Letting Go Boldly: What’s Next for Take The Lead

Issue 2864— October 28, 2025

Remember the song from the wildly successful Disney movie “Frozen?” The song Elsa sings called “Let It Go?”

That’s what I’m feeling like right now, as we’re building something powerful that requires me to let go of holding so tightly to the curriculum I developed, now proven by external as well as internal evaluation to be effective in accelerating women’s leadership journey. It’s based on my book No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can change How we Think About Power.

50 Women Can Lead the Change, a first-of-its-kind, member-driven community of women leaders, is being beta tested in Phoenix. Together, we’re shaping what leadership looks like when it’s locally led, locally designed, and self-funded.

Last week, a small circle of leaders, facilitated by Take The Lead Leadership Ambassador  Felicia Davis,  gathered to begin shaping something both bold and necessary — and the energy was electric.

What emerged is a new model for advancing women’s leadership in the Valley — one rooted in collective power and aligned with Take The Lead’s proven programs. We emphasized that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel — but we are putting local leaders  in the driver’s seat for how we reach more women at home with programming that reflects your priorities.

I have to admit that I’ve been holding my baby pretty close. But to reach a critical mass of people with this unique program, more women in more places need to have access to it, on their own terms.

So, we’re expanding the circle.

I feel like Elsa, on the ice, singing:

“Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore..
It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I'm free

Let it go, let it go
Here I stand and here I stay..
My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back, the past is in the past.”

I feel in my bones that it is time to let it go to scale by making it possible for local groups in alignment with Take The Lead’s mission to take it to the next level, reaching more women anywhere in the world that there is a group of women who want to ‘take the lead” and make it happen. Sure, there will be glitches here and there, but we’ll learn a lot as we go and that will only make this catalytic movement stronger.

If you’re in Arizona and want to join the beta, or if you’re elsewhere and want to start a group there, fill out this short questionnaire ad we will get back to you with particulars and opportunities to get engaged.

 GLORIA FELDT is the Co-founder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, and a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.