About the chairwoman
Every Empowerwoment peer group will have one chairwoman. It could be anyone in the group. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the most senior woman.
Perhaps it sounds a bit scary, being a chairwoman. I can reassure you that being a chairwoman is not hard at all. Let me walk you through what the role of the chairwoman is and how to decide who will be the chairwoman in your Empowerwoment group.
The tasks of the chairwoman
Leading the meetings
The chairwoman of the Empowerwoment Project leads the peer group meeting. She keeps the conversation going, and makes sure that everybody gets their turn to speak during meetings.
Time-keeping and planning
The chairwoman is also the timekeeper of meetings and the planner of the meetings. I would strongly recommend planning all the meetings before the start of the project. But even then, the chairwoman probably needs to reschedule some meetings because life happens and something comes up.
Most important: creating a safe environment
For the empowerwoment project to be successful, the most important thing is to have a safe environment for every participant. The chairwoman should stress that importance and make sure that everybody feels safe enough they speak up.
The chairwoman is not alone: extra help
The chairwoman will receive extra documentation at the beginning of the Empowerwoment Project. In that document, you can read what the goal of the specific meeting is, what the role of the chairwoman should be, what the general outline of the meeting will be, and some additional tips to make the meeting more successful. The chairwoman gets support from Marieke, via email and will have access to two zoom-calls to help with the project.
Choosing a chairwoman?
Choosing a chairwoman can be difficult. I think it is important that the woman herself wants to be chairwoman. It would be good to have someone who is organized and is able to lead a meeting. You could let the group decide who is chairwoman, or the organization can appoint someone. Everything is possible!