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While scholarly efforts have helped promote an investigation into women’s leadership, dominant, male-centered paradigms and methods have presented a limited and marginalizing view of the complex ways in which women lead and engage in relationships. In this book, we focus on women as influential community leaders. Keeping the Fire is not merely a metaphor, it is a call to honor the enduring flame of women’s work and leadership, and let its warmth guide us toward more just, whole, and connected futures.
Within the chapters, authors illustrate how women use their agency, identify and address community needs, and understand relationality as an organic evolution of leadership. Part 1 is divided into three sections: Sparks from the Past; Identity and Communityship; and Connection and Belonging, presenting contributions from and about women who represent different cultures, races, and experiences, and use paradigms and methods that honor the multiple ways of knowing about and leading communally as women. Stories, narratives, and portraits explore the women who inspire, influence, and ultimately transform their communities.
Introduction; Lazarina N. Topuzova, Kem Gambrell, and Sydney D. Richardson
Lazarina N. Topuzova, PhD is a Professor of Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University. Her research expertise is in developing leadership capacity in community and grassroots organizations, leadership for peace, and women in leadership.
Kem Gambrell, PhD is an Anglo scholar and educator serving as professor and chair of Gonzaga University’s Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies. Her work explores women, constructive development, compassion, Indigenous perspectives, and decolonization in leadership and communityship.
Sydney D. Richardson, PhD is an Associate Professor of Leadership Studies at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Her research intersects community leadership development and leader identity with marginalized entrepreneurs.