you will once again consider a renewed contribution to Women’s Leadership.