by Collette Leland, Winston & Cashatt, Lawyers
EWI of Spokane Chapter President
I started my journey as our Chapter President by focusing on gratitude, urging all of us to work together in a spirit of gratitude. I have been continuously amazed at how you have all responded. The enthusiasm for EWI our newer members bring to the table, together with the continuing labor of love by our more (ahem) mature members is truly something to be grateful for.
For this last president’s message, I had thought that I would share some words of wisdom that other people have shared with me. After a few runs at it, I realized that this exercise was going to turn into a series of vignettes that all somehow revolved around me. Nobody wants that, so I’m going to keep it to one word of wisdom, which is: “The law empowers women.”
This was not a message from one of my law professors. It was a word of encouragement from my own lawyer, coming before I had even decided to go to law school.
Cheryl McCall had lived an unworldly (for me) life as a reporter and friend of the rich, famous, and musical. After she created a documentary about Seattle’s street kids (which was nominated for an Oscar), she went to law school and settled down in Nevada City, California, as a solo practitioner and crusader for juvenile justice.
When I made an appointment with Cheryl, I was struggling with the sudden end of my marriage and the thought of starting over after over ten years of homeschooling my two children. It was an intimidating prospect.
Cheryl assured me that I was going to have a career, fall in love again, and have a really good life. She then told me: “The law empowers women.” It wasn’t just the knowledge of my rights under California law that empowered me, however, it was knowing that this brave, smart, forthright woman believed that I could create my own story.
When Lucille Johnson Perkins started EWI in 1938, the law did not offer the same empowerment to women that it does today. Women’s right to vote had been ratified just 18 years before Lucille decided to form a group for the purpose of empowering professional women. Think how audacious that must have been. It has only been in the last generation that it has become unremarkable for a woman to have a career, as opposed to a job. Yet, there was Lucille in 1938, building an organization that today has the following vision statement: “To enhance professional growth and development within a diverse group of women while empowering them to make difference as they inspire others.”
Cheryl empowered me by believing in me when my confidence in others and in my own abilities was subterranean, and by living an inspirational life of adventure and good work. Each month at our Chapter and our board meetings, I see you providing the same kind of encouragement and inspiration to each other. You share your stories of personal growth, you provide comfort when life is hard, you step up to the plate when even when you are not sure whether the plate holds dessert or overcooked spinach, you extend each other grace so that we can advance without being paralyzed by fear.
Thank you to each of you for walking on this journey with me this year. You are an amazing and kind group of individuals. I am excited for our future together as we continue to support, inspire, and empower each other.
I hope that you will all join me September 17th when we install our new board for 2024-25. Let’s empower them by letting them know we have confidence in their ability to lead and are grateful for their willingness to serve.