HSCommunity: International Women's Day
HSCommunity is a newsletter from the Health Sciences Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Subcommittee on Communications.
March 2022: International Women's Day
Q&A with Constinia Charbonnette
W. Constinia Charbonnette, Ed.D., M.B.A., is the director of the WVU Women’s Leadership Initiative and serves as assistant professor and director of strategic initiatives in the WVU School of Public Health.
Who are some of your female mentors, and what is the importance of those relationships?
I have the great fortune of being mentored by amazing women. My first mentoring experiences were with the women in my own family. Those early experiences taught me the importance of having mentors who push and challenge you when needed. Those experiences also helped me to properly engage with my mentors and receive mentorship.
I am not successful without the support and sponsorship of mentors who recognized my raw talent and helped me to shore up my skills and abilities. They provide safe spaces to demask and ask authentic questions without fear of judgement, especially about high-stakes challenges, open doors that are closed, and speak highly of you behind closed doors. I believe that these relationships are critical for one’s growth, no matter where we are in life. They essentially help us navigate to our desired personal or professional destination.
Mentoring relationships can unlock our dreams and future goals. When we work together, we no longer have to forge our paths forward alone.
How can women support each other?
One of the most important things we do for each other is to show up. Be a part of the community. Offer to listen – not necessarily offering advice, just listen. Make introductions and help others build their community. Recognize the similarities in experiences, remove artificial barriers for each other, share our stories, and connect. Most importantly, our support has to evolve to sponsorship and champion other women behind closed doors. That is how we will really move the needle.
What type of work does the WVU Women’s Leadership Initiative do?
The WVU Women’s Leadership Initiative (WIL) offers a variety of professional enhancement programming, networking and community building experiences. We seek to help each other develop into stronger and more effective leaders while also supporting and serving our great institution.
How does this work help support and empower women?
This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the WLI. Over the past decade, the WVU WIL has helped to move the needle of success for dozens of women within the University system. The WLI reimagined ways to build critical success, namely through networking and leadership support, that focused on the unique needs of women leaders at WVU.
We know that women have similar experiences, and those experiences shape our perspectives. In my experience, women of color and underrepresented groups can leverage the support of this community to build and amplify access and belongingness that doesn’t happen on its own. Also, the pairing of experienced and developing leaders in WLI creates a community of unrestricted sharing of ideas, learning of skills, and developing connections. Sometimes the value of this programming isn’t realized until later, but more frequently, the sense of belonging starts to build immediately.
As women leaders and influencers, I hope that we rally to bring forward everyone’s voice. It is my greatest privilege to work in service with this diverse, mighty community of women leaders, influencers and innovators. WLI’s success, and our promotion of other women, enhance the WVU community and beyond. After all, we’re all One WVU.
/ ENGAGE: Share your lived experiences
This ENGAGE section of HSCommunity is an opportunity for you to share your experiences and attitudes towards a health-related situation so we can learn and grow together.
This month we ask, “Nurses are often the first contact patients have when seeking care. One of the initial questions a nurse may ask is, 'Do you feel safe at home?' What things would you consider before answering honestly? What experiences may have led you to consider these things?”
If you have any questions, please contact the WVU Health Sciences Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Subcommittee on Communications by emailing Jessica Wilmoth.