MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE TEEN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE WELCOMES FORTY HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS FROM ACROSS THE U.S.

Fifth annual Take the Lead conference scheduled for September 30-October 3. Program now to include research component made possible by generous gift from local donor.

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.---In what is becoming a vibrant yearly tradition at Mount Holyoke College, forty high school juniors from across the country will travel to campus from September 30 to October 3 for Take the Lead, an intensive four-day teen leadership conference that gives young women the tools to turn ideas for social change into action.

The program, now in its fifth year, has inspired and equipped scores of young women to bring their ideas to life. In fact, past participants have been very successful in carrying forward action plans developed during the intensive weekend to address social and political challenges of every type. Among many successes from recent years is Shanté Basset, who organized a program at her high school in Queens, New York, that helped students break down the stereotype of apathetic teens and become involved in important causes. Her Youth Get Involved (YGI) program has been so successful that it has become a permanent organization and was selected as a winner in the Fleet Entrepreneurship Month Competition sponsored by the Citizens Committee for New York City.

And Heidi Roop, now a Mount Holyoke sophomore and speaker at this year's conference, organized a fund drive to supply school supplies to impoverished Mexican students while raising awareness of the environmental hazards that deforestation in Mexico is posing to the migrating monarch butterfly.

"This is a program that shows young women that they are capable of achieving goals well beyond what they have imagined," said program chair Patricia VandenBerg, the College's executive director of communications and strategic initiatives. "Too often, even the most successful girls and women in our society feel that they do not deserve their success. Take the Lead has helped its participants appreciate the power they have and put it to use."

VandenBerg also noted that this year is the first in which a research component will be added to assess the long-term effects of the program on participants. That research is made possible by a $180,000 grant from Jean Beard of Amherst through her Icarus Foundation. The grant will underwrite the research and help support the cost of the program.

"This support is an affirmation that this young program is already setting a standard for leadership development," VandenBerg said.

Each participant will be paired with a Mount Holyoke student mentor who has been trained at the College's Weissman Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts. The program of lectures, workshops, brainstorming, and mentoring helps each student develop a detailed plan to effect positive change in her school, community, or the world at large. This year's participants come from 22 states and represent every region of the country. At the same time, a number of students come from Massachusetts, including South Hadley, Holyoke, Northampton, and Amherst.

This year, more than 300 candidates were nominated by their counselors, teachers, religious or community leaders, and other adult mentors. The participants were chosen on the basis of their potential for leadership and making a difference, as demonstrated by their academic, extracurricular, and community involvement, as well as insight and motivation. Mentors keep in touch with their participants, generally through email, over the six months following the conference, offering advice and encouragement when appropriate.

According to Mount Holyoke sophomore Heidi Roop---who was a Take the Lead participant three years ago and has gone on to become a mentor and guest speaker---the program "keeps getting better. It's a great opportunity to come to campus as a high school student and see that you are not alone in wanting to formulate change. The chance, too, to spend time with Mount Holyoke students who have already accomplished so much is a real inspiration to high school juniors." In her first year, Roop put together a program at her high school in Appleton, Wisconsin, to send school supplies and clothes to an impoverished school in Mexico. As a senior, she worked to support a school in Panama. Gratifyingly, after her graduation, her high school continues the program, supporting a school in Ecuador last year.

Outstanding Mount Holyoke women will be guest participants during the weekend. This year's guest speakers are:

Simisola Sanni Nwogugu '97
After graduating from Mount Holyoke, Nwogugu was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Then, in 1999, she launched a new Junior Achievement (JA) program in her native country of Nigeria to educate future business leaders. By 2002, 13,000 students in more than 40 schools were involved in the program. Nwogugu attended Harvard Business School, serves on JA of Nigeria’s board, and now works at Nickelodeon.

Patricia VandenBerg, Ph.D.
The director of Take the Lead, VandenBerg is a nationally recognized authority in communications and leading change. A professor, college administrator, and consultant, she has assisted individuals and groups across the country. Much of her work has focused on empowering women and girls. Participants will use her “leadership change model” as the basis for developing their action projects.

Heidi Roop '07
Due to deforestation of its winter breeding ground in Michoacán, Mexico, the monarch butterfly faces extinction. Take the Lead alumna and current MHC student Heidi Roop developed a plan to both support Michoacán’s impoverished schools and educate local children about deforestation. Her Monarch Watch School Supplies Drive in Wisconsin raised more than $15,000 in supplies.

Becky Wai-Ling Packard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Education Becky Wai-Ling Packard specializes in mentoring and studies career and identity development during adolescence and the motivation of women in science and of low-income ethnic minority youth. Packard recently received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER grant to fund her research over the next five years. Packard has received numerous awards to recognize her work forging mentoring partnerships between MHC students and area youth, including the Volunteer of the Year Award from Girls Inc. in Holyoke, Massachusetts. She has recently been named one of three finalists in Massachusetts's inaugural Carter Partnership Award for Campus-Community Collaboration.

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