Just inside the bustling city of Washington, DC on a sunny Saturday afternoon, a transformative educational seminar took place. Thirty seven people committed to finding and empowering their gifts and talents and to discovering their inner leader.

For the first time, the DC, Maryland, and Virginia chapters spearheaded and hosted the Leadership of the Heart Seminar Part 1 on Saturday, July 7th at The Washington Times. Angelika Selle, WFWP USA President, and Katarina Connery, WFWP USA Vice President, unveiled WFWP’s new and improved curriculum, featuring spirituality as a core part of cultivating our true selves and being an effective leader in all areas of our lives. This seminar has been presented in Maryland once before, but it has now been upgraded and better reflects the WFWP vision, making it more applicable than ever to our daily lives.

President Selle and Vice President Connery showed the WFWP introduction video and shared personally about WFWP to give the participants a firm grasp of its vision, goals, and projects. The intergenerational team then launched into the meat of the seminar. Mrs. Connery spoke about the key differences between feminine and masculine leadership (with a note on the difference between “feminist” and “feminine” types of leadership), and how leading with heart encompasses both the masculine and feminine types creating a balanced, harmonious form of leadership. However, the key underpinning of leading with the heart is the fundamental need for spirituality — a deep personal connection with both the Creator and with the Divine within ourselves. President Selle shared that it is then imperative to identify and bring out the personal gifts, talents, and passions that we are blessed with. By knowing who we are, who God made us to be, and what our purpose is, we can live a full life and lead by example. The first step is to connect to the Source and to our inner selves.

To drive these points home, the participants took a Leadership Style Questionnaire to help pinpoint their personal approaches to leadership. President Selle then guided everyone in a stimulating meditation/visualization exercise, where each participant could work on connecting to God and realizing their gifts/passions.

Some participants were moved to tears during the meditation in particular and shared their experiences with the group as a whole. President Selle asked everyone to write personal letters to God in an effort to truly connect in heart with the Creator. Several participants shared their letters to God, which elicited a sense of humility and gratitude for their lives, gifts, and their potential to be powerful peacemakers. Needless to say, all felt empowered from within!

Bringing the focus from self-reflection to action, the DC Chapter took the opportunity to announce its two new co-chairwomen, Minister Chi Mauuso and Jane Karimi. Together with Chairwoman Elizabeth Aihe, the three stood on the stage as a proud, united team, empowered to move forward together. They also announced the DC Annual Community Service Project, which will take place in October. The MD and VA chapters also announced upcoming local events, and Jane Karimi gave a stirring presentation of the Schools of Africa and an inspiring call to action.

To round off the program, there was a raffle where six participants won gift cards and other donated items, after which the WFWP USA national team gave a Toast to Peace, with WFWP USA Senior Vice President Juanita Pierre-Louis singing This Little Light of Mine. Smiles all around, everyone raised their glass to peace and joy!

After the program ended, the sharing continued - with everyone basking in the warmth and inspiration of the shared overall experience. Several participants were interviewed for a Leadership of the Heart promo video, which is being made for WFWP by Christopher Chandler. At least two guests signed up as a ‘Friend’ immediately.

One of the participants, Mary Holden from Maryland, shared about her uplifting experience:

“I am inspired; the presentations were excellent. I loved the activity/survey, letter to God and meditation. Very well done. I felt the heart of God… My friend Kathy Lacey was very grateful and inspired to be here.”

A special guest from New York, Roshan Wolf, was especially exhilarated by the key point that WFWP is not necessarily promoting feminism but rather femininity — the strong, graceful, powerful, harmonizing quality for which WFWP stands.

Elizabeth Aihe, Chairwoman of the DC Chapter, shared her experience and summarized the program eloquently:

“The seminar was inspiring, uplifting and interactive. There were so many areas of the seminar that moved me, such as the meditation component. For a few minutes, I could go deeper within and connect to the divine, higher self and find peace. The presenters gave us the opportunity to understand more about the Leadership of the Heart and our own inner spirituality; that we are already divine beings, the feminine aspect of God.

“We [are challenged] to tap into our inner self and identify our own gifts. If we can connect them to a higher purpose, we can change lives. The world needs both feminine and masculine leadership, but not just any kind of leadership. It has to be Leadership of the Heart in order to bring peace in the world.”

We are delighted to announce that the next seminar will be held on Saturday, September 8th. It will feature the Leadership of the Heart Seminar Part 2: Self Value.