Journalist Soledad O'Brien Inspires Young Women to Lead
Feb 27, 2019
Emmy-award winning reporter Soledad O’Brien was on the Xavier campus Wednesday and urged a packed audience to use their own voice and experience to set an example for leadership.
“Leadership does not have a particular face or gender or color or sexual orientation," she said. "Leadership is about ultimately understanding yourself and using that self-awareness to motivate and mobilize and inspire and make change wherever you are. “
O’Brien was the featured speaker for Xavier's Williams College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series (DSS), presented by the PNC Foundation. She is currently the host of the Sunday morning syndicated political show, “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien.” Last year, she was honored as broadcaster of the year by the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association and journalist of the year by the National Association of Black Journalists.
In addition to keynoting the DSS luncheon, O’Brien was also part of a panel discussion attended by about 130 young women from four area high schools. Other local leaders were Annie Daniel, senior vice president and managing director, corporate banking, PNC; Nerissa Morris, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center; Jill McIntosh, vice president digital, Kroger; and Maribeth Rahe, president and CEO of Fort Washington Investments.
The students came from Notre Dame Academy, Ursuline Academy, Mount Notre Dame High School and Purcell Marian High School. They were seated at tables alongside current students from the Williams College of Business. Afterward, the groups were asked to reflect on what they’d learned from the panel discussion.
Each table selected a speaker and explained two points they wanted to discuss further. Themes included: Confidence in the workplace, finding a place to work that has values similar to yours, and the importance of mentors and internships.
O’Brien singled out the high school students in her talk, encouraging them to believe that they already have what it takes to be a leader.
“I want anybody in this room, and maybe particularly the young women who are here today, that if you’re thinking, maybe business is not for me, and maybe I’m not business material or I’m not leadership material, I’m telling you, you are, and you and the tools that you need, you have them in you right now. What will happen as you grow and go through the process of your education, you will just tease them out and learn how to manage them. It is a process.”
O’Brien also recognized the women pioneers of Xavier University, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of becoming fully coed. In the fall of 1969, 52 women enrolled as full-time undergraduates in the day school.
“Fifty years ago, a bunch of women came through the doors, and they didn’t know what to expect,” O’Brien said of those first women students at Xavier. “They did not know. So I don’t think there’s any better way to salute and honor them than to have young women say, 'I aspire to lead. I can develop what it takes to get there.'”
Award-winning journalist and philanthropist Soledad O’Brien’s leadership advice for women:
- Use your voice. Be examples of authentic leadership.
- Your perspective is necessary.
- Your career should be a calling and have impact.
- The key is not to get everybody to like you but for them to respect you and your work.
- Leadership does not have a particular face or gender or color or sexual orientation.
- Leadership is about understanding yourself and using that self-awareness to motivate, mobilize, inspire and make change.
Feature image credit: Ursuline Academy
Feature image description: Ursuline Academy students smile in a photo with Soledad O'Brien.