November 11, 2011 - 5:36am
The Empowering Women in Science Symposium attracted 40 women from 5 academic institutions and 3 local industrial companies. The symposium speakers included Ayana Ledford, Rebecca Harris, and Dr. Kathleen Schulz - all of whom gave truly inspiring talks. Door prizes for the event included online leadership courses through the American Chemical Society, and the event concluded with a networking luncheon.
Ayana Ledford is the Founding Executive Director of the Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS) and her talk was entitled “Dollars & Sense: The Value of Asking for What You Want!” PROGRESS is housed at Carnegie Mellon University’s H. John Heinz III College School of Public Policy and Management. Its mission is to teach women and girls the value of negotiation.
Rebecca Harris is the Director of the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship at Chatham University and her talk was entitled “Finding Your Inner Entrepreneur”. Rebecca is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience as a consultant and marketing specialist. She is passionate about developing strategic programming to benefit women entrepreneurs and those working in local and regional businesses.
Dr. Kathleen Schulz currently serves on the ACS Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large and her talk was entitled “From Pigtails to a Ph.D. - Lessons Learned on the Journey”. In 47 years as an ACS member, Kathleen has been active at all levels in the Society. She has worked for more than 40 years in nearly every sector of the chemical enterprise. She has held a wide variety of positions including: college professor, bench chemist, project manager, business unit director, and consultant. She has worked for organizations ranging from Hewlett-Packard, Rockwell International and Lockheed-Martin to Midwest Research Institute and California State University (Fresno, CA). Over time, her focus has shifted from analytical chemistry to “people chemistry”.