Dr. Nichole S. Prescott

From Petticoats to Power Suits – Navigating Women’s Rise to Leadership

Buckle up for a time-traveling escapade through America’s past, where women donned many hats (and petticoats) before they could wear the power suits. This keynote is not your ordinary history lesson; it’s a whirlwind tour of women’s journey from the sidelines to the frontlines of leadership, with tips, tricks, and techniques to help you exude “leadership material”. Yesterday’s gender expectations inform today’s stereotypes about women, especially when stepping into the boardroom. With a dash of humor and a pinch of sass, we’ll navigate the bumpy road from the 19th century’s Cult of True Womanhood to the 21st century’s Cult of Executive Presence. We will explore how you act, how you speak, and how you look translate to whether or not you have “what it takes” to make it in top leadership positions.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending the program, students will learn:

• to navigate the historical landscape of women’s roles from the 19th century to today,
• how to understand how these historical and present-day roles have evolved and how stereotypes about women continue to shape perceptions in modern leadership scenarios,
• the essential elements of executive presence for women, including actionable tips, tricks, and techniques on acting, speaking, and looking the part, to confidently claim your space in leadership roles; and
• the how to discover strategies to turn historical gender expectations and current stereotypes into powerful assets, leveraging your unique qualities to stand out as “leadership material” in any boardroom or executive setting.

More Than An *Asterisk.

Native Americans are frequently imagined rather than understood. Mainstream American culture reduces Indigenous peoples to images of headdress-wearing chief logos for tobacco products or favorite sports mascots. Hollywood prompts us to immediately think of Disney’s Pocahontas. Fashion bloggers highlight the latest appropriated fashion from the festival circuit. Similarly, in data sets Native Americans are usually relegated to the made-up status of “Other” or we are simply represented by an asterisk.—to indicate an omission of some sort. This invisibility or relegating of Indigenous peoples to the status of a punctuation mark is a reflection of the fact that Indigenous people—our history, our challenges, our successes, our future—are absent in the national narrative.

In this keynote, using historical and contemporary references, Dr. Nichole Prescott explores the ways in which Indigenous people are rendered invisible in the national narrative and in data, stereotyped in popular culture, and how Natives are taking back their narrative. This program also provides practical guidance on how to appreciate Native culture without appropriating it.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending the program, students will learn:

• a brief history of Native American representation in data sets and Popular Culture,
• the historical and contemporary reasons for the invisibility of Native Americans,
• the difference between respectful appreciation and harmful appropriation of Native American culture, and apply that understanding in their own lives, to evaluate the harm of stereotypes on college campuses and in the broader world.

Rethinking Your Relationship with Your Grandmother: Indigenous Spirituality and the Natural World

Some Native American cultures view the earth as our grandmother, and all things are our relatives. The land, plants, water, and all of the living things that walk, fly, or swim teach us the most important lessons in life, if we pay attention. Humans are the caretakers, the stewards, of these gifts from Grandmother Earth. We must be good relatives, providing for our earth when she needs us and sharing in her abundance when she offers up that abundance. We should strive to keep a balance between human needs and the earth’s gifts. Many never stop to question whether they have been selfish in their relationship with the earth. Those of us who do strive for a healthy, balanced relationship (with other humans and with the natural world around us) risk enabling this other toxic relationship when we do not speak out, advocate for, and act in defense of our Grandmother.

For Dr. Nichole S. Prescott, a citizen of the Miami Nation of Oklahoma, grandmother earth serves as the basis of her spiritual practice. Through this program, Nichole will lead students through an exploration of Indigenous understandings of the natural world, the relationship of that understanding to environmental stewardship, the very real experience of eco-grief, and why celebrating Earth Day simply is not enough.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending the program, students will learn:

• the relationship between land and identity for Native Americans,
• the relationship between spirituality and Grandmother Earth for many Indigenous people,
• what a land acknowledgment is and why it is important in a university setting as well as the broader world, and
• to recognize the powerful potential of applying the concept of “7 generations” decision-making and its implications for creating a better world

Cultural Dimensions of Leadership

Have you ever thought about how you learned what a good leader looks like, sounds like, and acts like?  What makes a “good leader” is different depending upon which culture you are from. Our understanding of what makes a good leader is influenced by our culture and our traditions, and also from where we learn leadership lessons.

For example, while some cultures may attribute good leadership traits to people such as Presidents and/or business CEOs, other cultures learn leadership lessons from the natural world, such as the strawberry or an eagle.  The values of a society play a significant role in defining leadership. Using examples and stories from her tribal history and personal experience as an Indigenous woman, Dr. Nichole Prescott will lead you on a journey exploring authentic leadership.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• about the cultural dimensions of leadership,
• common traits within Indigenous conceptions of leadership,
• how to lead from a place of authenticity, and
• the basic tenets of several leadership models.