March 2023
Empowered Women, Empower Women
PAFA's Women's Leadership Series

March was designated as Women's History Month in February 1980 to honor women's contributions to American history. President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the week of March 8, 1980 as National Women's History Week. Congress expanded it to an entire month in 1987. Since then we have used the month of March to commemorate and encourage the study, observance, and celebration of the critical role of women in history. And with the observance of International Women's Day on March 8th, this celebration has been given a global lens. The 2023 Women's History Month theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Story.” 

In 2021, the OISE team celebrated Women's History Month by launching our first Women's Leadership Series. The OISE team is excited to continue this annual tradition. We invite you to a two-part workshop with Dr. Wendy Smith, Co-founder of the Women's Leadership Initiative and Professor of Management at the University of Delaware.

Co-author of Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems, Dr. Smith will introduce the power of paradox and how to manage seemingly competing agendas and priorities. Details of this two-part series are below:

The Power of AND

Dr. Smith will present the core principles of both/and thinking to address life's biggest challenges. This talk will include multiple examples of individuals and leaders grappling with tensions and competing demands.

Strategies for BOTH/AND Thinking to Solve Your Toughest Problems

We will dive deeper into the ideas of paradox. and how to apply these approaches to our own challenges and tensions. Participants will be invited to take the optional Paradox Mindset Inventory.

All participants will receive a copy of the book, but space is limited. Please join the conversation and share your voice by registering TODAY. Click the button below to sign up!
Support Women's History Month
Women's History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements of women throughout history. It is also a time to recognize gender based inequities that still exist today. Here are ways you can celebrate and participate in Women's History Month.
You can add the PAFA diversity calendar and/or the banner to your signature block to stay informed of all cultural observances throughout the year. And don't forget to list your pronouns.
Read More. Learn More.
Living a Feminist Life

by Sara Ahmed

In Living a Feminist Life Sara Ahmed shows how feminist theory is generated from everyday life and the ordinary experiences of being a feminist at home and at work.

Building on legacies of feminist of color scholarship in particular, Ahmed offers a poetic and personal meditation on how feminists become estranged from worlds they critique—often by naming and calling attention to problems—and how feminists learn about worlds from their efforts to transform them.

Ahmed also provides her most sustained commentary on the figure of the feminist killjoy introduced in her earlier work while showing how feminists create inventive solutions—such as forming support systems—to survive the shattering experiences of facing the walls of racism and sexism. The killjoy survival kit and killjoy manifesto, with which the book concludes, supply practical tools for how to live a feminist life, thereby strengthening the ties between the inventive creation of feminist theory and living a life that sustains it.
The Genius of Women

by Janice Kaplan

Even in this time of rethinking women’s roles, we define genius almost exclusively through male achievement. When asked to name a genius, people mention Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and Steve Jobs. As for great women? In one survey, the only female genius anyone listed was Marie Curie.
 
Janice Kaplan, the New York Times bestselling author of The Gratitude Diaries, set out to determine why the extraordinary work of so many women has been brushed aside. Using her unique mix of memoir, narrative, and inspiration, she makes surprising discoveries about women geniuses now and throughout history, in fields from music to robotics. Through interviews with neuroscientists, psychologists, and dozens of women geniuses at work in the world today—including Nobel Prize winner Frances Arnold and AI expert Fei-Fei Li—she proves that genius isn't just about talent. It's about having that talent recognized, nurtured, and celebrated.
 
Across the generations, even when they face less-than-perfect circumstances, women geniuses have created brilliant and original work. In The Genius of Women, you’ll learn how they ignored obstacles and broke down seemingly unshakable barriers. The geniuses in this moving, powerful, and very entertaining book provide more than inspiration—they offer a clear blueprint to everyone who wants to find her own path and move forward with passion.
From Our Collection
Birthing Class, 2001
by Ann Agee

  • Porcelain, china paint and gold luster
  • 15 x 15 x 24 inches.
  • Art by Women Collection, Gift of Linda Lee Alter