University, WSHU to Host Virtual Women’s Leadership Conference

Speaker Beverly Daniel Tatum, author and educator, will discuss support of women leaders

Sacred Heart University’s College of Arts & Sciences, in collaboration with SHU’s local NPR radio affiliate, WSHU, will host the inaugural women’s leadership conference, “Leading Together: A Roadmap for Women Leaders and Their Allies” on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

“Leading Together” is a multidisciplinary conference that will explore the rich and diverse experience of women in leadership and present tools for supporting women leaders at work. Guest speakers will include Beverly Daniel Tatum, an author and thought leader, who will deliver the keynote address. Tatum has written Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Can We Talk About Race? And Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation.

“So much has happened over the past 16 months,” said Rima Dael, general manager of WSHU. “We wanted to present an opportunity through the virtual space–which also makes it more accessible and affordable–to reframe what women leaders need now.”

Leadership conferences, including those geared for women, focus narrowly on subsectors, said Dael, like women in science, business or technology, or they are geared only to people at the top of an organizational structure. Those models don’t have a lot of reach, she said. “What’s different about this conference is that it will combine humanities and social science perspectives to truly help and empower women.”

Robin Cautin, acting provost and vice president for academic affairs said the genesis and vision for the “Leading Together” conference came together when she was dean of SHU’s College of Arts & Sciences. She wanted to leverage the humanities to really delve into the topic of women’s leadership.

“We wanted to develop a conference about women in the workforce that embraces diversity, appreciating the fact that women are not a monolith,” Cautin said. “They bring a multitude of backgrounds, experiences and skills to the table. We will speak to what it is like to lead at any age, stage or situation in your life.”

While the conference is about women leaders, conference organizers said it is not exclusively for women.

“It’s for anyone who is interested in gender equity in the workforce,” Cautin said. “Rather than framing the event through a narrow lens, we wanted to leverage the social sciences and the humanities to understand the experience of women–and men–in the workforce and equip them with research-based strategies conducive to making a positive impact in any arena. The conference is designed to broaden your thinking about women and aims to enable women and their allies to identify and hone the leadership skills critical to success. I hope students, faculty, staff and community members join us.”

Both Cautin and Dael are excited to host Tatum. “Beverly Daniel Tatum was a professor at Mt. Holyoke College when I was a student there,” Dael said. “She was a transformational educator and leader at Mt. Holyoke, and later, left her mark on Spelman College where she was president. She brings her authentic self to talks about race, class, community and leadership, and she has been talking about this for a long time. She is the perfect person to address what our country has gone through and continues to go through with racial reckoning, the challenge of educating our citizens equitably and how communities need to work together to move our country forward.”

The conference’s allyship lunch panel will include authors Minda Harts, Brad Johnson and Karen Catlin. “The Branding You” workshop will feature Cheryl Robinson, founder of Ready2Roar and Embrace the Pivot brand.

Shonda Pettiford, board chair for Girls on the Run, and Elizabeth Dineen, executive director of the YWCA in Springfield, MA, will host the “Ideas to Action” workshop.