ITT Tech Aims to Believe, Achieve, and Inspire

Yesterday Michelle and I had the opportunity to attend the 5th Annual Women's Breakfast presented by Chamber member ITT Technical Institute. This was my first time at the event, and I was impressed. The atmosphere was laid back but the event also had an air of sophistication (we each walked away with DeBrand chocolate and eco-friendly water bottles as favors!). The breakfast was masterminded five years ago by the ITT Tech team in order to provide something special on behalf of their growing (but still outnumbered) female student population.

The purpose is to encourage women in the community to: Believe, Achieve, and Inspire. Melissa Long with Indiana's News Center was the emcee, and Dr. Deborah McMahan, Allen County Health Commissioner, was the special speaker. After that seven awards were handed to this year's honorees (one of them included Chamber board member Helen Murray of AEP, who was also a nominee for our Athena Awards this year). Kudos to ITT for putting on a great event, and I'm looking forward to attending again next year. Deborah McMahan's speech was very candid and personal, and I want to leave you with the main thought I took away from it:

Be sure to take time to encourage and mentor someone in your workplace and/or realm of influence. The best impact we can have as individuals is through our relationships. Perhaps you had someone earlier in your career that was there to cheer you on and believe in your abilities even when you did not. Be that cheerleader for someone else now, and see where they go! It could make all the difference.