On Sunday, Oct. 5, local trailblazers and University of Colorado Boulder student leaders will convene to discuss the unique challenges and corresponding opportunities today’s women leaders face.
Titled “Women in Leadership: Breaking the Glass Ceiling,” the event will be held in Multipurpose Room 4 at the CU-Boulder Recreation Center, 1855 Pleasant Street, from 12-4:30 p.m. The event will kick-off with a light lunch and public keynote by Ambassador Melanne Verveer. Immediately following, invited guests will continue the conversation through solutions-based dialogue. They will be joined by former University of Colorado Student Government (CUSG) President and Founder of RISE Colorado Veronica Crespin-Palmer.
Planned by current CUSG President of External Affairs and Puksta Scholar Chelsea Canada, the event serves as an extension of Chelsea’s commitment to civic engagement and women empowerment.
“I am so excited to provide space for such an amazing group of women leaders to share their stories, identify emerging best practices, and collectively consider opportunities to maintain the work and legacies of pioneers in the field,” Canada said. “Relationship-building will be central. I hope to not only help build connections between student and community leaders, but also establish a local coalition of change makers.”
Participants include local elected officials, philanthropic and non-profit leaders, and entrepreneurs. They will be joined by student leaders, all of whom are women and all of whom were nominated by their respective academic department or student group.
Dedicating more than 20 years to advance global women’s rights, Ambassador Melanne Verveer was appointed to serve as the first U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s rights by President Obama in 2009. Prior to her tenure at the U.S. State Department, Ambassador Verveer served as Chair and Co-CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership and Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton during the Clinton Administration. Currently, Ambassador Verveer serves as the executive director of the Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University and a founding partner of Seneca Point Global, a global women strategy firm.
“All around the world women are on the frontlines of change advancing progress and ushering in peace,” Ambassador Verveer said. “I am looking forward to my visit at the University of Colorado Boulder to discuss these inspiring change agents and identify opportunities for local and student leaders to follow their lead.”
The event is co-sponsored by Teach For America and CU-Boulder’s Student Government and Puksta Scholars Program. Catering will be provided by Ervin Lucero, a local business owner and CU Boulder alumnus.
Administered by CU Engage, a new center for community-based learning and research that is housed in the School of Education, CU-Boulder’s Puksta Scholars Program is a non-academic scholarship program for exceptional undergraduate students, who participate in intensive civic engagement projects and an enriching program of seminars, speakers, service projects, and intercollegiate retreats, providing them with the skills and experiences necessary to become catalysts for social change.
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, 10,600 corps members are teaching in 50 urban and rural regions across the country, while more than 37,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education.