3:15–4:30 p.m.

Can We Talk? Collaborative Problem Solving

Benjamin Banneker Room A

This session will provide leaders with the tools to resolve conflict and build consensus in the groups and organizations they are involved in and lead. Presenters will discuss the stages of consensus building, a process that allows multiple stakeholders to work together to develop solutions to the issues they face. Participants will engage in activities that capture the purpose of each stage and can be used beyond this conference. The session is interactive and uses audience participation.

Tori Amason is the program director for leadership education in the Office of Student Involvement at the University of Kentucky. She creates and manages initiatives to help students develop into effective leaders, and she teaches at the Emerging Leader Institute. In her spare time, Amason writes spoken-word poetry and video chats with family and friends back in Texas.

Creating Your Career Narrative

St. Mary’s Room

What is your story? What sets you apart? Attend this workshop to explore and identify your interests and skills to discover paths toward a fulfilling career. Participants will hear from three professional women with various business backgrounds who came together through a desire to effect change. Prepare to discuss maximizing your talents and owning your career path. Learn about career narratives and create your own during this workshop. Attendees will engage in discussion to review and refine career narratives and walk away with actionable and tangible goals for after college and early career.

Christine Lai currently serves as a marketing manager at the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy, a network of collegiate preparatory, urban charter schools serving the Washington, D.C., area. Lai’s career began as a founding staff member at the University of California, Merced, developing leadership and student life programs. She has also operated basketball tournaments with Nike’s Tournament of Champions and executed strategy for luxury hotels and resorts around the world. Lai graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a bachelor’s in political science.

Bridget McCabe is the program associate for the National Human Services Assembly, an association of national nonprofit human service providers. McCabe is responsible for handling project logistics in a proactive, timely manner, as well as facilitating member involvement and effective information sharing across organizations. She also serves on the fundraising leadership committee for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network in Washington, D.C. She previously worked at Zenith Media and Mediacom buying national broadcast spots for Toyota and Volkswagen. McCabe graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s in communication and media studies and minors in business administration and economics.

Britni Stinson currently works at Baltimore City Public Schools, supporting the chief of finance through project management and strategic planning initiatives. Stinson is key in managing the schools’ $1.4 billion budget. Stinson has worked in the private financial sector as an analyst and consultant. Outside of work, she is committed to serving underrepresented communities both domestically and abroad. Stinson has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

Elect Her: Empowering College Women to Run

Benjamin Banneker Room B

If not you, then who? With so few women in political office, we want you to see the potential to be a future public servant. Participants explore the status of women in political office today, learn why we need more women to run for office, and hear about Elect Her–Campus Women Win, an AAUW and Running Start training program. Participants will interact with students who hosted the Elect Her program in 2013.

Jessica Kelly is the program manager in AAUW’s Campus Leadership Programs department. With master’s degrees in both women’s studies and higher education administration, Kelly is committed to working with women leaders on college campuses.

Kate Farrar is the director of AAUW’s Campus Leadership Programs and manages programs that help college women gain skills and confidence to break through barriers and assume leadership positions. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and a master’s of public administration from Syracuse University.

Jessica Grounds is the executive director of Running Start, an organization that provides young women and girls with the skills and confidence they need to become the political leaders of tomorrow. She also has expertise in developing campaign and message strategy for women candidates. In her various roles, Grounds has helped the campaigns of hundreds of women running for elected office.

Empowering College and University Women in STEM

Pyon Su Room

Have you ever felt like an outsider in your science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) department? Have you wondered why you felt that way or how to change it? This workshop will give participants background on why women often experience a “chilly climate” as part of a college or university department. You’ll also get some tips on how to create change on your campus by understanding issues such as implicit bias and gender stereotypes and how those factors determine whether you stay in STEM. Meet other college women who are part of the community and discuss how to find a STEM mentor and make the most of your relationship.

Ana Kay Yaghoubian is the STEM manager at AAUW. She promotes STEM research and educational efforts and manages the expansion of two STEM programs for girls across the country. Yaghoubian earned her bachelor’s in sociology and women’s studies from George Mason University and a master’s in public administration with a focus on nonprofit management from American University.

Christianne Corbett is a senior researcher at AAUW and co-author of Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (2010). She holds a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Colorado and bachelor’s degrees in aerospace engineering and government from the University of Notre Dame.

Bria McElroy is the assistant director of the University of Maryland’s Women in Engineering Program.

Maybellin Burgos is an AAUW Student Advisory Council member and is currently majoring in computer science at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Natasha Mercado is an AAUW Student Advisory Council member and is currently majoring in radiology technology at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.

Finding Your Voice: Leading with Competence, Character, and Courage

Prince George’s Room

Have you ever walked away from a situation and thought, Why didn’t I say more? Successful leaders are able to succinctly state their position in any situation relying on the three C’s. This interactive session will give participants the opportunity to practice the ability to speak up and be heard through practical leadership scenarios. You will learn leadership tips that help you find your voice in any situation by using the three C’s: competence, character, and courage.

Beverly Walker-Griffea has had a long career and is dedicated to supporting students and providing the services they need to succeed. In her position at Maryland’s Montgomery College, Walker-Griffea is instrumental in advancing the school’s mission of student success, creating a common student experience across three campuses, and developing opportunities for increased student retention and completion. Walker-Griffea holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and broadcasting from Oklahoma State University, a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Virginia State University, and a doctorate in child development from Texas Woman’s University.

Global Leadership Career Opportunities of the U.S. Department of State

Nanticoke Room

The conduct of U.S. relations with the world through an effective international presence and discerning diplomatic leadership is what makes the United States a force for peace. This workshop will discuss the international career opportunities and student programs of the Department of State. A career in the Department of State presents unique, challenging, and rewarding avenues for developing one’s leadership abilities. Participants will be exposed to professional and student goal planning ideas for careers in diplomacy.

Eunice S. Reddick is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and was sworn in as ambassador to the Gabonese Republic and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. She served as director of the Office of East African Affairs in the State Department Bureau of African Affairs. She was diplomat in residence for the Washington, D.C., area and is currently the director of the Office of West African Affairs. Reddick earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in history and literature from New York University.

Marketing Yourself: How to Succeed in Your Job Search

Thurgood Marshall Room

Searching for a job can feel overwhelming. This workshop will share tips on how to tackle the process in manageable steps and leverage your resources as you enter the professional world. Learn how to expand your network, pursue informational interviews, and seek career advice from an experienced professional. Find out how to market yourself and represent your personal brand—skills that will help during your upcoming job search and throughout your professional lifetime.

Shari Hubert serves as the associate dean of MBA admissions for Georgetown University. Previously, Hubert worked with the Peace Corps as the director of recruitment within the Office of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection. After earning her master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School, Hubert was a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. She began her career in sales and marketing at Merck after earning her bachelor’s degree in French from Dartmouth College.

Microaggressions, Gender, and Why It Matters

Charles Carroll Room B

Have you ever walked away from a situation feeling icky? Have you ever felt angry from words that apparently went unnoticed by everyone else? You may have experienced a microaggression. This interactive workshop invites participants to explore what microagressions are and how they affect individual and community experiences. Special focus will be centered on forms of gender microaggressions and how participants can be engaged leaders in addressing microaggessions on campus and in home communities.

Jess Myers is the director of the Women’s Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus, and graduated from Colorado State University’s student affairs in higher education program. A Baltimore native, Myers lived in places such as Ireland, Jamaica, and Colorado before realizing Baltimore was home.

Moving Forward as One: Emerging Trends in Supporting Friends and Family Members of Survivors of Sexual Assault

Charles Carroll Room A

For every survivor who experiences the trauma of sexual violence, there is a community of people around her or him who are also affected. Secondary survivors (those who know someone who has experienced sexual violence) often lack information about how to best support the survivors. Come learn more about the As One Project, which provides a community-based forum where secondary survivors can get information about how to support themselves and survivors through the healing process.

Angela Esquivel is an area coordinator in the Center for Student Engagement at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She also teaches an undergraduate course in human sexuality at GW. Esquivel holds a bachelor’s in music from the University of Southern California and a master’s in higher education from the University of Michigan. She is a co-founder of the As One Project, which provides support and information for secondary survivors of sexual violence.

Peer Mentoring: Creating Intentional Environments That Foster Connectedness and Leadership Development

Juan Ramon Jimenez Room

Peer mentoring, a practice widely accepted because of its emphasis on leadership development and its history of producing positive results, has been shown to promote connectedness, increase self-esteem, and improve academic achievement for students in higher education, including women. This workshop will address peer mentoring by reviewing models and studies, exploring an existing peer-mentoring program at the University of Maryland, identifying challenges, and discussing how women leaders can implement a peer-mentoring program within clubs, organizations, and academic departments.

April Brohawn is the assistant to the dean for recruitment at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park. Brohawn works with prospective and transfer students interested in agriculture and natural resources. She represents the program at recruitment events, advises the program’s ambassadors, and works with students and families to help make college decisions. Brohawn earned her master’s degree in higher education and student affairs from the University of South Carolina.

Angela Mazur-Gray is the coordinator for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park. Mazur-Gray provides college-level advising to students, organizes orientation sessions, implements change-of-major workshops, and teaches a freshman seminar course. In 2010, Mazur-Gray earned her master’s degree at UMD, studying international and higher education, and has been working on campus ever since.

Tim Lapanne is the scholarship coordinator for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, College Park. He administers the college’s scholarship program, serving as a liaison between students and donors. Lapanne helps coordinate the day-to-day management of the Academic Programs Office and assists with recruitment, Ag Day, student organizations, and alumni programs. He received his master’s degree in student personnel administration in higher education from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, in 2009.

Rock Star Innovation: Innovative Leadership Development through Improv

Atrium Room

Leadership is all about listening and connecting. You will learn fun, challenging, and engaging improv exercises to challenge the way you make leadership decisions. Thinking on your feet, listening, and accepting all facilitate a higher level of innovation and results. Come see if you can rock     it out!

Gillian Bellinger has been an improviser and workshop facilitator for leadership development training for Luther College, Macy’s, State Farm, AT Kearney, the National Business Travel Association, and Gilda’s Club. Bellinger has a bachelor’s in communication studies and theater from Hamline University and studied at the London Academy of Theater and the National Theater Institute. She is also a graduate of the Second City Conservatory and Annoyance Theater Improv Training Center.

She’s Got the Look … or Does She?

Margaret Brent Room A

This presentation will provide attendees with an overview of the role of appearance standards in the workplace, with particular emphasis on how they apply to women professionals. Commonly understood expectations of how a professional woman should self-present as well as some of the inconsistent messaging that women receive about proper workplace attire will be discussed. The main goals of the presentation are to provide guidance to attendees as they prepare to make their own professional self-presentation decisions and encourage attendees to engage in an ongoing discussion at their respective schools and in communities about the future of appearance standards for women professionals.

Juliana Siconolfi is a professionalism consultant and writer. She is also a professorial lecturer in law with the George Washington University Law School Field Placement Program, teaching law student externs about matters of professionalism that are pertinent to the legal profession. Siconolfi graduated from Bates College, earned her law degree from Boston College Law School, and is a master of laws candidate at GW.

$tart $mart Salary Negotiation Workshop

Grand Ballroom Lounge Room

Know what you’re worth and ask for it! Negotiating salaries is a challenge for women at all stages of their careers, because women are less likely than men to ask for what they want. AAUW and the WAGE Project offer $tart $mart salary negotiation workshops to empower young women starting their careers to help close the gender wage gap and be paid a fair salary. In this abbreviated version of the $tart $mart workshop, you will learn the personal consequences of the gender wage gap, resources for benchmarking reasonable salaries and benefits, and practical negotiation skills.

Gail Johnson, who holds a master of business administration degree, teaches professional branding at the University of Texas, Tyler. She co-authored the A New Brand You workbook and !WONTUOTEG. Johnson is a $tart $mart facilitator and is involved with the AAUW Tyler (TX) Branch.

Trishia Domingo is a junior information systems major at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Domingo is an active member of WILL (Women Involved in Learning and Leadership). She plays club field hockey, is the vice president for the student chapter of the Baltimore Information Systems Security Association, and is the secretary of the Information Systems Council of Majors.

Want Fair Pay? Campus Teams Explain What to Do

Margaret Brent Room B

Just one year after graduating from college, a pay gap already exists between men and women college graduates working full time. Among other things, that means it takes women longer to pay off student loans. Workshop attendees will learn creative ways to bring attention to this problem and address it. They will hear from students and faculty at Ithaca College, the University of Hawaii system, and Wright State University who hosted $tart $mart salary negotiation workshops, organized TED-like talks on the pay gap, and held campuswide and social media awareness campaigns.

Deborah Swerdlow is the grassroots advocacy coordinator at AAUW, where her work focuses on educating and mobilizing AAUW’s members and supporters to take action on the organization’s federal advocacy priorities. Before working at AAUW, Swerdlow worked at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, where she planned the organization’s high school advocacy trainings and handled a portfolio of policy issues that included pay equity, reproductive rights, health care, and judicial nominations. Swerdlow holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Middle Eastern studies from the University of Florida.

Chloe Wilson is a junior at Ithaca College, majoring in television and radio with a scriptwriting concentration. She is passionate about storytelling and aspires to create stories for any medium, particularly television. Wilson is a peer career adviser who assisted with marketing and event planning for the TIA (Teach, Initiate, Advocate!) Talks Gender Pay Gap series.

Natasha Gray is studying sociology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, and works full time. She plans to work in the nonprofit field to advocate for women. Gray is the public relations and marketing coordinator for the Hawaii AAUW Campus Action Project program, and she wrote two editorials for the campus newspapers and established an informative and buzzworthy Facebook page about fair pay.

Margaret Murray is the graduate assistant in the Women’s Center at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Murray graduated from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, with a bachelor’s in sociology and political science. Currently she is pursuing her master’s in the student affairs in higher education program at Wright State University.

Elly Shellhaas is a volunteer intern in the Women’s Center at Wright State University. Originally from Huber Heights, Ohio, Shellhaas is currently a sophomore English major at Wright State with a focus on language arts education.

Conference Workshops • Session One • Session Two • Session Three • Session Four