Reviewed by: Elizabeth Hobbs
These 2 Huntsville women found the ultimate female leadership group—here’s how
Reading time: 6 minutes
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What do a Huntsville commercial real estate agent and a contracting officer have in common? Being a part of one of the most robust leadership groups in Huntsville, for starters.
Read on to learn about how Bhagyesha and Amy found out about Upward, an all-women group, and how it’s leveling up their careers.
Meet Bhagyesha + Amy
First off, let’s get to know Bhagyesha and Amy a bit better:
Bhagyesha:
- Hometown: Huntsville
- Career: Sales & Leasing Specialist at Chase Commercial
- Fun facts:
- She’s a first-generation American in her family and lived in India for several years.
- She and her fiancé are eloping in Italy later this year.
Amy:
- Hometown: Huntsville
- Career: Contracting Officer at Missile Defense Agency
- Fun facts:
- She went to law school but didn’t want to work in court. In her current position, she gets to use her legal background without working as a traditional lawyer.
- Her dad worked in the defense industry, and her family moved all over the country.
3 questions with Bhagyesha + Amy
Q: What made you choose Momentum’s Upward program?
Although Bhagyesha and Amy have different careers, they knew they’d get the same benefits from Momentum’s Upward program.
Upward is the ideal program for female professionals with 3-15 years of experience. According to Momentum, although more women have a college education than men, only 40% make it to middle management, and only 14% advance to senior leadership.
That’s where Upward fills in the gap, equipping women with the skills they need to advance in leadership, all while in a safe, female-oriented setting.
An avid member of many professional groups, Bhagyesha decided to give Upward a shot because she saw the benefit that an all-women group could provide:
“I’ve been a part of many mentorship and leadership programs, but Upward has been a full 180 from the other programs. It makes a huge difference that the group is all women, and we get to be vulnerable and talk about issues relating to the corporate world.
Upward has helped me uncover different ways of thinking, communicating, understanding personality styles and more. Plus, we meet regularly, so the conversation is not one and done. It keeps building.”
Bhagyesha Darji, Sales & Leasing Specialist at Chase Commercial Real Estate
With a more technical background in law, Amy chose Upward to improve the soft skills she needs to be successful at work:
“Soft skills are so important in my job and often even more effective than technical skills. We have a different training topic for each monthly Upward session. One of my favorites was on how to have complicated conversations and de-escalate. That skill set is super valuable in my position at work.”
Amy Roark, Contracting Officer at Missile Defense Agency
Q: What have you learned from Upward + how has it helped at work?
As a commercial real estate agent, Bhagyesha has found the training on communication especially helpful.
“During the communication class, we learned that listening is 50% of communication. I’ve always been a huge advocate of communication but never emphasized listening skills.
In that class, we learned how to listen effectively by focusing on one subject at a time. As an agent, I usually have 10 deals floating around at once, so it was important for me to learn to focus on one thing before moving on to the next.”
Bhagyesha Darji, Sales & Leasing Specialist at Chase Commercial Real Estate
Along with sharpening her soft skills, Amy has appreciated the way Upward has fit into her busy schedule and given her a supportive cohort of other professionals.
“Each month, we do a half-day Upward session, and we have a small group meeting. Before starting the program, I was able to pre-plan with my employer and make sure it wouldn’t affect my workflow.
I get so excited and look forward to the sessions every month. I went to a Trash Pandas game with my small group the other night, and we were talking about how the events feel like a field trip for adults.”
Amy Roark, Contracting Officer at the Missile Defense Agency
With the skills she’s gaining from Upward, Amy hopes to advance to a supervisory and leadership role in the contracting sphere.
And Amy’s hope could soon become a reality. Check out Upward by the numbers, according to Momentum Leaders:
- Participants report an average salary increase of more than $15,000 during the program.
- 77% of Huntsville participants say Momentum introduced them to fresh, relevant content they hadn’t encountered before.
- On average, nearly 40% of participants achieve upward mobility or receive a promotion before completing the program.
Q: Why would you encourage other women to apply for Upward?
There are many reasons why you should apply for Upward, but if you asked Bhagyesha and Amy, they would tell you their top two reasons are to gain confidence and support.
“The number one thing Upward has given me is confidence—just being confident in myself, what I’m doing and who I am. I can walk into a room and feel confident.”
Bhagyesha Darji, Sales & Leasing Specialist at Chase Commercial Real Estate
“I would definitely encourage other women to go for Upward. I’ve done a lot of leadership classes, and I’ve really valued the all-female environment at Momentum.
I’ve loved having a support system of women in different career fields who don’t work with my coworkers. It gives me a safe space to share how I’m feeling and get their input before bringing up conversations at work.”
Amy Roark, Contracting Officer at the Missile Defense Agency
Check out Upward’s 2026 program dates:
- Opening session — February 11, 2026
- (required attendance, full day)
- Monthly Sessions — 12:30-4:30
- March 18, 2026
- April 8, 2026
- May 13, 2026
- July 15, 2026
- August 12, 2026
- September 2, 2026
- Closing Session & Graduation — October 14, 2026
- (required attendance, full day)
Upward applications are open from July 15-August 31. Apply now!
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