This Year, My Ornament is a Microphone
By Sylvie Legere
Last year, I started a new tradition to get myself an ornament that captures the essence of the year. My 2016 ornament was a camera because The Policy Circle gave me lenses through which I learned to observe my world: what my kids learn at school about civics, how work in pop culture is not always portrayed as dignifying, how red tape wastes taxpayers’ money and hinders entrepreneurship, how many community initiatives are policies with lasting impacts, and how my opinion and my voice matter.
My ornament this year is a microphone.
The Policy Circle started in my living room two years ago. As I type these words, we now have 87 circles in 24 states. This past fall,
women came from all over the country to participate in the first Policy Circle Leadership Summit. That’s when I realized that
ThePolicy Circle gives a microphone to women from all walks of life.
The summit’s keynote speaker Magatte Wade shared how she advocates for entrepreneurial values in Senegal so that everyone can have an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty by having a job or starting a business. In a Policy Circle roundtable discussion, we hold a microphone to join our voice with Magatte’s in advocating for public policies that foster human creativity.
Hearing our own voice through The Policy Circle microphone, gives us energy, and confidence. With the microphone in our hands, we put aside our endless to do list and pause to build confidence as we facilitate discussions around ideas and complex issues.
We take this growing Policy Circle confidence outside of our living rooms. This is a confidence that becomes part of who we are when we work, when we volunteer, when we interact with people in taxis, Ubers, and cocktail parties. Erin Wolf, executive leadership coach who also spoke at The Policy Circle Summit, pointed out to participants that when women build a broader understanding of policy and politics, they become more comfortable engaging in dialogue and that confidence gives them presence.
When we have presence, we are heard.
When we are heard, we have influence.
When we have influence, we have impact.
The amazing women that I have met throughout this year have given me the microphone. So I start 2018 with a new resolve and confidence to be influential, to make a difference and to inspire others to continue with me on this journey to spark women to engage.
I wish you a Happy New Year. Start 2018 with planning your Year of Conversation
– Sylvie Légère
It’s a movement!
Recommend a Circle Leader. Especially in Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri where circles are sprouting.
Start a Circle in your neighborhood. Add value in your community by giving women the facts and the space to strengthen their understanding of the issues.
Invest in The Policy Circle. Together let’s build a network of women who want to assume their civic duties and understand the impact of policy in their lives.
The Policy Circle is a 501(c)3 that provides a fact-based, nonpartisan framework that inspires women living in the same community to connect, learn about and discuss public policies that impact their lives. Women across the nation are taking a leadership role in public policy dialogue on what human creativity can accomplish in a free market economy.