The GIVEN Institute (“GIVEN”) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to activating the gifts of young adult women for the Catholic Church and the world. We inspire and equip the next generation of female leaders to “receive the gift that they are; realize the gifts they’ve been given; and respond with the gift that only they can give.” Through leadership training, faith formation, and dedicated mentoring, GIVEN forms women for mission and for life.
The flagship event of the GIVEN Institute is the Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum (“Given Forum”). The annual event brings together more than one hundred young adult women from across the country for a four-day forum. It is designed for young adult Catholic women seeking leadership training, faith formation, and practical support to better understand and pursue their particular mission and/or vocation.
The following episodes are talks from previous GIVEN Forums.
We all desire order. We all desire to find balance amidst the chaos of life. In her talk Erika addresses these very things! Through her personal witness, Erika provides practical tips for prioritizing and discusses a variety of pitfalls faithful women can fall into causing imbalance in their lives.
God gifted every one of us with a temperament, a beautiful and wonderful gift. In her talk, Laraine discusses how each one of us can discover our personal temperament, learn the strengths and areas of growth for our particular temperament, and the means to recognize and work with individuals of d...
God endowed every one of us with gifts, and He asks us to use those gifts for others. We are called to always see and respond with love and practical compassion to the person in need, and to see the neediest as our first call to love. In her talk, Dr. Woo addresses the tremendous presence of char...
As women, we desire motherhood, but that desire manifests itself in a variety of ways. In her talk, Sr. Norma discusses how to be a mother to the most vulnerable. She addresses the reality of the needs of immigrants, especially unaccompanied minors (trafficking, gangs, etc), and recounts the joys...
In a very special way, the Lord has entrusted to women the suffering of others. Through her personal witness, Dr. Paravacini address the reality of suffering, misguided mercy, and our call to respond with love and presence to those suffering.
Who we are at home affects who we are in the world. In her talk, Gloria discusses the fact that integration and maturity require our private lives to be our public lives. And address the difference between intolerance and the freedom to believe and live the truth.
The love of a mother is something we all crave, but sadly, because of our fallenness, we are not always loved well. In her talk, Dr. Laracy answers the question of how to be a mother when one does not feel as though she has been adequately mothered and discusses the emotional power that a mother’...
Through her powerful witness, Audrey shares her experiences of Christianity, her growth as a beloved daughter of the Father, her journey with music, and her experience of the reality that no matter how wounded you are you have a voice and power in the Lord!
Creation is a gift from the Lord and as such we are called to care for it. In her talk, Sr. Damien Marie discusses how the care of creation forms us to treat all life and the natural order with reverence.
What does it mean to be entrusted with economic issues? Since the field of economics is mostly male-dominated, Dr. Pakaluk shares about economic issues that face many Catholic women we should consider such as maternity leave policies and teacher pay.
Each one of us is called to serve the Church and as women we have a very unique role. In her talk, Kim discusses what it means for “The Church” to be feminine—a Mother first, the difference women can and do make in the Church, and the current need for the feminine presence and courage in the Church.
How are we as Catholic women called to educated? In her talk, Sr. Amelia address this very question. She discussed educating in every forum, the primacy of the human person, and role education plays in forming individuals to a greater end.
Motherhood is a beautiful vocation, that is often full of challenges. In her talk, Hallie discusses her experience of motherhood, the dramas and surprising gifts she has experience in raising a family, and her choice to homeschool her children.
We live in a very political society and discovering our role in this society is often quite challenging. In her, reflecting on her personal experiences, Anna addresses the eclipse of feminine genius in political structures and effects of that eclipse, as well as our call to a courageous response ...
We live in a very political society and discovering our role in this society is often quite challenging. In her, reflecting on her personal experiences, Anna addresses the eclipse of feminine genius in political structures and effects of that eclipse, as well as our call to a courageous response ...
How can we, in a world that has such a warped sense of beauty, reclaim the true meaning of beauty? In her talk, Kara, provides very practical tips on how to live with a re-claimed sense of beauty, how to fight the confusion, and how to renew the world’s understanding of beauty.
Women have been called to action throughout all of history. In her talk, Sr. Mary Prudence speaks of many of the great female saints who lived out their very own action plans and discusses the importance of recognizing that Christ has a very beautiful and unique action plan for each of his daught...
God is working in each and every one of daughters and He is simply waiting for their “yes”. In her talk, Sr. Mary Gabriel, discusses the importance of that unconditional “yes” to the Lord. She explains that God has entrusted so much to His daughters and that it is now up to each one of us to rec...
In her talk, Sr. Maria Theotokos speaks about the power of the Blessed Mother, our Lady’s role in world, and her guidance in our journey to union with her Son. Sr. Maria Theotokos reminds us that if we want to be women of the new evangelization, we need to know our Lady! And we must learn to mode...
In her talk, Sr. Bethany calls to action the young women who attended the forum, calling them to share their gifts, spread the gospel, and invite other young women to participate in the work of the GIVEN Institute.
We live in a world that is continually telling us what it means to be a woman, a world that tells us that if we desire to be successful, we must go out and take what is rightfully ours. In her talk, Dr. Healy address the fact, that regardless of what society is telling us, we as women do not take...
As women, we are endowed with the feminine genius, but what does that mean? What is the feminine genius? In her talk, Helen explains what this gift is. She discusses the difference between bowing to the patriarchy and a balanced being “for” the other, i.e. power vs. love. Helen explains the need ...
In her talk, Dr. Marogy discusses the significance of the women remaining at the foot of the Cross during Christ’s passion and explains that we as women are called to do the same. She addresses the fact that we must find and stay with Christ in unexpected suffering, both great and small, and that...
