INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference hosted a three-session Women’s Leadership Summit that reached over 40 female administrators and coaches throughout the league.
The Great Midwest Women’s Leadership Summit was originally set to be held in-person in Columbus, Ohio, but due to COVID-19, it was moved to a video conference format.
The summit is being presented by Nan Carney-Debord, Assoc. VP and Director of Athletics at Denison University, and was planned by Leslie Schuemann (Great Midwest Senior Associate Commissioner), Stephanie Zonars (Cedarville Assistant AD for Admin./SWA) and Kelly Daniel (Tiffin Senior Assoc. AD/SWA/Director of Compliance).
"The Great Midwest is excited about the programming provided to female coaches, administrators and staff in the league this year, and is dedicated to ensuring that planned professional development is completed in this virtual world we currently find ourselves in,” said Tom Daeger, Great Midwest Commissioner. “The virtual opportunity developed this month has actually increased the number of female leaders available to participate and we are thrilled with the level of engagement. The programming has been greatly enhanced by the involvement of Nan Carney-DeBord and we are thankful for her time away from her own campus during this difficult time.”
"Our Conference is fortunate to have females representing 38 percent of our athletic director positions, a percentage well-above the national average and we are continuing to strive to provide opportunities for females in our league to engage in programming that will assist them as they pursue senior level positions in athletic administration or other professional opportunities in this or similar fields," added Daeger.
Carney-Debord, a Denison alum, returned to her alma mater in 2011 after serving as the head women’s basketball coach at Ohio Wesleyan University for 25 years. Under her leadership, Denison has won 32 NCAC Championships and four Division III national championships. Carney-Debord was named the Under Armour Division III Athletics Director of the Year by the National Collegiate Directors of Athletics in 2019.
The first and second session of the Women’s Leadership Summit took place on May 12th and 15th and the final session was on Thursday, May 21.
The first session focused on five methods of igniting leadership potential; knowing yourself, writing down your goals, emotional intelligence, being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and the importance of reading in leadership. Carney-Debord additionally discussed the value of mentorship and possessing a growth mindset.
The second session focused around conflict management and the key points for managing up. The group shared their definition of conflict before Carney-Debord revealed that she views conflict as an opportunity for growth.
The third and final session was centered on real life scenarios and opportunities to engage in problem solving and solution gathering. The group discussed different strategies for communicating with different audiences from presidents to student-athletes, before concluding with some final leadership nuggets. The entire series focused on providing attendees with additional tools they can use to promote growth in themselves and others.