Photo Donna Fisk.
INTERGENERATIONAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Submitted by Anita Tung
The Junior League of Summit (JLS) hosted its third annual Intergenerational Leadership Summit (ILS) on February 4th at Summit High School. This year’s theme was Building Bridges, Sharing Stories: Together We Rise. The ILS is a free community event that encourages people of different generations and backgrounds to come together for an afternoon of conversation, collaboration and community building. The event, organized by JLS members Anita Tung and Jee-Hoon Krska, celebrates the voices of girls and women and aims to inspire and empower attendees to make a difference in their communities. JLS President, Rachel Zucker, commented, “It is incredibly powerful when you bring together folks of all different generations to talk about making a difference. The JLS is so proud to host this event because it brings our mission of ‘advancing women’s leadership for meaningful community action’ directly to the community.”
This year’s event began with an inspiring keynote address by Meg Zucker, activist, founder and president of Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It and celebrated author of Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities. Attendees had the option to further their learning and explore their visible and invisible differences during Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It’s interactive workshop, What You Think of Me is None of My Business. Additional workshop offerings included Creating Life Balance in Today’s Busy World with Emily Seamone, What’s Your Story? with Colleen Markley, Mindfulness of Emotion with Beth Watson, Vision Board – Create Your Life with Alicia Kopp, and El Poder de las Narrativas/ The Power of Cultural Storytelling, a bilingual workshop, with Lynnette Diaz.
The program also included a multigenerational panel discussion featuring women, who have made an impact in their communities. Attorney and JLS member, Sarah Fehm Stewart, served as moderator. Panelists included Paola A. Acosta-Díaz, advocate and co-founder of Empowering Kids Organization, Patricia Campos-Medina, activist, political leader and educator, Elizabeth Christou-Woodall, educator and founder of Girls’ Leadership Institute at Kent Place School, Abigail Franco, co-founder of Linking Initiatives for Neighborhood Change, and Rabbi Hannah Orden, author, faith and community leader.
The Junior League of Summit, Inc. is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer actions, collaboration and training. For more information about the Junior League of Summit, and future events, please visit www.jlsummit.org or follow the organization on Instagram @jlsummit.
