The second annual Women’s Leadership Conference was held in Gottesman Hall in Kessel Student Center last Friday. The four-hour conference aimed to guide the Pace community to focus on empowerment, dealing with conflict, implications for men, and leadership competencies.

Last year’s Women’s Leadership Conference was planned by Jeff Domagala, the Coordinator for Leadership Initiatives, and his graduate assistant. This year the planning board consisted of Student Development and Campus Activities (SDCA) leaders as well as Pace students.

“We started planning the conference in October and worked until February to ensure the conference was a success,” Domagala said.

One of the members of the planning board, sophomore Alexis Neuville, gave her input on the planning process for Friday’s conference.

“By allowing students to be on the planning board, it made the conference geared towards our wants and needs,” Neuville said.

The conference was divided into sessions, PaceTalk speakers and presenters throughout the day with lunch provided by Chartwells.

“The sessions were well received by the attendees. The students really seemed to like the glass ceiling panel and implications for men. My favorite part of the conference was hearing current Pace students as the PaceTalk speakers,” Domagala said. “All of the presenters were hand selected because of the relationships with the Westchester community and the Setters Leadership initiatives. We guided them to their topics and their expertise helped guide the discussion.”

Director of SDCA Rachel Carpenter attended the conference and observed the Pace community throughout the event.

“As I walked into the room, I took notice of all the different groups of students who chose to attend the conference.  There were no requirements on certain students to attend; yet I saw sororities, fraternities, commuters, residents, first year students, graduating seniors, hall council leaders, staff, community partners, and so forth,” Carpenter said. “When we have an opportunity like this – to inspire rather than require – it brings out the best of our community.”

The administration hopes to engage more faculty and staff in the conference next year while keeping the PaceTalks a highlighted feature due to the strong connections to the students.

“I always wish to address elements of confidence, especially for women who are entering male-dominated careers and financial planning,” Carpenter said. “I strongly believe in a woman managing her own finances even when in a committed relationship.”

Carpenter also hopes next year’s conference topics will include strategies to reduce the wage gap between male and female candidates, gender identity of the LGBT population within the female community, and social identity.

“Everyone, not just women, need to have courageous conversations about their privilege, background, biases, social status, and seek to understand others,” Carpenter said.