Participants share their achievements one year after 2009 U.S. Leadership Institute
by Marlena Chertock
2009 U.S. Leadership Institute participant Melodie Warner. Photo by IWMF.
A year ago, participants in the International Women’s Media Foundation’s sixth annual U.S. Leadership Institute for Women Journalists left Chicago after spending three days deeply immersed in learning how to become leaders in the media. The 20 women developed “personal action plans” for future career goals. Over the last year they have tackled these action plans and put the skills they learned to use.
Here are updates on where some of them are now:
- Jacqueline Policastro
In 2009 Policastro was with WSEE TV, Lilly Broadcasting, in PA. In Jan. 2010 she moved to WISH TV in Indianapolis, IN. where she is the new morning reporter.
Policastro said she uses broadcast and networking techniques that were discussed at the Leadership Institute in her new job.
“We talked a lot about work and personal life balance, too, during these conversations, which was very helpful,” she said.
Policastro said she eventually hopes to move to Chicago, where her boyfriend lives, and find employment there as a broadcast reporter. She said attending the IWMF Leadership Institute encouraged her with this goal.
“I think the motivational part of the (institute) was very important for me,” she said. “A lot of times as women in broadcast we second-guess ourselves, thinking, ‘I can be so easily replaced.’ It was good to see that there is a larger network of television women struggling with the same thing but still finding a way to make it happen.”
- Melodie Warner
Warner’s responsibilities at Dow Jones Newswires were expanded in Dec. 2009. In addition to running the day-to-day operations of Dow Jones Newswires’ U.S. Equities Spot News Desk, she is now also an editor on the Media Monitoring Desk, where she follows breaking news about the media business and puts it out on the Dow Jones wire.
The IWMF Leadership Institute helped her gain confidence and added to her self-promotional skills, says Warner. She says what she learned helped to get her noticed at Dow Jones and led to her expanded responsibilities.
“It did help me with some of the workshop sessions, especially the critical conversation forum,” she said. “It gave me more confidence in approaching situations.”
- Thuy Vu
Vu, an anchor for CBS5-San Francisco since 2005, won a 2010 Gracie Award for Outstanding Reporter/Correspondent from American Women in Radio and Television (AWRT). The Gracies recognize “exemplary programming created for women, by women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment,” according to the CBS website. Vu won the award for three stories: one about Mendota, a central valley town with the highest unemployment rate in California, another about Khmer Rouge survivors who told their stories publicly for the first time and the third about the re-opening of Angel Island, a previous army camp and immigration station that is now a state park.
- Robin Mazyck
In February Mazyck was promoted to bureau chief at the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). She is the first woman bureau chief at CBN.
She said the Leadership Institute was beneficial to her advancement in the CBN.
“Our discussions on being a leader in your newsroom—without actually being the one in charge—were very helpful,” Mazyck said. “I enjoyed learning about how to manage people with various types of communications styles. For example, there are those who have a very direct style. Learning how to communicate with these people (what drives them insane and how I can be a more effective communicator) was one of the highlights of the seminar.”
Mazyck said she has continued to work with IWMF career coach Linda Hall.
“Last but not least,” she said, “the friendships made at the event have helped me immensely. It’s great to be able to share my joys and concerns with a group of women facing similar challenges in their media organizations.”
- Emily Sweeney
A reporter for The Boston Globe since 2001, Sweeney also serves as president of the New England chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (NESPJ). She writes stories for The Globe, produces videos for the Web and television, contributes to blogs and occasionally appears on the Globe At Home series on New England Cable News, according to her website.
Since the institute in 2009, the SPJ selected Sweeney to serve on their Digital Media Committee. The Digital Media Committee currently has six women and two men in leadership positions.
Sweeney said the institute helped her identify and move toward her career goals. “The Institute helped me clarify my career goals and create a game plan to move forward and accomplish them,” she said. “Participating in the Institute was a great experience—I met many amazing, accomplished women there and I’ve enjoyed staying in touch with them and talking shop.”
In March 2010 Sweeney was profiled by the Innovative Interactivity blog. She was also featured in the Northeastern University Alumni Magazine.
Read more about Sweeney on her website.
- Minerva Perez
Perez, the executive producer and creator of Latina Voices: Smart Talk which first aired in Feb. 2008, said, “I came away very re-energized with my career as a TV talk show host.” The institute taught her how to deal with different people “and their many personalities,” she said.
“It’s not easy telling people what to do,” Perez said. “Instead I learned that asking their input in resolving issues works best.”
Perez’s weekly talk show can be seen on Houston PBS channel 8 or HTV Comcast channel 16. It is also posted online at www.latinavoices.com. Latina Voices: Smart Talk “offers universal topics with a Latina perspective,” Perez said. She is a former anchor for ABC 13 News Houston and KTLA News at Ten in Los Angeles.
- Adrienne Samuels Gibbs
Gibbs, the senior editor of Ebony magazine, started her own blog in August 2009 which discusses her life as a journalist: http://adriennewrites.net/newlywed-writes.
- Kathy Times
In August 2009 Times was elected president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). The IWMF Leadership Institute offered Times the necessary preparation and training she said she needed to succeed as a woman leader.
“The Leadership Institute definitely prepared me for this position as a leader in my newsroom,” she said. “Prior to the training, I wasn’t aware of the difference between managing and leading. I’m grateful for the training and follow-up calls with the life coaches and my fellow classmates.”
Times said she has passed on some of the lessons she learned at the institute to her own staff.
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The IWMF U.S. Leadership for Women Journalists was held July 20-22, 2009. Twenty women journalists from around the country attended the institute.
IWMF Leadership Institutes provide women journalists with the tools they need to become effective leaders in the news media. Veteran newswomen come together for specialized training, leadership development and mutual support. Among the skills they learn are how to recognize different leadership styles, different strategies for managing people through change, and tips for negotiating salary, navigating office politics and balancing work and home life. The IWMF has sponsored leadership institutes for women journalists internationally since 1998.
For more information on the Leadership Institutes visit http://www.iwmf.org/categorydetail.aspx?c=institutes or e-mail [email protected].
Marlena Chertock is an intern for the International Women’s Media Foundation.