This workshop will be presented virtually, live from Jona’s home in New Mexico. This session will encourage women to examine the harmful impact of a lifetime of sexist messages that can cause competent women to doubt their own judgment, competence and leadership capacity as well as that of other women. Self-confidence is a requirement for success in fire/emergency service. Most female responders have overcome many of the sexist comments, behaviours and policies that challenged them reaching their current positions, but their own, internalized sexism may still be holding them back. Participants will confront the internal doubts, the effect on performance and support of other female firefighters and explore ways to overcome those doubts.
NOTE: This session is open to women only.
jona olsson
jona is the director of cultural bridges to justice, offering cultural diversity programs for non-profit groups. She is the Fire & EMS Chief of the Latir Volunteer Fire Department in northern New Mexico, having served as Chief for 16 years. Joining her two passions – emergency service and social justice – jona offers programs to individual departments, brigades, and fire conferences in the U. S., the UK, Canada and Australia. jona lives in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico, with her wife, Jane, and several rescued, 4-footed friends, Tumbleweed the 21 year old cat and Bader, the 6 month old puppy.
