Receive the gift you are
Realize the gifts you’ve been given
Respond with the gift that only you can give
Each year, the GIVEN Institute (GIVEN) hosts a national Catholic Women’s Leadership Forum anchored in these key themes. Since the inaugural forum in 2016, GIVEN has helped to form hundreds of young adult Catholic women, ages 21-30, from across the country. While typically held in Washington, GIVEN changed locations this year to be held at Neumann University, outside Philadelphia.
More than a dozen Virginian women participated this year, including six young adult participants and six mentors. Most of them reside in the Arlington diocese.
After receiving acceptance through an extensive application process, GIVEN participants, with a proven heart for mission and an aptitude for leadership, embark on a journey of identifying their particular Christ-given gifts and finding practical ways to employ those gifts for the glory of God and of the Gospel.
GIVEN offers a unique opportunity for leadership training and faith formation through a robust blending of both lay and consecrated women from dioceses around the world. The forum forms “women for mission and for life,” inspiring and equipping the next generation of female leaders to first receive the gift they are, realize the gifts they’ve been given, to be able to respond with the gift that only they can give.
“I’ve been working for the church for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything quite like the GIVEN Forum,” said Therese Bermpohl, a member of the GIVEN Institute’s board of directors and director of the diocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Respect Life. “It is a confluence of women from all over the country, from all backgrounds, vocations and advocations with different areas of expertise.
“Every single mentor, lay and religious alike, is there to remind the young leaders attending the forum that they are beloved daughters of the Father, and to support them with an extraordinary outpouring of encouragement, both spiritually and professionally during the Forum and beyond,” she said.
The vision of GIVEN is carried out through a five-day, in-person immersion in programs and prayer, including: talks by lay and religious female Catholic leaders; professional leadership training sessions; support and guidance to implement a post-forum action plan; networking with peers and leading Catholic women; and opportunities for the sacraments and spiritual direction.
“It was such a gift to go to GIVEN,” shared Katie Weiss, a 2016 GIVEN alumnae from Woodbridge who led meditations throughout the week. Her action plan from six years ago is now a full-time ministry called Behold Visio Divina. “It was so beautiful to go to this forum and see all the amazing women from so many dioceses and so many religious orders. It truly is an experience of the beauty of the church in her many vocations.”
The action plan process — an initiative proposed and implemented that activate each woman’s God-given gifts in the church and in the world — is just one of the many unique aspects and fruits of the forum. Each attendee selects a specialty — artistic, care for the human person, Catholic or secular professional, or entrepreneurial — to help to shape their experience while at GIVEN. Following the forum, participants receive a year of one-on-one mentorship with an established Catholic female leader to accompany them and aid in the development and execution of their respective action plans.
Find out more
Go to giveninstitute.com/forum.
