Extension program helps women build leadership ‘muscle’

BANGOR – Three years ago Judith Coscarelli of Bangor participated in the first “Strengthening Women’s Leadership Capacity Project,” sponsored by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Designed to help women explore leadership in their lives and build leadership “muscle,” the nine-month program will begin a new session this fall.

Coscarelli, 62, said that what she learned in the course helped her deal with her emotions after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She credited the project with keeping her from feeling overwhelmed and powerless by the horrific events last fall.

“I was more aware of how I needed to not get into a hopeless, helpless place,” she said. “I wrote letters to friends and family about my reactions and did the peace vigil.

“It was so obvious to me during that time that I was leading myself,” Coscarelli said, “and not just letting life happen to me. If I hadn’t had the course, I think I could have gotten to that hopeless, helpless place of ‘What can I do? Who am I that I can do something about this big thing that’s happened?'”

She said it was the word “strengthening” that appealed to her. Coscarelli said that not only did she learn something from the course, but the project allowed her the opportunity to practice what she’d learned. Meeting monthly, rather than more frequently, was a better fit for her schedule.

“The project really calls forth each woman’s individual competence, and the collective wisdom of women in the group,” explained Louise Franck Cyr, who facilitates the sessions along with Deb Burwell of Belfast.

“Each woman comes with her own agenda and what she wants to get out of the project,” Cyr said. “The women who participate really want to step into their full leadership selves.”

Donna Kraft-Smith, a massage therapist with offices in Bangor and Dexter, took the class last year. She enrolled to explore different kinds of leadership skills, but came away with something slightly different.

“I came away with permission to have more personal power,” said Kraft-Smith. “During the class, I also came to understand that as a human being, if I want something to happen, I might have to be the one to make that something happen.”

Class size is limited to 15 participants. Goals of the program include helping the women:

. Deepen their knowledge about personal power.

. Gain more understanding about their own potency and the effect their actions can have on others.

. Learn how to use personal power in service of bringing about social change.

. Explore how internalized oppression and sexism can get in the way of their leadership capacity.

. Become part of a local network of women actively exploring their own female authority.

Part of the long-term vision of the program is to create a local support group of women who have taken the class, Cyr said.

The fee for the course is $350 – $50 of that required as a deposit by late September. The remainder may be paid in October, or split between payments in October and February. A limited scholarship fund is available, but cost is not a barrier to participation. Continuing Education Units are available.

An informational session on the “Strengthening Women’s Leadership Capacity Project” will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11, at the 27 Exchange Building, Suite 65, on the corner of Exchange and State streets, Bangor. For more information, call Louise Franck Cyr at (800) 287-0274.