For University of Indianapolis President Tanuja Singh, creating a Women’s Executive Leadership Institute has been a goal since beginning her role at UIndy.
Upon coming to the city, Singh said she noticed several women in leadership positions but saw a need for training to equip Indianapolis with the necessary tools that would enable women for opportunities in such roles. Being a mentor to women in and out of academia, creating a program at the university to showcase and encouraging leadership skills among women have been a part of Singh’s strategic plan for some time now, she said.
“From a local community when I first arrived here, I saw in Indiana lots of senior women leaders,” Singh said. “There’s a lot of participation of women here … And I felt that if we could come together, if we could bring some of these women leaders to talk to the next generation of leaders, we will be building a bench for the next generation of leaders.”
Now, almost a year after the original announcement, the Women’s Executive Leadership Institute is set to have its first session on Feb. 28, Vice President for Corporate and Community Strategy Andrew Kocher said. The sessions will consist of a keynote speaker beginning each day, such as President and Chief Operating Officer of Pacers Sports & Entertainment Mel Raines and Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court Loretta Rush, according to the website. Having a diverse board of women speakers for the institute is important, Singh said, and she hopes it gives those involved in this year’s a sense of confidence in their abilities and become more comfortable with themselves to be able to take future risks.
“I’ve been a big believer that women need, in addition to their innate skill sets, also need a role model, some motivation and the need to invest in their skill development,” Singh said. “Because women, if they’re not 100% qualified for a job they will not take, they will not even apply for a job. Whereas, in general, men may not have all the requisite requirements for a job, but they would still apply for a job. So what keeps women behind sometimes is not their lack of talent, but a lack of confidence in their talent.”
While the current cohort was open to executive-style leaders and those growing in their leadership journey, Singh said she hopes to grow the institute in the future by opening it up for an even broader audience of young people. She said she was surprised by how many applicants there were for this year and sees a high demand for more programs such as this one. Singh said she hopes by establishing the Women’s Executive Leadership Institute, it will put the university on the map as a forerunner for this type of program.
“I wanted to first experiment with it, see how well we did, and I’m blown away by the interest people have shown as of today,” Singh said. “I mean, we are oversubscribed.”
As part of the curriculum for this year, Kocher, who worked as the executive sponsor for the project, said the leaders in attendance will get to hear from CEOs in the local city and beyond, workshop in groups, have opportunities for mentorship and network to build skill sets.
“Universities play an important role in expanding the skill sets, really, of everyone, including women,” Kocher said. “We have in our strategic plan a goal to deliver education for life. And, it’s important that we provide people opportunities, not just when they’re coming in as 18-year-olds, but throughout their career to reach that next milestone, and that’s what we’re doing here. This is a program that is targeted to help those individuals who have ambition to reach that C-level position, who are women, or who are helping promote women, but would maybe not have had these kinds of skill sets available to them and these networks available to them if we hadn’t put this program in place.”Programming will end in November for a total of ten sessions for the attendees, according to the website, where they will receive a University of Indianapolis Certificate of Completion.
