When is the last time you really connected with a special girl in your life?  When is the last time you asked about her dreams or goals or shared your dreams and goals with her?  When is the last time you listened – I mean really listened – to the challenges she fears most or some of the day-to-day issues she struggles with?  Has it been a while since you spent some quality time together?

These were some of the thoughts that crossed my mind while serving as a workshop mentor for the Momentum 2010 Ohio Young Women’s Summit on March 7th.  This forum for over 400 teen girls from across the state was the launch of the Ohio Women’s Summit, a two-day event (March 7th and 8th) coordinated by the Governor’s Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach and First Lady Frances Strickland. The entire Summit focused on strengthening our families and communities by promoting the advancement of girls and women through education, economics, and health.

I will recap my incredible experience attending the March 8th activities that were tailored for women including my special interview with the summit’s keynote speaker Valerie Jarrett in the first edition of The Women’s Book’s new Collective for Women magazine.  In the meanwhile, I thought I would share a quick summary of my experience at the Young Women’s Summit – it was truly a day that reignited my strong passion for the empowerment of girls.

One of my three nieces attended the Young Women’s Summit with me as a participant and to my extreme delight she had a fantastic time.  Although her mother and I did our best to explain the purpose for the event, I think my niece was a bit  skeptical about how fun and beneficial the summit would be.  “I hope this won’t be just a bunch of older people talking”  is what I recall her saying during our early morning drive to the event.  However, on our way home she said something like, “Yea, it was fun.  I got to meet some interesting women and girls, and I really liked the session about getting ready for college and financial aid.” 

The session on preparing for college was only one of approximately nine sessions that the young women had the opportunity to participate in throughout the day.  The other sessions featured opening remarks by Ohio Governor and First Lady, Ted and Frances Strickland; an intergenerational discussion with women from diverse backgrounds; health and wellness activities such as a ZumaAtomic Fitness Class and a discussion about healthy relationships; a hands on workshop exploring career in science, technology, math and engineering; and an all-day Girls Going Places entrepreneurship workshop for approximately 100 of the girls who attended the summit.

I spent the majority of my time at the summit serving as a mentor for the Girls Going Places workshop that was held to inspire and encourage participants to pursue their own entrepreneurial endeavors.  During the workshop we had small group discussions and guided the girls through various activities such as “Hot Company”, a board game that introduces girls to the advantages and challenges of owning one’s own business.  There was also time set aside for “speed-networking” where each of the volunteer mentors moved from table to table introducing themselves and answering questions from the girls about their backgrounds and experiences.  The questions we were asked were very thoughtful – they ranged from “Do you have any regrets?” to “How long did it take for you to build your business and did your college degree help prepare you for what you are doing now?” 

At the end of workshop, the girls were asked to share at least one of the most beneficial things they learned.  Some of their responses included:

“I learned that you must have a plan, but it’s also important to be flexible with it.”;

“It’s okay to have more than one dream.”;

“I learned that most of these women were independent and they sacrificed to start their businesses.  They started with something small and worked hard to build something bigger.”; and

“I learned the importance of making connections.” (Yes!)

I was fortunate to have taken some video footage of the workshop.  When I replayed it to write this post it was still very apparent how engaged the workshop participants were – both the girls and the mentors.  It was wonderful to see the genuine interest and sparkle of inspiration in the girls’ eyes as they listened intently to the responses of each woman or the other girls in the room. 

I look forward to staying connected with some of the young women I met at the summit and more importantly, spending more quality time with the girls whose success means the most to me such as my nieces. 

On our way home, my niece and I took a detour to spend some quality time together.  I enjoyed listening to her respond to questions like, “What’s up with your science class – are you still having a tough time with it?”;  “How is your one friend doing – the one with the freckles and red hair?”; and  “What do you want to do the next time we hang out?”.

The Momentum 2010 Ohio Women’s Summit – both the day for girls and for women – was a fantastic experience.  I made a lot of great connections with girls from across Ohio and reconnected with my niece who means the world to me. 

Congratulations to the Summit organizers and supporters.  Hopefully this initiative will continue for many years to come.

TaKeysha Sheppard Cheney is the CEO & Publisher of The Women’s Book, a print and online directory to women’s news, leaders and resources.