City Council President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti talks to the crowd at the Greater Holyoke YMCA first women’s leadership panel in honor of Women’s History Month.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
HOLYOKE — On March 6, the Greater Holyoke YMCA hosted its first women’s leadership panel in honor of Women’s History Month.
The event took place at the Holyoke YMCA. The panel featured Melissa Kulig Crow, Fire Lt. Maria Pelchar, Pat Spradley and City Council President Tessa Murphy-Romboletti.
Nearly 100 women came together at the YMCA to view the women’s leadership panel which aimed to celebrate the achievements of women leaders in the community, explore the challenges they’ve faced and gain insights into their unique journeys.
The event also highlighted the launch of the new women-focused employee resource group at the YMCA.
Greater Holyoke YMCA CEO Conor Bevan talked about his excitement to host the panel.
“We are thrilled to host this Women in Leadership Panel as part of our commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organization and community,” Bevan said, “We hope that this event will inspire and empower women to lead in their own unique ways. I’m thrilled here to say that this is the first of many women’s resource networks that we aim to facilitate.”
Bevan further discussed the formation of the new women-focused employee resource group after wondering why there was no national employee resource group in Western Massachusetts or central Massachusetts.
He said, “I brought this conversation back to our team and these four women raised their hand as high as they could and said, we need an employee resource group for women, we need a women’s resource network,” Bevan said.
The goal of the women-focused employee resource group looks to support women’s career development and leadership by providing mentorship opportunities.
Each panelist shared their personal experiences, the impact of their leadership and how they are shaping the future for the next generation.
Instruction Director at Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow, Crow, talked about how she tries to use her platform to lead and inspire women in what she described as a male dominated sport: golf.
Before taking on the new role in Western Massachusetts, Crow stated she built the largest women’s program in the country at her previous job in Middlefield, Connecticut.
“I found my calling in teaching women to play golf through the largest women’s program in the country, which is crazy to think because it’s Connecticut of the Northeast. We’re not in Florida or California. I had no idea what I was doing but I was empowering women through golf and giving them the confidence to believe that they can achieve anything,” Crow said.
Panelists also thanked the women who showed up to the event because their hope was to engage in discussion on topics such as personal journey and challenges, gender and leadership, mentorship and support, work-life integration, leadership insights, diversity and inclusion and the future of leadership.
Pelchar also talked about how she uses her platform in a “male dominated field.”
“The way I use my platform is just by simply sharing my experiences, offering guidance, advocating for women leaders and obviously celebrating the achievement of women just like we are doing here today,” Pelchar said, “I look around this room and there’s so many super achieved here,” Pelchar said.
Pelchar also shared that she enjoys when younger female children and young adults see her in her uniform and share that they want to grow up to be like her.
Murphy-Romboletti is the first female City Council president in Holyoke’s history. She discussed sometimes she feels like she has imposter syndrome but it is important to create a space and have a support group where women have reassured her she belongs during those times.
“I love that this is happening, and I think bringing people together is so important. Networking is so important as women, you know it’s easy for a man to network on the golf course, it’s easier for a man to walk into a room and they don’t think twice. It feels different when women are in the room and it’s easier to network. Networking is like exercising, the more you do it the less weird it is,” Murphy-Romboletti said.
Spradley, 3M Consulting CEO, talked about recognizing and addressing bias within her organization to create a more equitable and inclusive environment for her employees.
She said, “As a black woman I face much of that and whether it was subtle or unconscious or deliberate, it’s very hard but it must be addressed and my strategy over the years has been that I like to address it in the moment. People tend to forget about it once they leave the board room or leave that meeting so it’s important for me, just to set the tone,” that I usually say something like hey I really need your help, because I want to deescalate the environment.”
The panel ended with questions from the audience and then lunch with more networking opportunities and discussions.
