The 2026 GIVEN catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum, taking place in Washington, D.C., this week, exists to help women understand their gifts and how to share them with the world. The five-day gathering is hosted by the GIVEN Institute – a non-profit organization dedicated to activating the gifts of Catholic young adult women for the Church and the world through faith formation and leadership.
The five-day gathering is hosted by the GIVEN institute – a non-profit organization dedicated to activating the gifts of Catholic young adult women for the Church and the world through faith formation and leadership. “We hope women will take away an understanding, on a much deeper level, that they are a gift. They are a beloved daughter of God,” said the executive director of GIVEN, Jennifer Cole-Schaefer. Women have “been given gifts that are specific to them, and God has a plan to use those gifts,” she said. “Itʼs all about receiving this idea that we are a gift, realizing what our gifts are, and responding in a way that only we can respond with our particular gifts”. The forum welcomes Catholic women, ages 21-35, who have been accepted into the institute’s leadership program, as well as mentors, volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors. Acceptance into the program includes participation in GIVEN’s forum, followed by a year of accompaniment with a trained mentor. Participants cultivate a personalized “action plan” designed to serve the Church and their community. The “formation starts well before we get to the forum, but the forum is a really pivotal in-person experience,” Cole-Schaefer said. It’s after the forum that the real work begins – when women start to actualize their action plans, and they don’t do that alone. They do that through mentoring.” So we have a whole army of women with some life experience who’ve stepped forward and been trained as mentors to walk with our young women as they discern all the steps.”
