The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University is sponsoring its 6th annual HIGHER Ground Women’s Leadership Conference. The purpose of this conference is to provide high-quality education and networking opportunities for women. Our one day, multiple track format offers a self-directed, facilitated learning environment with education sessions and interactive forums. Participants from across the commonwealth will take part in morning concurrent sessions, followed by a keynote address at lunch and concurrent workshops in the afternoon. The conference is brought to a close with an hour-long networking event.

This year's theme, Maximizing You: Unlocking the Treasures Within, encourages women to realize their full potential through self reflection and discovery. The theme focuses on identifying the strengths of one’s leadership style and learning new ways to take (and give) full advantage of one’s talents. Each of us possesses unique gifts and abilities that enable us to lead- the challenge is to unlock them. When a road map exists to guide the journey, unlocking our treasures is made easier. Join us on the journey to discover hidden treasures and to chart a new course for the future.

SUBMISSION
We invite you to share your knowledge, wisdom, and experience as a conference presenter and submit a proposal for a workshop at the 2012 conference.

We encourage:

•Presentations that relate to our conference theme
•Presentations that focus on current and emerging issues, best practices, and challenges facing women at home or in the work place
•Presentations designed to transcend all job sectors and levels of experience
•Individual, team, or group presentations
•Lecture-style presentations with information for personal development and individual growth
•Hands-on workshops where attendees spend time engaging the content and applying ideas to their own work
•Interactive sessions that provide participants with new skills and leadership development opportunities and insights

The submission deadline for proposals is October 2011.
Presenters will be notified of their acceptance on November 2011.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Proposals will be reviewed by members of the conference Planning committee. Proposals should highlight content that will be covered, organization of workshop, and practical, tangible tools for participants to take home. Presentations will be chosen on the basis of experience, quality, creativity, and variety. Proposals can be submitted online at: http://www.pubapps.vcu.edu/gehli/higherground/2012CFP.htm.