The Women's Resource Center is holding the fifth annual Women's Leadership Conference Feb. 22-23. The theme for this year's conference is Woman\0xB2 Rising to the Next Power.
Carrie Kilpatrick, diversity initiatives coordinator for the Women's Resource Center, said the mathematical theme was created to match the workshops' names to the conference name and to promote women in math and science.
"We're also talking about how together we are so much infinitely stronger and bringing ourselves to a new level of leadership because we are connecting," Kilpatrick added. "Women are actually building networks now, so leadership is being brought to a whole new level."
Women as leaders in today's society are becoming more prevalent.
Kilpatrick said women now make up 51 percent of the workforce and hold 30 percent of the CEO and executive positions, but most are still in lower level positions.
"So what we really want people to know and what we want to instill in young women: you can take those leadership roles, you can hold higher paying positions, and you can break that glass ceiling," Kilpatrick said. "We're trying to encourage because more women are working now, but more women can take a hand in their organization and in the group that they are actually working for."
Through workshops, panel discussions and highlighted speakers, women will have the opportunity to build their leadership skills and connect with professional women.
The conference will begin with a panel discussion titled "Be the Change: The Possibilities are Endless."
Panelists will be professionals from the community including nonprofit and social work leaders.
Kilpatrick said most of the questions they receive concern women wanting to bring about change, but not knowing where they want their focus to be.
The panel will discuss "tips for finding what you are interested in, tips for organizing after you find what you are interested in and ways to get together with your community," Kilpatrick said.
As a part of the Women of Auburn Helping Women program, the Miss Auburn Women's Leadership initiative will present ESPN Anchorwoman and host of First Take Dana Jacobson to conclude the first day of the conference.
The WOAH Women program was started to give back to the student body and to help give women the chance to network and bring various speakers to talk on issues that affect women today.
Kristi MeGahee, Miss Auburn 2010-2011, said Jacobson will speak on what it is like to be a woman in a "man's world" and the trials and tribulations she has faced in her career.
"We hope that through Dana coming to speak, women see that they too can follow their dreams and achieve them by staying true to who they are," MeGahee said.
The second day of the conference will provide several workshops on topics including self defense, healthy relationships, financial stability and food sustainability.
Leading the food sustainability workshop will be 2011 Miss Auburn candidate Courtni Ward, whose platform was food sustainability.
The workshops will be divided into two parts; the first hour will be instructional and the second part will be interactive.
The conference is designed for women of all ages, not only college-age and older.
Kilpatrick said faculty, staff, high school students and members of the Young Women Leaders Program, a mentor program for girls at Auburn Junior High School, are attending.
"All walks of life are coming," Kilpatrick said. "We have something for everybody."
Katy Battle, mentee in the YWLP, attended the conference last year with her mentor.
"It was pretty fun," Battle said. "We did all these workshops and learned about relationships. My favorite part was the workshop on self-respect and boundaries."
Amy Hecht, assistant vice president of Student Affairs, will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon, and the Women of Distinction Awards will be presented at that time. In addition, there will be an award given to Marie Wooten, former dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics, who was killed in a pedestrian accident in November.
The conference will take place in the Student Center, and the deadline to register is Feb. 21 and can be completed online.
Cost is $30 and $20 for students.
For more information visit http://www.auburn.edu/wrc and click on the Women's Leadership Conference graphic.
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