WESTBOROUGH, MA. _ The Female Leadership Interest Council (FLIC) announced today that it has established an Educational Funding Charter and has designated an Educational Funding Taskforce to spearhead the Council’s efforts to accomplish one of its most important missions – to help women of all ages develop and strengthen their foothold in the workplace.
“The establishment of this Charter is very significant for our organization in supporting women and in helping them achieve greater opportunities in life,” said FLIC Founder, Deborah Penta. “Providing leadership scholarships to college-bound women and individual grants for women who need financial assistance to gain the knowledge and tools to reach their potential, is an important part of our community vision.”
Penta announced that Lisa Kirby Gibbs, owner of Highland-March Executive Suites in Westborough, has been appointed the Chairperson of FLIC’s Educational Funding Task Force, the committee that will review and have the authority to approve grant applications.
“Gibbs’ background includes an impressive blend of education management, public relations and business development in both the nonprofit and public sector, which made her the perfect choice to chair the Task Force. Lisa has both the expertise and the personal commitment to help women achieve more in their lives,” Penta said.
“Deborah and I will put together a team of thoughtful, enthusiastic, well-intended people who will be able to discern what a woman might need on an educational basis to get ahead, and we’ll help them get to that next level,” Gibbs said.
Gibbs grew up in California; after high school, she went to college in Colorado, earning her B.A. in Arts from Colorado College and then her B.A. in Education from Fort Lewis College in Colorado.
After college, Gibbs started a private kindergarten in Idaho, and in the late 70s and early 80s, began and fostered a private elementary school in Oregon.
“I wanted to start a business with an educational focus,” Gibbs said. “There have always been certain careers that have been paved for women, and education is one of them. However, starting a private school wasn’t part of that package of expected womens’ roles.”
Gibbs was still looking for other avenues to try and eventually moved to the East Coast, where she attended Lesley University and earned her M. A. in Psychology and then her Post Masters’ Training in Systems Theory, from Kanter Family Institute. Afterward, she worked with her husband counseling couples and families for several years, particularly in the field of adoption. For many years after that, Lisa worked for a career management firm in Boston, coaching and training executives in career transitions.
In early 2006, Gibbs sought to stretch her entrepreneurial wings again, and began researching business that would make use of her background in career management and business development.
“I’ve worked and had success with business coaching and consulting, and that was what ultimately convinced me that starting and owning an executive suites was a great idea,” she said. “I have worked with lots of people who lost six-figure jobs. They wanted to start their own business, but they needed to look successful to be successful. They needed have the nuts and bolts of the work environment in place and taken care of in order to focus on growing their business.”
“Highland-March was one of the ways I could help people and their ambitions grow. I see FLIC and the Educational Task Force as being another way to help people grow and prosper.” Gibbs added that the Educational Funding Task Force is something that works with her beliefs and goals.“ I have always been goal-oriented and accomplishment-oriented,” she said. “I’m someone who always is setting a goal. It is intrinsically rewarding to me.”
Gibbs, who currently lives in Worcester with her husband and two children, said good business is first and foremost about making good relationships with people.
“It’s a win-win situation, a recipe for success. It’s what attracted me to Deborah’s organization and why this Task Force appeals to me. Everyone wins,” she said.
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