Women’s Leadership Luncheon to be held at Meadow Brook Hall

A Women’s Leadership Luncheon featuring Auburn Hills Councilwoman Anne Doyle will take place Sept. 12, at 11 a.m. at Meadow Brook Hall.

The Auburn Hills City Chamber hosts many events in collaboration with the lead sponsor of the event, Oakland University. Events in the area often involve the school because it is a vital part of the city, according to City Manager Peter Auger.

“As a business (OU) employs at lot of people; as an educational institution it educates thousands of students a year to be a productive part of our community,” Auger said. “A very high rate of OU students stay in our region to build their robust careers and raise their families in a safe, amazing area.”

A day of food, networking and a presentation by Doyle in the home of female leader and pioneer Matilda Dodge Wilson will help both women and men learn more about developing female leadership, according to Denise Asker, Executive Director for Auburn Hills.

“Anne is a really dynamic speaker,” Asker said. “She’s spoken on the local and national levels and lives in the area. It’s going to be an exciting event.”

With experience as an automotive executive for Ford Motor Co. and an extensive journalism career including work as one of the first female television sports broadcasters, Doyle will discuss her novel “Powering Up!”,  provide informative slides and answer questions based on her knowledge and research.

“It became very clear to me that over 40 years, we’d become a generation of successful women,” Doyle said. “The next work role for women is leadership. We pushed, strived and sometimes fought for work and need to continue today just as in the past.”

The presentation will focus on the three different generations of women in the work force from the ‘70s through the present, named by Doyle, “Pioneering Interlopers,” “Influential Insiders” and “I’ll do it my way Innovators.”

Doyle will also examine the role of men in women’s achievement, as well as discuss recent news concerning the future for women in the job market, including the increase of female athletes in the 2012 Olympics.

Registration is available at the Auburn Hills Chamber website or by calling 248-853-7862. Tickets cost between $35 and $42 and are discounted to $30 for OU students.

Attendees can bring gently used business clothing for donation to the Rochester Area Neighborhood House’s Clothes Closet, who make it available to women starting out or returning to the business world, according to Asker.

“(The luncheon) is a way for people to get a sense of what’s going on with women and leadership,” Doyle said. “Women have been stalled for at least 10 years. I hope to inspire them to reach higher.”