LOOKING BACK ON YEAR ONE: Collab with longstanding industry teacher

I am thankful to a longstanding industry teacher who was open to collaborating with me last year.  We haven't made it real yet (honestly, it's a matter of funding), but we created the ELEVATE concept. 

Originally, he asked for help creating a female-only cohort that would take his pre-existing course in VOLT (the national NECA education system).   Because the program already existed and two of the three segments already had access, it felt like a simple job for a salesperson.

So I thought... how can this become a true collaboration?  I feel the MEP industry (mechanical, anyway) was missing an owner-to-owner support network for the women contractors and that is who I wanted to support. I helped the national MCAA create Women in the Mechanical Industry (WiMI) and it is a popular initiative but is needed to make all women of industry, not just the ones who own the companies, feel a sense of belonging.  My fascination with peer groups (I tried Vistage and C12) showed me that owners liked commiserating and found courage at times from others' stories.  I wanted to pepper in experiential concepts (Richard's curriculum, for example, included a visit to a small town to hear from a mayor on how he helped his town recover from a natural disaster. I love the concept and would shift to a high-ranking woman at Amtrack who manages crisis and can meet us at Union Station in Chicago).  

First, I suggested adding regular peer lunches that include pop-up experts to help participants with their issues (the format women who run associations uses) or facilitate discussion on hot topics/innovations.  I also wanted to see a capstone project: brainstorm industry issues, determine potential ways to improve the landscape, coach for the pitch, and connect each woman with the right audience to make the presentation (knowing who it was for is half the battle!).  Perhaps we can reach out to the woman who organizes TedX Wrigleyville to help...  

Next, I started local with my quest to build up a list of women who run MEPs.  While doing it, I found one-off sponsors so I could gather the contacts for a nice lunch, get new contacts, and hear about their current issues.  Last year, a supporter connected a philanthropist to these efforts so we do them every 2-4 months. Now, I have a list that's long enough to create 1-2 cohorts locally (depends on whether we go with a traditional peer group size (12) or the size of a VOLT cohort (24)). 

Anyway, we tried early on to gain funding from the national MEP associations: MCAA/NECA/SMACNA... but it didn't track.  

Today, I see that the gatherings are building momentum for the concept of helping the women gain more connections, spark meaningful industry conversations, and hopefully one day provide the funding to go beyond lunch.  

Thanks for any ideas you have!