The American Financial Services Association’s Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) kicked off its Fall meeting with Rochelle McClanahan, Chair, and Chief Financial Officer & Compliance Officer of Brundage Management / Sun Loan. Rochelle welcomed the council and thanked the WLC’s generous sponsor, Hudson Cook for the meeting, speakers, and wine gift baskets.

Rochelle introduced WLC’s first speaker, Amanda Gorman, first ever Youth Poet Laureate of the United States. Amanda has performed alongside Jennifer Anniston, Morgan Freeman, and Lin-Manuel Miranda to advocate for youth leadership, and spoken alongside Al Gore and Secretary Hillary Clinton on environmentalism and women’s rights. She has been featured in the New York Times, the Today Show, MTV, Teen Vogue, Seventeen magazine, and Essence’s Woke 100 list. Amanda graduated from Harvard this past May, and she intends to run for President in 2036.

She shared with WLC a poem that she wrote about women’s leadership called “We Rise.” The poem, which celebrates and honors incredible women that Amanda knew. begins, “We rise. Today, everyone’s eyes are on us as we rise. Today is the day woman are paving the way, speaking our truth to power.” Amanda then opened the meeting up for questions.

Nikki Munro, Partner, Hudson Cook asked Amanda, “How do you reach young people to engage them in poetry and in your kind of ‘we rise’ movement?” Amanda answered, “I try to access platforms in spaces that young people, especially young female writers of color do not have access to.”

Rochelle McClanahan asked, “So you have 16 years between now and the 2036 election, how do you plan on filling that space?” Amanda answered, “Continue writing, coming out with a few children’s books and a novel, continue to be active in politics, and work on catch phrases for the campaign.”

The next speaker, Dr. Tracey Wilen, is a researcher and former visiting scholar at Stanford University and has held leadership positions at Apple, HP, Cisco Systems, and the Apollo Group. She has appeared on CNN, Fox, and CBS News, and in The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Forbes, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today … and she has authored 13 books.

Tracey shared her presentation, “Digital Disruption in the Future of Work” with the council. She gave us several tips and pointers from her time running a virtual organization, including:

1. Remote work redefines what we know as work
2. Structure and Predictability
3. Position people for success
4. Embrace unexpected creative outcomes

Tracey also shared with the council top personal benefits from remote work:

1. Time Savings
2. Reduce Expenses
3. Personal Satisfaction

The next scheduled WLC meeting will be at our late January Vehicle Finance Expo in New Orleans. If we go virtual, the date might change, so stay tuned!