University announces dates for annual leadership summit

Aston University, together with Birmingham City Council, has announced the YouWIL summit will be held in July this year.

The summit was formed by Birmingham City Council following a visit to Birmingham by the US Ambassador Woody Johnson.  

The Ambassador met with Birmingham girls who had been part of a Chicago international summit focusing upon developing leadership skills. 

The then Lord Mayor Cllr Mosquito, who welcomed the Ambassador to Birmingham, was  inspired by the girls’ feedback and decided to launch a Birmingham version of the summit called 'Young Women Into Leadership' (You WIL) in partnership with Aston University and the US Embassy in London.

The partnership aim was to develop and deliver an international online summit aimed at girls aged 14 to 16 years. Each day has a different thematic focus and inspirational women presenters, many working in non-traditional female occupations, speak to the girls about their career journeys. 

The ultimate aim is to widen participation and encourage the girls to pursue their career aspirations.

The summit, now in its fourth year, is offered to girls either living or being schooled within the city of Birmingham plus across the globe via the city’s international partnerships and networks.

Each year the girls have been placed in mentored multi-cultural groups to develop their own presentations delivered to the US Embassy on the final day of the summit.

The daily online sessions run throughout the last week in July and are organised and supported by the International Affairs team at Birmingham City Council.

In July, the summit will be delivered to a young female audience who will log on to hear presentations from women leaders in politics and public service, business, sport, STEM plus culture and the media.

Influential speakers to date have included Olympic ice skater Jayne Torvill OBE, Dame Denise Lewis, Dr Helen Pankhurst CBE of the famous suffragette family, and Aphra Brandreth. 

The summit has also seen support from leaders from local public services such as Henrietta Brealey, Rosie Ginday MBE and Janie Frampton OBE.  

 As the summit extends its global reach, combined with the superb feedback from the girls, it is attracting even more high-profile speakers from a variety of different careers.

Cllr Yvonne Mosquito, of Birmingham City Council, said: “The city is proud to provide a platform for You WIL. It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect Birmingham's partner cities and generate a community of like-minded young women with aspirations to become future global leaders.

“Our ambition is that the programme will create a legacy by supporting the creation of networks with like-minded young leaders in Birmingham and from other cities around the globe, including an alumnae association.”

Aston University’s You WIL ambassador, Professor Jo Andrews has been involved in the design and development of the programme from the outset .  She said “This unique partnership between the City Council , the US Embassy and the University has harnessed a shared vision for greater inclusivity and diversity and also demonstrates the team commitment to developing female leaders of the future “.

The sessions are chaired by Aston’s senior staff such as Professor Zoe Radnor and Professor Helen Higson OBE DL.

For further information, contact Professor Jo Andrews (J.Andrews3@aston.ac.uk) or Heather Law (Heather.Law@birmingham.gov.uk)