Take The Lead to Celebrate Five Success-Filled Years

    NEW YORK, NY, July 14, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Take The Lead (www.taketheleadwomen.com), whose mission is to prepare, develop, inspire, and propel women to take their fair and equal share of leadership in every sector by 2025, will celebrate its fifth anniversary on July 25th. To mark the milestone, the non-profit, which is led by co-founder and president Gloria Feldt, will host a Summer Gathering at the Alley Co-Working Space (119 West 24th Street) featuring a silent auction, the launch of a new podcast series hosted by Feldt and SheMedia's Vice President of Video Programming Reshma Gopaldas, and a performance by actress/singer Ari Afsar (Hamilton-Chicago). Tickets are available at http://bit.ly/2FNSaFw.

"I'm so proud of all that Take The Lead has accomplished over the past five years – while keeping our eyes on the future. With our sharp focus on gender parity, we are moving the dial by accelerating women's leadership intentions and providing the tools to achieve those intentions," says Feldt. "It's important to take a moment to celebrate as we move forward on our bold mission."

Auction Items

Items available to-date in the silent auction (http://bit.ly/2LgsVAa) – which is now open for bids – include:
• Priceless: Lunch with Oscar-nominee Kathleen Turner and Gloria Feldt
• Exquisite jewelry pieces from Alex Soldier, valued at $5000
• The Art of The Big Talk online course, resource library and 1:1 work session with award-winning director and executive producer of "Speakers Who Dare," valued at $4,000
• Two complete career, promotion and raise strategic plans, with custom data and consulting, from She Negotiates and 81Cents.com, valued at $2500 each
• A 30x40 painting by award-winning artist (and lawyer, musician and all-around Renaissance man) Leon Silver, valued at $1500
• Michelle Obama print by artist Linda Stein, valued at $1200
• Customized resume development by Laura Smith Dunaief of CareerCraft, valued at $900
• Two premium orchestra seats to the Broadway play "What The Constitution Means To Me," valued at $500
• A one-on-one virtual writing and brainstorming session with award-winning author, journalist and Take The Lead Editorial Director Michele Weldon, plus a close edit of up to 10 pages of your manuscript and signed copies of three of her recent books, valued at $500
• Three training sessions at Priority Fitness in Brooklyn, valued at $300
• Two custom sterling silver charm bracelets featuring Take The Lead Women logo charm and power bead, valued at $300

There will be a special live auction at the Summer Gathering: An amazing package of athleisure wear plus a shopping party for 20 from Alala, featuring an intimate discussion with the company's founder Denise Lee on women and entrepreneurship, valued at $1800.

New items are being added daily; check the micro-site for auction updates.

Podcast Launch

The event will officially launch the "Take The Lead Women" podcast, adapted in part from Take The Lead's popular monthly "Virtual Happy Hour" webcast. Hosted by Feldt and Gopaldas, episodes will feature conversations with top thought leaders in key areas of women's leadership. The format will include bi-weekly 30-40-minute interview podcasts and two shorter podcasts featuring leadership stories and tips from Feldt. Guests include Carla Harris, vice chairman, managing director and senior client adviser, Morgan Stanley; Sylvia Acevedo, CEO, Girl Scouts of the USA; Claudia Chan, founder and CEO, S.H.E Globl & S.H.E. Summit; Gloria Steinem, feminist leader and activist; and Jehan Agrama, co-founder of GLAAD. The podcast will be available on all leading platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

The Beginning

Take The Lead debuted on February 19, 2014, with more than half a million women and men around the world viewing the kickoff event online and thousands more watching it live at Arizona State University. Feldt and co-founder Amy Litzenberger led panels and discussions leading up to the keynote, delivered by Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Carla Harris, vice chairman, managing director and senior client adviser, Morgan Stanley, brought the house down with her powerful speech on "The Power of Authenticity." Says Feldt, "The response let us know we had struck a deep vein of need for the breakthrough training, mentoring, role models, and thought leadership based on the research I did for my book, No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. Women had been stalled at 18 percent of top leadership for over two decades, and I knew this was the moment to change that."

Among Take The Lead's many accomplishments:
• The 9 Leadership Power Tools, created by Feldt, which move women from "power over" to "power to" and give women immediately usable ways to navigate the world as it is, while leading the changes that need to be. They form the core curriculum, differentiating Take The Lead from other leadership programs.
• The immersive 50 Women Can Change the World program (https://www.50womencan.com/main), which provides women in cohorts of 50 from various sectors with the intention and skills to lead change in the culture of their professions. Cohorts served or coming up include healthcare, finance, journalism, media & entertainment, human resources, tech, and nonprofit & community leadership. To date, hundreds of women nationwide have participated in this rigorous training.
• Developing customized in-person, online and blended solutions for corporations, government organizations, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, small and large teams, and individuals seeking to grow their female leadership and achieve their gender diversity and inclusion goals.
• "Virtual Happy Hour," a free live webcast that presents in-depth interviews with women leaders about how they have overcome obstacles and beaten the odds.

"We are looking forward to the next five years and beyond to the goal of leadership gender parity by 2025, to ensure that women get their just share of power, pay and position," says Feldt.

# # #

#TakeTheLead
#TakeTheLeadWomen
#SummerGathering
#50WomenCan
#GenderParity
#GloriaFeldt
#ReshmaGopaldas
#VirtualHappyHour
#LeadershipPowerTools
#Women
#Leadership
#Podcast
#Auction

# # #