From Soccer to C-Suite, an organization focused on supporting girls and young women, held their first in a series of 15 nationwide workshops at Kennesaw State University last week.
“Girls are having a hard time right now— even more so than boys,” said Greg Charlop, the founder of From Soccer to C-Suite, and a self-described girl dad.
Charlop said the organization hopes to use these workshops not only as a way to help girls, but also to connect people who are interested in helping but maybe don’t know where to begin.
At the Kennesaw workshop, the organization hosted professionals in media, philanthropy and healthcare. Charlop said it is the organization’s goal to bring together professionals who might otherwise not be in the same room.
From Soccer to C-Suite has partnered with The Center for Advancing Innovation, led by CEO and founder Rosemarie Truman.
Truman told The Atlanta Voice that having speakers from a range of fields in conversation with one another can allow them to create a road map to success.
“Talent and opportunity are disproportionate,” said Truman. “With a road map, however, they can identify the barriers, solutions and actions to improve the playing field so that young women can advance in their careers.”
Central to the goal of the organization is the belief that sports can be part of a girl’s pathway to success by teaching teamwork and leadership skills.
Charlop cited a study by Ernst & Young that found that over 90 percent of women in executive positions were also athletes, which was reflected in the number of Kennesaw State University women’s soccer team members that chose to attend the workshop.
The workshops, Charlop said, attract mainly college age students, many of whom are also athletes.
From Soccer to C-Suite will host their next workshop in Washington D.C. on July 17. Charlop said ultimately, the organization hopes to create a model that others can emulate, if interested in helping the careers of young women.
“We’re looking to bring together a wide range of women from different backgrounds that can lead to collaboration,” Charlop said.
Charlop added that the organization knows it does not have all the answers, but with the workshops, it hopes to create a space where people with strong ideas on how to advance women into executive positions can meet and share ideas. He wants From Soccer to C-Suite to specifically reach out to those individuals who are passionate about creating opportunities for young women, and have the knowledge and resources to do so.
“If there’s someone with a solution, we don’t want her idea to wither on the vine; we want the idea to come to fruition,” Charlop said.