Women, get ready: executive coaching program promises to help black female professionals move...

According to a recent report by Catalyst, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the workplace, African American women who are corporate officers at Fortune 500 companies represented 1.1% of the workforce in 2002. The report, Advancing African-American Women in the

Molly D. Shepard is the founder and CEO of The Leader's Edge, an organization focused on enhancing the effectiveness of executive women in senior positions. Teressa Moore Griffin is the president of executive coaching company Freeman Associates. They have partnered to form the Executive Program for Women of Color.

The Executive Program for Women of Color aims to provide African American women with the necessary leadership skills to advance at senior levels and has four phases. In the first phase, the participant is assessed in her present business environment. Particular attention is paid not just to her status but to how she is perceived in her organization as a leader and how her own ideas match those perceptions. In the second phase, participants take part in an offsite seminar with executive women at their same corporate level. They will discuss strategic networking, political awareness, communication and leadership skills, among other topics. Participants also perform business simulations that are videotaped. This allows them to study and get feedback on their actions and reactions. In the third phase, the participant, her appointed mentor, and her direct supervisor will design a professional development plan. And the fourth stage involves the participant applying and practicing the leadership lessons she's learned to her work environment.

For more information, log on to www.the-leaders-edge.com, or contact Monica Warner at 610-660-6684.