Women’s Leadership Focus Of Meet

Women bring different priorities to leadership than men, says one of the organizers of a threeday regional conference expected to draw 1,500 women to discuss the importance of assuming leadership roles.

The Forum for Global Leadership, which began Friday and ends Sunday, is one of 11 being held around the country in advance of the United Nations’ fourth “Conference on Women” scheduled for Beijing in August.

Alene Moris, co-founder of the Individual Development Center in Seattle and a member of the forum planning board, said the Seattle conference is “about learning to change women’s roles in society.”

“Women today are self-confident and competent enough to move beyond fitting in, to become leaders for change,” Moris said. “We have to design a partnership model for leadership.”She said a woman manager ordered to cut a budget might decide to keep everyone employed at smaller salaries, while a man might be more likely to reduce the staff.

Conference participants include Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work to unite Ireland’s divided communities; Supatra Masdit, former member of Parliament and first woman Cabinet minister in Thailand; and Elizabeth Rehn, Finland’s defense minister.

Violence against women will also be a strong focus of the conference, with a panel discussing “Mothers Against Violence in America.”