Myra Levenson, a social security disability lawyer, knows what it takes for a woman to be successful in today’s society.
Now, she and 40 other career women have decided it’s time to pass those lessons on to the next generation.
Their forum will be on Sunday afternoon, May 17, when the Jewish Community Federation offers its first Career Exploration Day for middle-school girls at the Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael.
The workshop is sponsored by the JCF’s Marin Business and Professional Women’s Leadership Forum, which Levenson chairs, and is open to girls from Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco counties.
“When we planned this program, we worried that it would be hard to get busy career women to give their time to this event,” Levenson said. “Instead, we found that women were thrilled to participate. Women are eager to have a chance to give back to the community and to help young girls.”
Career Exploration Day will place girls in small discussion groups with women from a wide array of professions. Among the women who will describe their work and answer questions are an astronomer, rabbi, fiction writer, assistant to the Israeli consulate, ballet dancer, computer engineer, legislative aide and a doctor.
Girls will have the opportunity to attend career groups from several categories: legal, creative arts, health care, science, computers, human services, business-finance, politics-government, communications-media and education.
“As successful women we feel a responsibility to serve as role models and mentors to girls and young women,” Levenson said. “It makes sense for our members to let those following behind us know what to expect in various areas of work and how we made our own choices about what paths to take with our lives.”
Career Day will also feature door prizes, a chance for girls to make their own business cards, and social time to mingle with the professional women.
And simultaneously, a free multimedia seminar on “Empowering Daughters” will be offered to mothers, fathers and concerned relatives.
Moji Javid is among the day’s presenters. As program director at Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, she spends her days planning events to bring people together to celebrate holidays, create community as part of a chavurah and encourage singles to meet.
“Values and beliefs like tzedakah are natural to me as a Jew,” said Javid, who is trained as a social worker. “I could use my skills for adoption agencies and other organizations, but my ideal is to do social work in the Jewish community.”
Deborah Condren, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, will lead the two-hour adult session on empowering daughters. Condren specializes in girls’ development issues and is a member of an advisory committee to the Presidential Task Force on Adolescent Girls.
She will teach strategies to counteract negative media messages on girlhood and discuss ways to keep girls’ self-esteem high.
“Studies of middle-school youth show that girls feel less entitled to dream big than do boys,” says Condren. “When girls hit middle school and puberty, their self-esteem and confidence drops significantly.
“It is at this age that girls begin to identify with the world of women. Unfortunately, the images of women in popular media still give girls very mixed messages about how working women are valued, or devalued.”
“Events such as Career Day show girls a wider repertoire of what is out there and help break down negative cultural views of what is acceptable achievement for girls,” Condren said.
Participants are encouraged to register early, to ensure a place in the career groups that most interest them.