First UW Women’s Leadership Conference to take place on March 16

The first-ever student-organized Women’s Leadership Conference, titled “Modern Women’s Bootcamp: From Backpack to Briefcase,” will take place from 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 16, in Grainger Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Featuring prominent speakers in industry and academia, such as keynote speaker and Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce Mary Burke, the conference goal is to “inspire, motivate and unify women who share a passion for setting the highest of standards and expectations for all women in the workplace.” Topics covered in sessions will include leadership and influence development, career management, diversity and generational differences.

Students will be able to network with representatives and speakers from companies such as Cisco Systems, Wells Fargo and Halliburton during a luncheon sponsored by the Accenture Leadership Center.

“We wanted to take a proactive approach to motivate and educate future woman leaders by uniting them to learn from women who have found success,” says Talia Esser, an organizer of the conference.

Any UW–Madison and UW-Whitewater students with an interest in leadership and character development or who are preparing for the transition from college to career from are invited to attend.

This event is sponsored by the UW Business Career Center, the Accenture Leadership Center, the Offices of the Dean of Students, University Health Services, UW-Whitewater Leadership Center, Polygon Engineering Council, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Halliburton and the UW Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute.