Breaking the Silence: Featuring Mrs. Izzo

In the movie Aladdin, Princess Jasmine of Agrabah is not just a damsel in distress, she is the perfect example of resilience in a world that looks to silence her voice. While the real world is far from her world, when Jasmine claims, “I won’t be silenced,” she mirrors the real life struggles of women in leadership facing similar challenges.

While it’s easy to look for world leaders to show courage and determination, the same leadership journey can be seen within our own community.

Kelli Izzo, the Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Assistant Principal, shows our community the importance of these values. Being an assistant principal for nine years, three of which have been at BBHHS, Izzo has experienced her fair share of the struggles women face in leadership roles.

Early in her career, she was denied jobs because of questions such as, “Who will take care of the children?” and “How will your husband feel about this?” Surprisingly, she was often asked these types of questions in job interviews. Completely inappropriate for the professional environment, HRdive says, “42% of women surveyed said they’ve encountered gender biased, or inappropriate questions during their job interviews.”

While these questions may be simple, Izzo recalls instances where she was deemed under-qualified compared to the men who had interviewed for the same position. “I deserved that role,” she says. But to her, it was a lesson – a lesson preached by Eleanor Roosevelt that is forever etched in the assistant principals mind: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

Yet, her struggles didn’t stop there. In meetings, she often found herself interrupted or dismissed by colleagues who saw her simply as the “dumb woman in the room”. On one specific occasion, she was referred to as the secretary— an attempt to diminish her expertise and authority.

However, Izzo chose persistence over defeat, standing her ground against gender bias. “I made it a point to restate my ideas clearly and firmly until they were acknowledged,” she shares. “Every time I did, I proved that my voice mattered, and it changed the way I was seen.”

For her, the key to overcoming these challenges lies in being confident and owning one’s space. Izzo offers some advice for young women who feel hesitant to speak up in male-dominted spaces. “Claim your space and own it. You deserve to be there. Believe that, and the world will believe it too,” she advises.

Through this incredibly inspiring interview, the Assistant Principal Mrs. Kelli Izzo shows us that women are not just capable of leading but also transforming the spaces they occupy unapologetically. Women in leadership isn’t just about breaking the glass ceiling, it’s about standing firm in their abilities, claiming their space and breaking free from the barriers that hold women back.

Jasmine’s fairytale serves as a perfect representation of the struggles Izzo and many other women leaders face. Just as Jasmine refused to give up her leadership, Izzo shows us the same courage and determination through her leadership positions. Her journey combined with Jasmine’s fairytale shares a powerful message to all the young women in today’s world: leadership begins with believing in yourself.