“The program’s goal is to provide women the skills they need to advance their careers, the opportunities to develop networks and to advance critical thinking,” said Melissa Shuter, conference chair and chief of staff for business affairs.
This is the second year for the leadership conference. Last’s year inaugural event was attended by 158 UofL staff and faculty. Shuter indicated “the program committee planned for 80 attendees last year and were thrilled to have double that number attend.”
Pathways Women’s Leadership Conference is designed to help attendees support their personal development, critical and strategic thinking and personal goal setting, with sessions on such topics as ethics, work-life balance, financial health, life and career choices and Kentucky women.
Provost Shirley Willihnganz will be the opening speaker.
Speakers include:
- Frances Lucas, vice president and campus executive officer of the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast in Long Beach, Miss.
- LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and assistant professor in the Department of Health Management and Systems Science at UofL’s School of Public Health and Information Sciences.
- Marsha Wallace, founder of Dining for Women, a giving circle dedicated to increasing gender equality and reducing poverty globally.
- Delphi Center’s Patty Payette and Nisha Gupta will facilitate an idea to action mapping exercise.
The conference is open to all UofL employees and is a professional development event for which the provost has authorized supervisory approved leave. Registration is $99. Thirty scholarships were awarded for this year’s conference.
The conference partners are Business Affairs, Commission on the Status of Women, Commission on Diversity and Racial Equality, Provost, Human Resources, Women’s Center and the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning.