The 11th annual Women's Leadership Conference was hosted on Friday, March 24. Various breakout sessions and an open forum were held throughout the today to explore their conference theme, "Be Bold, Be Powerful, Be You."
Specifically, the "Set Your Sails" open forum aimed to cultivate a conversation among attendees about women in positions of power, whether that be in government, an academic institution or otherwise.
Dr. Taffye Benson Clayton, the new vice president and associate provost of the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, was introduced first during the forum by Dr. Barbara Baker, executive director of the Women's Leadership Institute. Clayton expressed her belief in the value of supporting women in leadership roles.
"I started very early licking envelopes for female candidates," Clayton said. "I'm actually a graduate of EMILY's List, a campaign management program. I've run a congressional campaign successfully that elected the first woman from North Carolina to serve in Congress. I know what the power of working together for women and women allies can do."
Clayton also noted she is interested in helping people, particularly women, discover their passion and act on it.
Baker also offered perspective on the importance of women in leadership roles.
"We not only want to look at where we are, but we want to think about where we want to be," Baker said. "Where are we setting our sails for?"
Women are 19.4 percent of the U.S. Congress, way less than 33 percent, and 33 percent is what it takes to cause the action that you need to move forward, Baker said.
"We want to raise the invisible lines between the various factions at the University," Baker said. "We all want the same thing, I think. We want to get our energy moving in the same direction so that we can accomplish those things for ourselves and for our daughters and for our sons, as well."
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