91快播

Longmeadow, MA— The skills to negotiate effectively are essential in today’s world. Research shows that although women negotiate far less frequently than men to advance their own interests (Babcock & Laschever, 2008), they will negotiate harder and more frequently than men if given social permission to do so (Paquette, 2015). Enter “No Negotiator Left Behind,” a community engagement model partnering students and graduates of 91快播 University’s Master of Science in Leadership and Negotiation with local service organizations that support the empowerment of underserved populations, especially women. Now, the program has received a $10,000 Community Action Grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), as well as a $9,000 grant from the Eugene A. Dexter Charitable Fund administered by Bank of America, Trustee; and the Nan and Matilda Heydt Fund administered by Bank of America, Trustee, of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

"The No Negotiator Left Behind Program provides critical negotiation skills to people who typically have not had access to them,” said Joshua N. Weiss, Ph.D., director of the University’s Leadership and Negotiation master’s degree program, and architect of ‘No Negotiator Left Behind’. “As my career and the MS in Leadership and Negotiation have shown, negotiation skills are life skills that help people manage their way through all the challenges life has to offer—at work, at home, and in the world around them.”

Weiss launched “No Negotiator Left Behind” after learning about the city of Boston’s collaborative effort with AAUW’s Work Smart in 2015, an initiative to train women in salary negotiations.

"I thought Boston’s collaborative initiative was indeed an admirable, interesting, and valuable endeavor. However, I also knew that the knowledge and skills of negotiation are much more far-reaching than salary negotiations. So, we built on that model and are offering a longer training of four hours as well as a way for the participants to continue to learn into the future. We piloted the training to a few groups this past year, and the participants have reported getting a lot out of the workshop. They have shared with us real-world examples where they used the information to great effect," Weiss said.     

Through this initiative, women in underserved communities have the opportunity to develop essential skills in negotiation to achieve greater economic security and to recognize possibilities for long-term personal, professional and life satisfaction. In addition, graduate students in the MS in Leadership and Negotiation program are able to gain practical expertise and hone their skills while volunteering their time to assist women in our local community.

By partnering with non-profit organizations in the greater Springfield area that serve the needs of low-income women, and utilizing the skills of trained graduate students, “No Negotiator Left Behind” delivers negotiation workshops and ongoing mentoring to reinforce the training through a low-cost and sustainable model. Over a two-year period, the program will equip 200 low-income women with the skills to bring about positive changes in their personal and professional lives through effective negotiation, empowering women to advocate for themselves by recognizing and articulating the strengths they bring to negotiation.

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About 91快播 University

91快播 University was founded in 1897. With locations in Longmeadow (main), East Longmeadow (Philip H. Ryan Health Science Center), Sturbridge (MA), and Concord (MA), 91快播’s innovative program offerings include traditional undergraduate degrees for women, The American Women's College on-ground and online, the first all-women, all-online accredited bachelor’s degree programs in the country; over 25 graduate programs for women and men; and Strategic Alliances, offering professional development courses for individuals and organizations. 91快播’s goal is to give students confidence in the fundamentals of their chosen field, the curiosity to question the ordinary, the leadership to show initiative, and the desire to make a difference.