Women Take Charge at Café

July 02, 2010

Hundreds of AFSCME women – and a few men – discussed ways to build leadership skills Thursday during the first-ever Women’s Leadership Café.

The readiness of existing AFSCME leaders to pass along their skills and knowledge to other members was a central theme of many stories. Philadelphia city accountant Marguerite Morgan noted, for instance, that after just seven years as an AFSCME member, “I’m already an officer” – recording secretary of Local 2187 and a trustee of DC 47. “That’s because our officers saw something in me I didn’t even see in myself.”

Confidence – based on the knowledge that you are in a powerful union – was also cited as a motivator for taking charge.

Linda Alexander, a nursing assistant at a county psychiatric nursing home and president of Local 2664 (Wisconsin Council 40), put it this way: “With AFSCME behind me, I knew I had somebody at my back.”

During the Café session, Lonetta Cook won first place in a drawing. Cook, a member of Local 1553 (Council 2), will receive a round-trip ticket to the 2011 Women’s Conference (location to be decided).