Conversations on Leadership: The Patricia J. Mitchell ’65 Leadership Institute Blog

Our Founding Vision: Conversation with Tracey Ford, Maryvale President (2012 to 2023), and Mary Ellen Rector Fise '74, Founding Director of The Patricia J. Mitchell ’65 Leadership Institute. 

 

Q: Tell us how Maryvale created its leadership development program for young women.

Ford:  One of the things that drew me to Maryvale was the caliber of the alumnae whom I had met previously in my personal and professional life. There is something in Maryvale’s DNA that encourages and motivates women to become leaders in different ways. When I became President, this history dovetailed with my background and interest in leadership development for young women. Shortly after I was hired, we created a President's Advisory Council of about 35 female thought leaders with Maryvale and community connections.

One of the key topics at our meetings was the fact that there was no formalized leadership program for young girls in the Baltimore area. We had a great opportunity to create this at Maryvale, to codify the school’s focus on leadership. We didn’t need to search for a director. I knew that it had to be Mary Ellen.

Fise: We had about a 12- to 14-month lead up to the actual start of the Leadership Institute in 2014. When Tracey asked me to do some consulting for Maryvale in her first year, I was finishing a very intense, three-year project for the Archdiocese of Baltimore school system. Tracey and I looked at financial aid, college counseling, and metrics like that. In her second year, she asked me to help determine how well we prepare students for college and life.

I took a very analytical approach when examining how well we prepare students for college. I looked at test scores coming in at sixth grade, PSATs, SATs, our AP courses, and curriculum, comparing it to other Maryland and national schools. Answering the question about how we prepare them for life was much more difficult. We needed actual feedback from employers, which is in part why we convened the President's Advisory Council. We posed the question, and they could not stop talking.

Q: What were some of the skills women in leadership were looking for in young women in 2014? Are those answers different ten years later?

Fise: The answers are still the same. The President’s Advisory Council talked about soft skills, how women lead, and generally how [all] leaders lead. It’s still the question: Are we preparing women leaders, or are we preparing leaders? I always say we're preparing leaders, but women sometimes bring different things to the workplace and are faced with different challenges. When we first asked the question [in 2013], the Council drilled down on skills like having a presence and introducing yourself.

Ford: We weren’t just worried about Maryvale girls. We were concerned about women in general. Our initial discussions were around the Lean In movement and the book [Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, which focuses on how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers]. Mary Ellen’s data-driven analysis was incredibly important, as were the questions of what were women earning on the dollar? How has that changed over time? What was the percentage of women in the top 250 Fortune 500 companies? How many board seats did they occupy? Early on, we took students on a field trip to hear from the McCormick and Company women executives. One thing that resonated was when one of the women said that there were more people named Mark on the board than there were women.

My mother was one of the first women to be admitted to the Delaware Bar. What she faced in the 1950s and 1960s wasn’t all that different from the challenges we identified at our Council meetings. It’s all about preparation, pay equity, and knowing and negotiating your worth. Ten years later, it is improving somewhat in terms of female board members at Fortune 500 companies, but numbers lag dramatically for women and even more so for Black and Latina women. 

Q: How did a formal leadership program for girls develop from your meetings with female community leaders?

Fise: At the end of our first President’s Advisory Council meeting, Tracey said, ‘This sounds like a course.’ She then asked me to write up an outline for a course for seniors. We presented it at the next meeting in the fall of 2013. They loved it but said it's not enough. They said that we needed to start leadership courses when girls arrived in sixth grade and that it needed to be a full program. Subsequently, we developed a proposal for a leadership program to begin in 2015. After Tracey presented it to the Maryvale Board of Trustees in March 2014, they requested that the program start in September 2014. From there, we were off and running, with Tracey asking me to head up the Leadership Institute.

Ford: When we talked about a course, I was not surprised that there was nothing more formalized at other girls’ schools. Some schools, mostly coed schools, were doing internship programs for a few weeks at the end of senior year. For some highly motivated students, that was a great experience. For others who had one foot out the door and couldn't wait to get to college, an internship without any context was not an impactful experience.

Q: What Maryvale distinctions and strengths did you pull from to create the Mitchell Leadership Institute?

Ford: Many women come to the table with innate drive and raw talents. Many of us are lucky that our families care about education and achievement, but that’s not always the case. It's about leveling the playing field for women. We saw that there are innumerable leadership opportunities across all our journeys. At Maryvale, this doesn’t just mean that you're the elected student body president, club head, or team captain. It means how do you present your ideas at a meeting or in an email? Speak in public? One of my favorite pre-COVID moments was when Mary Ellen taught the whole school how to deliver a compelling handshake. Our program began and continues as a combination of the academic and the practical. I think that sets us apart. It's not just putting leadership in context or inspiring through opportunities. It’s looking at human skills, the newer term for soft skills.

Fise: We started with four leadership courses and now have seven. Our program has three components. First, it’s an academic study of leadership to teach and discuss how leaders affect change and motivate. The second component is reflective: Who am I as a leader? We help girls determine their strengths and challenges to discover what they bring to the table. How do you surround yourself with people who aren't the same as you to bring other strengths and experiences? The third component is teaching skills. With every course, we’re constantly reinforcing skills like introductions, communication, and team building.

In its early years, we needed to build community and understanding about what we sought to do. We didn’t just plunk down this concept without context in front of our faculty and staff. Tracey's ability to be nimble, flexible, and supportive of what we were doing was really the greatest example of leadership in a leadership program.

Ford: There were some concerns at first about whether this was more important than an AP course. Mary Ellen was able to suggest courses from other departments that can be used as leadership electives. Leadership is now infused everywhere across our courses.

Q: What role did leadership play in Maryvale’s founding and mission?

Ford: For me, one of the essences of the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SND) is this concept of educating young women for life. 

Fise: The religious connection to leadership is interwoven and organic. The Maryvale experience is imbued with the Hallmarks of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who are very strong servant leaders. When I attended Maryvale, we had SND sisters at the school and saw it day in and day out. Today, the sister who is on our Board is a fantastic leader and vociferous supporter of the Mitchell Leadership Institute. As a Catholic school, we pray at the beginning of class. As a teacher of leadership, that meant researching, finding, and writing prayers about leadership. It also meant that we don’t shy away from a guest speaker who is a faith leader. On one of our field trips, we met the CEO of Catholic Charities, Bill McCarthy, who brought in his top four people—all women—to talk to our girls about being women in a faith-based environment and as nonprofit leaders.

Q: What were your aha moments?

Fise: Early on, we were very conscious about not only building the courses but changing the school culture. To change culture, you look at what you're doing now. That first year, I went to our student-led, once-a-week community homerooms [assemblies] to observe. What I saw were the same girls making the announcements. I wrote an informal policy that stated if you spoke one week, you couldn't speak for the next two weeks. Somebody else from your club needs to get up and speak.

We have this natural built-in lab for teaching communication skills and leadership every week. With a little tweak, we got more students speaking before the entire school and making announcements. Now it’s part of the culture. We made signs and banners for the Leadership Institute and created a leadership prayer service on the last day of sixth grade, where we presented each girl with a leadership pin signifying that they completed their first year of leadership. It’s heartening to see a twelfth-grader still wearing her sixth-grade pin.

Ford: We established a capstone program for girls in the Leadership Certificate program. Initially, we thought everyone would write a research paper for her capstone project. However, our understanding of college and workplace requirements caused us to change this to faculty-reviewed PowerPoint or Google Slide presentations, recognizing that there are more relevant ways to present primary and secondary research. That was an aha moment for me, that we’re training them already.

Another moment was the eighth-grade speech requirement and how the topics have evolved from softball questions to more provocative issues. Our students talk about mental health, divorce in their family, what it's like to have a dyslexic parent, and how that's motivated her. Now, the speeches are judged by a panel, and the winner delivers her speech at eighth-grade graduation.

Q: How do you define a Maryvale leader? Is there a common denominator?

Ford: A couple of attributes distinguish what Maryvale values in its leaders. One is respect for difference. Something that I absolutely love about Maryvale is that the girls laud their classmates, teammates, and friends who are different from them. I have been to places where only the athletes or top students get accolades. I have seen all sorts of girls lauded at community homeroom. The girl whose pinnacle moment is through Scouts gets as much recognition as the girl who is going on to compete athletically at Harvard.

Q: Why is it essential to be a good leader beyond Maryvale?

Ford: The world is far more diverse than it is in Baltimore County and at Maryvale, and it will change throughout the course of their lives. We've become so polarized in how we talk to one another. The idea of respecting each other is key. You can respect others and respectfully advocate for yourself.

Q: Is this especially important for girls, to help them feel comfortable with the uncomfortable?

Fise: Yes. Sometimes, we debate whether kindness is a leadership trait. We talk about what to do when you get to a situation where you have a really tough decision. Can you do that with empathy? We talk a lot about who leaders are and their qualities. The flip side of respect for difference is understanding who you are and what you bring to the table. Using reverse brainstorming techniques, we ask what girls wouldn't want in a leader.

Q: What are your proudest moments over the first decade of the Mitchell Leadership Institute?  

Fise: First, our graduates and their accomplishments. Many write to me to say they are in college or at work, and someone brings up a concept we taught them. Second, I’m proud that we're being imitated. It keeps us on our toes, too. I’ve received calls from people all over the country asking about our program. Third, I’m really proud of our capstone program. The students create such a high-level research product.

Ford: The capstone is also something I am proud of, and also that young women shine in the Mitchell Leadership Institute. I’m also proud that the program is expanding and evolving. A few years ago, we introduced financial literacy programming, which now has a formalized partnership with First Financial. This year, our girls founded a stock market club. Leadership comes from within. It’s so gratifying when the students come forward with something that they want to do.

Fise: It’s been really fun for us over the course of ten years to see how the courses have evolved. The Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Creativity course is a great example of how we took an existing program and then built onto it a very novel course not offered at a lot of high schools.

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Our Student Leaders: Conversation with Allie and Amanda Weis '15 and Elisabeth Fan '24

Q: Allie and Amanda, why were you interested in taking the first-ever leadership course at Maryvale in fall 2014?

Amanda: I was on student council, took AP classes, and participated in high school sports, which kept me extremely busy during this period of life. I remember feeling like I didn't have "time" to really dig deep into the idea of leadership or career development, so I am grateful that the leadership course carved out space for that. My favorite thing about the course was that we heard from guest speakers from a variety of industries, companies, and corporations. That really opened my mind up to different career paths.

Allie: The leadership class was more like a college-level course, more linked with industry regardless of what industry we would [pursue]. I liked that the effort that you put into the course was what you got out of it. We had to do a pitch for funding for a new women's basketball team. Our group brought in a basketball and threw it to the other person to start our presentation. That was the first time that we had to write a proposal for financial support. The course gave me a lot of energy because I felt like it was more connected to the real world, and I still feel like that now.

Q: Elisabeth, the Mitchell Leadership Institute was fully embedded in the middle and high school curriculum when you arrived in 9th grade. What inspired you to apply to be a Leadership Scholar?

Elisabeth: The MLI was so different from what other high schools were offering. When you apply to be a Leadership Scholar through the MLI Leadership Certificate program, there are specific courses you take. I thought it would help me with college and life experiences and give me a very different education than what other students in other high schools got. The 9th grade leadership course that every student takes was very hands-on with team activities compared to the other leadership classes I took later that were more individualized on personal goals. 

Q: Did the leadership course and program prepare you for college and life?

Allie: This is the first time I’ve made this connection, but I teach a college course called  “Career Skills” for first-year students. It’s basically the MLI leadership course with some other things mixed in. We take the Myers-Briggs assessment, and I bring in guest lecturers. A lot of what I learned at Maryvale is what I am trying to impart to my 700 students. Whenever somebody asks me about Maryvale, I always say that it shaped me into the person that I am today, 100 percent. The leadership course helped build confidence in myself to do a pitch, to think out of the box, and to see other female leaders doing really great, cool things. It was one of the first times that I saw how important role models can be and the first time that we had to reflect on our leadership skills.  

Elisabeth: It’s absolutely affected me in a very positive way. When I got to Villanova this fall, I was thrown into the deep end, but I was able to catch my footing pretty fast. The MLI experiences and lessons taught me the importance of time management, being productive, knowing my own personal limits, and when I need to take a break. I’ve noticed compared to my college friends that I do my assignment for that class immediately after class. I’m leaning towards a political science major with a double minor in history and communications with a focus in media and marketing.

Amanda: My phone broke two years ago, and when it got restored, all my iPad documents came up on my phone, including my papers from the leadership course [in fall 2014]. I read one about how I defined myself as a leader. Obviously I have come a long way from that, but I do think that it laid the foundation for who I am as a leader today. What made me happy is the core of who I saw myself as a leader in senior year is the same now. The course gave me confidence with real-life, tangible things like doing the work to figure out your leadership style. We did Myers-Briggs, wrote thank you notes to speakers, all that stuff that set a good foundation.

Elisabeth: Working on my Capstone Project [the required research project for all Leadership Scholars] definitely drove home time management skills. I had to pick my topic, research, and meet deadlines. Also, the Foundations of Leadership course I took junior year taught me basic life skills and how to apply them to college and the professional world. College is still school, but it’s definitely more professional relationships, and you are more on your own than you were in high school. MLI helped prepare me for the real world and to advocate for myself.

Q: What was your Capstone Project?

Elisabeth: My project title was “Impactful Female Leadership Teams Within Independent Schools.” It’s relevant to me because my dad's an administrator at Calvert Hall College High School. I noticed there was a difference between his leadership experiences and style in an all-boys’ school compared to Maryvale, which is one of the only schools in the Baltimore region that had nearly an all-female leadership team. I researched my topic for the whole spring semester, then gave a 30-minute and five-minute presentation on it.

One of the main discoveries I found is that leadership styles vary so much, but female leaders tend to connect more to their audience. There is a natural, nurturing side that often comes out in females, especially when you’re dealing with kids. The interviewees I conducted said that a lot of female teams are more collaborative and communicative. Especially in this day and age, women have to defy expectations and prove themselves. One of the statistics I found is that, on average nationally, there is a 3:1 male:female ratio for administrative positions in private schools.

Q: How did your leadership training help you discover your authentic leadership style?

Elisabeth: For me, it is more than just getting a Leadership Certificate but more about valuable lessons for my future. The program helped me realize I want to be more on the forefront as a leader. At Villanova, I’m just getting my footing, but I’ve joined a few clubs like Best Buddies where we work with Special Olympics. I'm not in any leadership roles yet, but because of my MLI experiences, I’m going to take every opportunity that's handed to me. It's really pushed me to become more involved in college and not just sit in my comfort zone and watch things pass by.

Amanda: One of the greatest lessons I've learned is not to wait for an opportunity to come to you - you have to seek out and create opportunity for yourself. I learned to advocate for myself and my goals, which has beautifully led me to my current role as Associate Manager of Traveler Support at EF Education First in Boston.

Q: What aspect of leadership was a surprise to you that you learned?

Amanda: In the early stages of the leadership course, I made the assumption that the loudest voices in the room are always going to be the leaders. Allie and I are naturally extroverted and a bit louder. In my mind, that made us leaders. But I quickly realized that every leader looks different. Just because you're extroverted doesn't mean that you are the best leader. Leadership is not a cookie-cutter approach. 

Up until the leadership course, I didn't realize how hard women in the workforce have to fight. When my mom had us [Allie and Amanda are twins], she made the choice to become a stay-at-home mom to three (eventually four!) kids. She sacrificed her career and devoted everything to her family. That was her job, and she did a tremendous job at that. I'm forever grateful. But, I can also recognize that because I didn't regularly see an example of someone who had both a career and a family, I didn't think it was very possible to balance both. The course taught me that that doesn't have to be true. I want to be able to have both a career and a family. Especially as a woman, sometimes you just have to be more vocal about asking for what you need and advocating for yourself. The worst thing that somebody can say is no. 

Allie: Actually, Ms. Fise [Mary Ellen Rector Fise '74, MLI Founding Director] changed the way that I thought about being a woman and working mother. Mrs. Fise was/is as a working woman and role model for us. She actually really reshaped what it meant and looked like to be a successful woman in the work field and also be a woman and a mom.

[Read the Conversations on Leadership blog post with Ms. Fise and Tracey Ford about the MLI founding.]

Q: What’s the most impactful lesson of your MLI experience?

Elisabeth: I learned how to be very open minded when going into situations and how to use that to work with other people. I was introduced to so many different people and so many different experiences through this program that I became more of a social person. I'm ok with walking into a room of strangers and introducing myself. One of the most valuable lessons the MLI teaches is that challenges are going to be uncomfortable at times, but you learn a lot of valuable lessons about the situation and become a more confident leader and person. Being able to think on your feet is always a helpful life skill.

Allie: During the first iteration of the leadership course, we needed to write a pitch for an investment to start a new women's basketball team. Perhaps this assignment no longer exists, but this sticks out to me as an assignment that originally seemed out of my comfort zone/capabilities. Ultimately it taught me a new skill that I could take onwards toward college and the work field. Like Amanda, the other lesson I learned was to be less afraid to speak up for what I want. The course pushed me out of my comfort zone.  

Amanda: I think that sometimes when a woman has an idea or is speaking up or maybe delivering tough feedback or having difficult conversations, she can be seen differently than if a man does that. Being able to be vocal without that fear of judgment is difficult, but feeling like you can have a seat at the table and speak up without being ‘mansplained’ is important. There's sometimes this notion that strategic thinking is more of a man's job when that's not the case. Women can be strategic, thoughtful, and execute things just as well. 

Allie: I studied psychology and philosophy in college and now work at a university for game development and film in a primarily male field and environment. I never give up because I think that wouldn't be true to who I am, but feeling unheard is something that I sometimes have to navigate. I sometimes still struggle with feeling like I'm not always taken seriously due to my friendly and empathetic personality, or that I'm quite young, or that I'm female. That combination is tough sometimes, especially when I am teaching 700 students. 

I constantly remind myself of my worth and that I've earned what I have achieved, even when I feel frustrated or I feel like I have a case of imposter syndrome. It's incredibly helpful to connect with other women in the professional field and to find role models who share similar experiences. We are all human at the end of the day and share so many of the same feelings/experiences, even if it doesn't always seem that way. I'll never not be me, and that's the most important thing for me to stick with and advocate for. Being true to myself, while not always easy, is so important for my own fulfillment and enjoyment of life and career. 

I also never want to just focus on problems, I want to focus on solutions. I often ask myself, if I'm feeling less than ideal, "What can I take from this experience that can be constructive and actionable in the future? And what can I leave behind?" Seriously, talking about these things and being transparent about your lived experience are probably the most powerful things as a woman or minority in the work field (and life in general). 

Q: What are the solutions and opportunities for women leaders today?

Amanda: Almost all of the leaders on the team are women. I look up to my director so much. You have to think about other women who might be below you [organizationally], younger than you, or less tenured than you. They might be looking at you the way that I'm looking at my director. You never know who you might be inspiring or motivating. Like Allie said, just don't give up. Keep going and keep doing what you're doing.

I think part of the culture that we grew up in is women pitted against each other, fighting for opportunities, and having a scarcity mindset that there's only enough available for one or two. We have such a great opportunity to band together, lift each other up, and encourage each other for those opportunities. I saw a saying on Instagram that if you are in a circle of people and all of them are getting promoted or new opportunities, instead of thinking, what about me, it could be a sign that you're in the right place with the right people because you might be next. Think instead what you can I learn from those who are around you. 

Elisabeth: I am really excited by women leading and striving for leadership who are closing the gap between men and women in leadership roles. It excites me to see that the change is possible. I see famous women making big strides in their fields to help make it a more inclusive environment for all women. These examples give the next generation of young female leaders a connection to seeing someone in a leadership role, that we can be like, yes, that could be me one day. Part of the reason I want to lead is because I saw females all around me doing it and realizing that if you apply yourself and work for it, it can be yours. I feel like in today's day and age, as a society, we are still growing into the idea of women being confident. We need to lean into the discomfort and into something new, even if we don't know what's going to happen. 

Allie: I recently moderated a panel on being a woman in tech. Those are important opportunities to connect with and meet women from similar backgrounds who are doing a job that's really meaningful and want to be seen as doing meaningful work. I don’t have a lot of women in my workplace that I can look up to, but LinkedIn makes it so much easier and more accessible to have role models. Ten years ago, we didn’t have that. When you are interviewing, ask the kind of questions that will assess whether or not they have a support system for women in the industry, how they view time off, for example, for moms with kids, etc.. It's one thing for women to find each other and band together, but it's another thing to make tangible change like having the courage to speak up to management. 

Q: What leadership advice do you have?

Amanda: First, life advice: don’t panic or think that you are behind because of the people around you or what is expected of you. You are not behind. Nobody actually has their life together. For leadership, it’s the practical things like always dress for your next role and be yourself. I work with amazing women, but my strengths are different. When I started, I felt like I had to tone everything down and over adjust so that I was like them. When I started being myself, everything worked out. Surround yourself with good people that you can learn from and that motivate you. If you're in a group of people where everyone is doing great things, it's actually a sign that you're in the right place, can learn a lot from them, and might be next.

Allie: Just be nice. At the end of the day, people want to work with good people. Your technical skills might be amazing, but it doesn’t matter if you're not somebody who listens, at least tries to be empathetic towards others, or delegates in a way that feels fair. There will be failures in your life or things that don't go your way, and you have to go for option B or C or D. Something will come along because of this choice or decision that is really positive. Rejection is redirection. And ‘If it's not this, then it's going to be something better.’ Amanda and I couldn’t attend our first-choice college for financial reasons. We were disappointed freshman year, but I would never be where I am now had we not gone to a different college. I would've never had a Fulbright grant. Things happen for a reason, even if we really can't see it in the beginning.  

Elisabeth: For all the current MLI students, really engage in the lessons and be in the moment because you do truly get a lot out of them. Don't be afraid to take opportunities, to be the first one to sign up for something, or to put yourself out there. Don't let other people's opinions or judgments in your head tell you that you shouldn't or can’t do it. Just keep doing what makes you happy, but also that you can grow from and that you can share experiences that will affect other people and build relationships and good experiences. Maryvale works really hard to be an inclusive environment and create young leaders who make others feel that they can accomplish things. I am so lucky I was able to go through the Mitchell Leadership Institute and get an education truly like no other. 

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About Our Panel:

Elisabeth Fan ’24, Villanova University first-year student, MLI Leadership Scholar, MLI Leadership Certificate 

Maryvale activities: Co-founded Athletes Serving Athletes Maryvale Chapter with MLI Leadership Scholar Mallory Masterman ’24, Service Club, CASA Club, One Love Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Badminton (9th and 10th grades), National Honor Society and National English Honor Society 

Allie Weis ’15, Ethics Coordinator in International Game Development and Internships Coordinator, Howest Digital Arts & Entertainment (Kortrijk, Belgium)

Maryvale activities: Maryvale activities: Student Council, National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Model UN,Cross Country & Track and Field, and the Fuel Fund of Maryland, which she co-led with her sister. 

B.S., Psychology (minor in Philosophy), 2019, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa honor society, served on student government as the Director of Campus Outreach

Fulbright Scholar, 2019-2020, taught English in Belgium; Vice President of the Fulbright Alumni  Association of Belgium

Amanda Weis ’15, Associate Manager of Traveler Support at EF Education First

Maryvale activities: Student Council, National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Model UN,Cross Country & Track and Field, and the Fuel Fund of Maryland, which she co-led with her sister. 

B.S., Psychology, Loyola University Maryland, 2019, summa cum laude, interned at Kennedy Krieger Institute and University of Maryland Center of School Mental Health

Editor’s note: The Q&A was created from individual interviews.