First Women in Leadership Conference Successful
News
JMU held its first ever Women in Leadership Conference on Saturday, March 22. The purpose of the conference was to help students with the transition from college to career.
The impressive lineup of speakers and topics included Keynote Speaker Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar (pictured left), Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Western Carolina University; Mary Anne Mason, Esq., Partner, Crowell and Moring, Washington, D.C.; and Mary Ann Alger, Business Development Consultant and JMU First Lady.
Topics included entrepreneurship, successful negotiations, and building credibility.
The speakers shared valuable tips with the students:
- Find your passion
- Find your network of people
- Be flexible
- Don’t take things personally
- It’s OK to say, “I don’t know”
- Don’t oversell
- Excellent writing skills will help distinguish you
- Try new experiences while you’re in college
- Step way outside your comfort zone
- Experience a semester abroad
- Know yourself as you actually are
- Take a risk
- Whatever happens, you’ll be OK
- Learn to negotiate for yourself
Student Tory Zehnder says, “What I liked most about the conference was the variety of personalities. There were so many different types of people and all of them were very successful in their own way. Each speaker had a very different story so hearing about all their different backgrounds and routes to success was intriguing.”
Senior Tess Rosenthal adds, “The keynote speaker was excellent. The conference was extremely helpful, giving us the confidence we need to be successful in the workplace.”
Plans are already underway for next year’s conference, which will include a wide variety of speakers and topics.
To view pictures from this event, click here.
