Female leaders headline symposium

The Women’s Leadership Symposium, sponsored by the GCSU Athletic Department and the Office of Equity and Diversity’s Women Resource Center, was held March 15 in the Magnolia Ballroom.

There were five guest speakers at the symposium along with keynote speaker Awista Ayub.

Ayub is the author of “However Tall the Mountain,” a memoir about eight girls from Afghanistan that she brought to America to better their soccer and leadership skills, that they were in turn able to take home with them to form the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange.

Ayub was able to use her past experiences for her topic on the “Role of Sports for Women in Afghanistan.”

Joeleen Akin, athletic director at Agnes Scott College, spoke about community involvement as a part of the Women’s Leadership Symposium on March 15

Other speakers included Cecile Reynaud, Tiffany Daniels, Germaine McCauley, Joeleen Akin and Ada Bazin.

Reynaud, an associate professor of sports management at Florida State University, gave a speech entitled “She Can Do Anything” about how there is a place for female coaches in women’s sports.

Daniels, the director of business development at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, discussed “Shattering the Glass Ceiling” in sports and all other industries.

McCauley, athletic director at Spellman College, gave a presentation entitled “Mentoring” on the importance of having and being a mentor.

Akin, athletic director at Agnes Scott College, talked about “Community Involvement & Enhancing Your Resume” and how volunteering in a wanted professional field can improve the chances of getting a job.

Bazin, an assistant volleyball coach and recruiting coordinator at Georgia State University, gave a more hands-on presentation on her topic of “Appreciating Diversity in an Ever-Changing World,” by letting the audience participate in a discussion of stereotypes.

The symposium was planned by Kara Teresi, a senior mass communication major and GCSU soccer player.

“Being an athlete, I’ve had so many opportunities to go to different seminars and conferences,” Teresi said. “My hope for this symposium was to use women that are in athletics that are amazing leaders and open that to any student, any person, no matter if you’re an athlete or not. And actually for those who aren’t athletes and haven’t been given opportunities to attend stuff like this, I wanted to open that door and have them go through those steps of leadership development looking at these women that have done amazing things in their personal careers.”

Among the female GCSU students to attend, junior double marketing and management major Roslyn Ellis went to the symposium in hopes of networking.

“I heard there were a lot of women from the sports industry going to be there,” Ellis said. “I wanted to make sure that I got there to get any advice that they had as far as developing myself as an undergraduate, prepare myself for the working pool,” Ellis said.

Also in attendance was Jessica Newman, a junior mass communication major.

“I was really touched by the main speaker, Awista,” Newland said. “I’m on the soccer team and I do have a passion for soccer like she does. Her story inspired me that I could reach out and inspire others as well.”

Note: Kara Teresi is an advertising representative for The Colonnade.

Posted by Courtney Murrah on Apr 1 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry