Advancing Women in Leadership Conference
March 10, 2025
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In partnership with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), Lipscomb University is pleased to host the one-day Advancing Women in Leadership (AWIL) conference on March 10, 2025. AWIL is celebrating 10 years of inspiring, preparing, and mentoring women to be poised and prepared as they step into leadership roles. Follow us on social media: @AWILConference
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M.O.S.A.I.C.: Maximizing Our Strengths through Alliance, Integrity, & Character
AWIL's Theme for 2025
Together, we can cultivate environments where trust, support, and cooperation empower every woman to lead with authenticity and influence. To elevate the status of women in leadership positions within both Christian universities and higher education more broadly, the AWIL conference is dedicated to providing a platform where experienced and aspiring leaders alike can connect with each other, deepen their faith, and amplify their influence, leaving a lasting impact on the landscape of leadership. By fostering meaningful connections and facilitating growth opportunities, the conference aims to forge a path for women into leadership roles, emphasizing the importance of alliance, integrity, and character in guiding their leadership journey.
History and Purpose
The Advancing Women in Leadership Conference was first offered in March 2016 following dialogue at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) June 2015 Women’s Advanced Leadership Institute (WALI) at Cedar Springs Christian Retreat Center near Sumas, Washington. The program focused on “Embracing Leadership with Confidence and Preparing the Next Generation.” The passion and dream that emerged from this group was to prepare the next generation of women leaders by initiating a nationwide effort through an annual conference hosted by CCCU member institutions in observation of March’s National Women’s History Month.
The goal was to raise awareness of the underrepresentation of women in senior-level leadership within the context of Christian higher education, and to prepare women of all ages and at all career stages for professional advancement, influence, and impact. The conference was envisioned to be an annual March event co-sponsored by CCCU and hosted by a different member institution each year.
Purpose and Objectives of the AWIL Conference
- To educate and enlighten CCCU institutional leaders regarding the status of women in leadership positions within both Christian universities and higher education more broadly.
- To inspire and enable the women of CCCU institutions to be poised and prepared to step into leadership roles within our institutions.
- To provide programs, materials, and other tools to conference participants, equipping them to launch “Women in Leadership” training programs on their own campuses.
- To ensure that the cost of this one-day event would remain low, encouraging participation from junior members and students of campus communities to consider their potential for future leadership across numerous spheres of influence.
- To feature and support the national recognition of March as Women’s History Month through high-quality programming that could have ripple effects both individually and institutionally across the CCCU.
- To provide inspiring role models (of and for both women and men) of those who have risen to leadership and/or who have enabled women to move into positions of leadership within a campus setting.
- To cultivate mentors, sponsors, and coaches who will launch supportive opportunities on their campuses that provide development spaces to journey together, to learn from each other, to grow deeper in faith, calling and purpose.
- To involve keynote speakers who are both instructive and inspirational regarding forging a path for women into leadership within higher education.
- To build and encourage networking among conference participants as a life-giving support to individuals who may feel alone or unsupported in their professional journeys.