Mayor Sue Finkam is scheduled to host her inaugural She L.E.A.D.S. Conference on Feb. 20 at the 502 Event Center. L.E.A.D.S. stands for leadership, empowerment, advancement, development and service and the event invites middle-school girls and professional-aged women to participate in a workshop that fosters female empowerment and leadership in the professional world. 

According to Finkam, her experience as a female business-owner and an influential woman in her community inspired to create this event. 

She said, “I had a lot of women in the community who were really excited about having a female representative. And having a female business leader in office as a mayor has led them to be really interested in building a tighter community of professional women here in Carmel.”

Deanna Knight, fellow female business-owner and professional roller skater, acknowledged how vital it is to have strong women in the professional community. 

She said, “Women empowerment is acknowledging the great in another woman, putting that good in another woman and uplifting and pouring that same love that you received out right back. That can create a continuing line of succession.”

Knight also explained just how valuable uplifting and empowering other women can be.

She said, “I’m starting a nonprofit called She Sparks Network and it is about women and empowering them, how collectively we do better as a unit rather than as individuals.”

 “We are only as good as the people that we surround ourselves with,” She added, “So imagine what impact or how much power lies dormant within another woman if you’re able to just shine light on her.”

Similarly, Finkam said that during the conference she hopes women will use it as an opportunity for business development, finding mentors or simply to have a conversation with another woman who understands what it’s like to be a busy professional in today’s world.

Ivy Wei, CMYC member and junior, said she’s taken the initiative to become a leader in her community through her extracurriculars. 

She said, “My mom is one of my biggest inspirations. Despite all the challenges of her young professional life, she was able to do so and raise me at the same time. Obviously, she did not do it alone, which has shown me the power of finding a strong support system that does not expect young people, women especially, to balance everything all at once.”

Finkam echoed a similar sentiment, saying a few of the panelists speaking during the conference will be commenting on time management. 

“It’s really hard for professional women to find the balance between personal time and work time,” she said, “If you have a busy, active lifestyle while you want to have a life of your own, how do you balance that with trying to be a busy career woman? Especially while you’re growing your career.”

Knight said her experience as a business-owner specializing in the maintenance of African-American hair has exposed her to a number of different challenges. She said people don’t acknowledge all the struggles that come with sustaining a business and how that influences how you take care of yourself. 

Knight said, “Surprisingly, I decided to do hair, but there are still so many rules and restrictions within that. I had to unlearn a lot of things and learn new things. It was very difficult, and having others that were in the field that were business owners as well definitely helped me with it. I would not be where I am today had I not had those mentors there for me.”

Part of the She L.E.A.D.S. conference will be dedicated to middle-school girls. Finkam said she wants to allow them to explore what’s exciting about certain careers, meet some women who are doing it and work on soft skills like how to communicate what they want and introduce themselves to others.

She said, “Having women leaders is really important. I want women to create a sense of community. I want the younger women to see other leaders who are females in fields that they are interested in, so they can see that it is possible.”

Wei said, “Giving young women the opportunity to be leaders in the community has a wide range of positive effects, from being more confident and speaking up about problems they might see to knowing how to delegate tasks and work in a cohesive and productive group.”

Finkam said she believes everyone can practice leadership every single day, no matter where you are in life, whether it be helping others achieve, having more professional interactions throughout the day, or finding a moment to learn about something that you don’t know about.

Knight gave advice for young women who aspire to be leaders in their community one day, and said, “The only impact that I hope to leave within the community for women and entrepreneurship is to be who you are and constantly aspire, constantly sharpen yourself. And just plant good seeds everywhere you go because you don’t know what they’re growing.“