Education is key to advancing credit union women in leadership by providing them with the opportunity and resources to make a measurable difference in their own life, the lives of their credit union members, and their communities. The PA Sister Society’s education committee is dedicated to providing meaningful and impactful content, speakers and networking that will help to enhance the lives of our PA Sister Society members of the GWLN, so that they leave each meeting with something that will help to enrich their career and personal lives.

Join us at an upcoming meeting:

In-Person Event

Topic: Why DEI Matters
Speaker: Angela Russell, Chief Diversity Officer & President, TruStage Foundation
Date: October 30, 2024
Time: 9:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. ET
Location: Members 1st FCU, 392 East Penn Drive, Enola, PA 17025

Angela Russell is the chief diversity officer at TruStage and the president of the TruStage Foundation. In these roles, she provides strategic enterprise-wide leadership to ensure that TruStage’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is reflected in the workplace, community partnerships and marketplace through its products, processes and services.

In 2021, Russell was the recipient of the inaugural DEI Trailblazer Award from the African American Credit Union Coalition. In 2018, she was named as one of the nation’s most powerful diversity executives by Black Enterprise magazine.

Give Back!
Please bring a personal hygiene item to donate that can benefit women and girls in need. Items will be distrubited throughout Pennsylvania.

Contact pasistersociety@vfccu.org for event details and registration.

Mark your calendar:

We look forward to having you join us for all of our 2024 Ted Talk Discussions. Watch your email for topic updates as we get closer!

• Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Past educational opportunities:

August 20, 2024

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk Tuesday session featured Margaret Heffernan – Forget the Pecking Order at Work. Organizations are often run according to "the superchicken model," where the value is placed on star employees who outperform others. And yet, this isn't what drives the most high-achieving teams. Business leader Margaret Heffernan observes that it is social cohesion — built every coffee break, every time one team member asks another for help — that leads over time to great results. It's a radical rethink of what drives us to do our best work, and what it means to be a leader. Because as Heffernan points out: "Companies don't have ideas. Only people do."

Margaret Heffernan – Forget the Pecking Order at Work – Ted Talk Video

May 14, 2024

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk Tuesday session featured Dame Stephanie Shirley - Why Do Ambitious Women Have Flat Heads? Dame Stephanie’s story has many strands which, woven together by her courage, determination and resilience, have produced a lifetime of exceptional achievements. In recognition of these, she was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2017, a membership limited to only 65 individuals globally, for her services to the IT industry and philanthropy.

A child refugee who at five years old came to England without her parents, Dame Stephanie went on to found an all-woman software company that pioneered remote working and redefined the expectations and opportunities for working women at that time. It was ultimately valued at almost $3 billion and made 70 of her staff millionaires. Since ‘retiring’ her work has been in philanthropy, with a particular focus on autism and IT.

Dame Stephanie Shirley – Why Do Ambitious Women Have Flat Heads? – Ted Talk Video

March 12, 2024

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk Tuesday session focused on Shonda Rhimes'– My Year to Saying Yes to Everything. Shonda Rhimes is responsible for some 70 hours of television per season and loves to work. "When I am hard at work, when I am deep in it, there is no other feeling," she said. She has a name for this feeling: "the hum". The hum is a drug. The hum is music. The hum is God's whisper in her ear. But what happens when it stops? Is she anything besides the hum? In this moving talk, join Rhimes on a journey through her "year of yes" and find out how she got her hum back.

Shonda Rhimes – My Year of Saying Yes to Everything – Ted Talk Video

November 14, 2023

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk Tuesday session focused on Susan Colantuono’s – The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get. You’re doing everything right at work, taking all the right advice, but you’re just not moving up. Why? Susan Colantuono shares a simple, surprising piece of advice you might not have heard before quite so plainly.

Susan Colantuono – The Career Advise You Probably Didn't Get – Ted Talk Video

October 11, 2023

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This in-person education session featured Teresa Freeborn and her book “Suits and Skirts: Game On! The Battle for Corporate Power”. Freeborn will discuss how women are consciously or unconsciously held back from positions of senior decision making and most importantly, demonstrate how to change this corporate culture. Freeborn’s remarks are based on her best-selling book “Suits and Skirts: Game On!” which focuses on recognizing the situation we are in and strategizing how to effect meaningful, quantifiable change.

Teresa Freeborn - "Suits and Skirts: Game On! The Battle for Corporate Power"

August 15, 2023

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

We will be watching the Ted Talks together and doing small breakout sessions to discuss. This session topic will be Adam Galinsky – How to Speak Up for Yourself. Feel free to watch the video ahead of the session. Adam Galinsky teaches people all over the world how to inspire others, speak up effectively, lead teams and negotiate successfully. Speaking up is hard to do, even when you know you should. Learn how to assert yourself, navigate tricky social situations and expand your personal power with sage guidance from social psychologist Adam Galinsky.

Adam Galinsky – How to Speak Up for Yourself – Ted Talk Video

May 16, 2023

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk session topic focused on Alison Ledgerwood’s – Getting Stuck in the Negatives? Alison Ledgerwood is interested in understanding how people think, and how they can think better. Her research, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, investigates how certain ways of thinking about an issue tend to stick in people's heads. Her classes on social psychology focus on understanding the way people think and behave in social situations, and how to harness that knowledge to potentially improve the social world in which we all live.

Alison Ledgerwood – Getting Stuck in the Negatives – Ted Talk Video

February 21, 2023

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk session topic focused on Renee Marino - Happiness is Not Where You're Looking. Renée Marino explains how the true and everlasting happiness we seek is not found by escaping our thoughts, feelings, and circumstances through digital technology.

Renee Marino – Happiness is Not Where You're Looking - Ted Talk Video

November 15, 2022

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk session topic focused on Wendy Suzuki - Brain Changing Effects of Exercise. "What's the most transformative thing you can do for your brain today? Exercise!" says neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. Get inspired to go to the gym as Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory - and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Wendy Suzuki - Brain Changing Effects of Exercise - Ted Talk Video

October 16, 2022

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This education session featured the International Bestseller, The Can-Do Mindset: How to Make Things Happen...With Enthusiasm. Denise's hand is stretched out, inviting you to stand in your authentic power, generate your own happiness, and create a vibe that attracts Can-doers. The Can-Do mindset will:

• Empower you to act, even during times when it's hard to realize that "can" is still in your vocabulary. Trust me. It never left.
• Uncover how the greatest power that you have isn't in a gym... it is built from within. There is power in choice- more power than you know.
• Give you permission to focus on accomplishing the right things, despite the circumstances.

Denise's book can be purchased at Amazon.com.

August 23, 2022

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk session topic focused on Robin Hauser – Likability For Women Leaders. When women lead, bias often follows. Documentarian Robin Hauser dives into the dilemma between competence and likability faced by women in leadership roles, detangling the unconscious beliefs and gendered thinking that distort what it means to be a good leader.

Robin Hauser – Likability For Women Leaders - Ted Talk Video

May 17, 2022

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk session topic focused on Andy Puddicombe – All it takes is 10 mindful minutes. When is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting, talking or even thinking? Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe describes the transformative power of doing just that: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment. (No need for incense or sitting in strange positions.)

Andy Puddicombe – All It Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes - Ted Talk Video

March 15, 2022

Sister Society Ted Talks Tuesday

This Ted Talk session topic focused on Lizzie Velasquez - How do you define yourself? In a time when beauty is defined by supermodels, success is defined by wealth, and fame is defined by now many followers you have on social media, Lizze Velasquez asks the question, "How do you define yourself?" Once labeled, "The Worlds Ugliest Women," Lizzie decided to turn things around and create her own definitions of what she defines as beauty and happiness.

Lizzie Velasquez - How do you define yourself? Ted Talk Video