March 2007

Mount Vernon Campus Prepares for 2007 Women’s Leadership Conference

By Jamie L. Freedman

An intergenerational audience of professional women will probe leadership issues at the 2007 Women’s Leadership Conference, “Agents of Change,” March 30 on GW’s Mount Vernon Campus on Foxhall Road.

Francine Zorn Trachtenberg, president of the D.C. Jewish Community Center and wife of GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, will kick off the conference with a keynote speech titled “What I Did with My Liberal Arts Education.” Two parallel professional development sessions will follow, focusing on “Professional Development and Leadership Style” and “Personal Finance.”

Another highlight of the day is a luncheon featuring keynote speaker Judy Norsigian, co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, the groundbreaking book that helped to launch the women’s health movement in the United States, and executive director of the Boston-based organization Our Bodies, Ourselves.

The conference concludes with dessert and a panel discussion on “Agents of Change” with panelists Mary Cheh, D.C. councilwoman and professor of law at GW; journalist Dorothy Gilliam, former president of the National Association of Black Journalists and director of the Prime Movers Project, which is a unique program pairing veteran journalists from major news organizations with students from minority or diverse high schools in the Washington, D.C., area; and Joanne Holbrook Patton, MVS ’48, owner/partner of Green Meadows Farm in South Hamilton, Mass. Honey Nashman, associate professor of human services and of sociology at GW, will serve as moderator.

“The Women’s Leadership Conference is a great opportunity for alumni, faculty, and students to interact with and learn from women who have addressed leadership challenges and forged their own paths in the social, professional, and political arenas,” says Rachelle Heller, associate dean for academic affairs on the Mount Vernon Campus. “The energy generated in the room is powerful.”

The 2007 Women's Leadership Conference is presented by The George Washington Alumni Association, Office of the Associate Vice President and Dean of Freshmen, and the Elizabeth Somers Center.

For more information or to register, contact the Women’s Leadership Program at wlp@gwu.edu or (202) 242-6698. Online registration is available at gwired.gwu.edu/wlc.

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