Annual USC Dornsife program fosters a new generation of women leaders

When Maria Manjarrez was a high school junior in Temple City, California, she began to feel all the anxiety that can strike a teenager on the brink of graduation.

In addition to the pressure to decide what path she was on and who she was, if she went to college, she would be the first in her family to do so. Her parents, though supportive, had never gone to college themselves and could not offer any wisdom on preparing for entrance exams or applying to colleges. Manjarrez struggled to balance her Advanced Placement courses with extensive volunteering for charitable causes.

“Then, my counselor said, ‘You should go to this conference at USC,’” she recalls.

That fall in 2016, Manjarrez attended the Young Women’s Leadership Conference hosted by the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. By then it had become an annual event. The institute was working with high schools across the Los Angeles area to draw an estimated 100 teens to hear women leaders in California — including Simeona Fortunata Pasquil, California’s 47th and Acting Lieutenant Governor and former chief of staff for Lt. Gov. John Garamendi — discuss their journeys to leadership.

“It really got me going,” says Manjarrez, now a junior majoring in political science at USC Dornsife and public policy at the USC Price School of Public Policy.

A snapshot of women’s leadership

Ali Bissonnette is executive director of the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, which oversees Unruh Institute programs, including the women’s conference. She says that initially the conference primarily focused on engaging young women who were interested in public office. It has since gradually shifted to discuss women’s leadership in all sectors.

“We made it less political to broaden its appeal,” Bissonnette says.  

Junior Maria Manjarrez credits the Unruh Institute’s Young Women’s Leadership Conference with helping her forge a path to political internships and appointments. (Photo: Jose Gutierrez.)

Statistics indicate that was a smart move. Despite making gains in many jobs since the 1960s and ’70s, women today rarely hold executive office. The share of women CEOs at Fortune 500 companies hit an all-time high of 32 in 2017, according to the Pew Research Center, though that slid last year.

On the public service side, women are rising. Last November, an unprecedented number swept into elected office — 25 in the U.S. Senate and 102 in the House. In state legislatures, women now hold more than a fourth of state senate seats and almost 30 percent of state house or assembly seats.

The high school students who attend the Unruh Institute’s conference mingle with women in a wide range of leadership positions. Workshops such as “How to Get What You Want,” “Telling Your Public Narrative” and “Running for Office” give them an opportunity to hear from experienced leaders on how to navigate challenges to becoming leaders in any workplace.

Last year, the institute also partnered with L. A. County Initiative on Women and Girls, which recognizes that girls and women, particularly those from underrepresented communities, need special support to succeed. Many are caregivers of younger siblings or aging parents and grandparents. Some are single mothers. Their lives are often compounded by a wage disparity that has been well documented in economic studies nationwide.

Alumni and students mentor future leaders

The conference has been steadily supported by a gift from Kathryn “Kelly” McNamara Corley ’82. As the executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of Discover Financial Services, Corley is a leader herself. She obtained a law degree at George Mason University in her first years working for Discover, and she rose through the company.

Sophomore Mechelle Philip has attended the Unruh Institute’s Young Women’s Leadership Conference every year since it began seven years ago. (Photo: San Ramon Valley High School)

By supporting the Young Women’s Leadership Conference, Corley pays it forward to help other women get on track to leadership.

“It’s really a great pipeline for attracting young women to USC and USC Dornsife,” she says. “They are inspired by the stories of these women who are there to talk about their career paths. They build a nice set of friendships and a network. And you can see their confidence being lifted.”

In just a few years, Manjarrez has found her own voice. She has volunteered extensively and worked in politics, including an internship with U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat. Last year, then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed her to the California Student Aid Commission.

Another USC Dornsife sophomore, Mechelle Philip, first attended when she was a freshman at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, California.

She returned home, ran for president of her Youth and Government delegation and won.

Philip has attended the conference every year since. She has landed opportunities that she attributes to the network she developed at the annual conference. She interned for Republican California Assemblywoman Catharine Baker and is now working for College Spring, a nonprofit dedicated to helping high school students navigate the college application process.

“I really believe the conference changed the course of my life,” Philip says.