2006 Conference

The 2006 Women’s Leadership Conference featured keynote speaker Janis Karpinski, author of One Woman’s Army, who discussed her experiences as a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserve and the challenges of being a woman in the male-dominated military. Now retired from the military, Karpinski was the commanding officer in charge of three prisons in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib.

The speaker at the conference luncheon was Laura A. Liswood, co-founder and secretary general of the Council of Women World Leaders and senior adviser to Goldman, Sachs & Co. As director of the Women’s Leadership Project from 1992 to 1996, Liswood interviewed 15 current and former women presidents and prime ministers for her book and video documentary, “Women World Leaders.”

Other presenters included Linda S. Paulk, Mount Vernon College (MVC) ’84, former president of the renowned staffing firm Snelling and Snelling, who led a professional development session titled “Getting the Next Job,” and researchers Gail Derrick, Ronald R. Bernier, and Amanda Konradi, who discussed their findings on women’s leadership. Another highlight of the conference was the panel discussion titled “Listen, Speak, Act” featuring Allida Black, George Washington University (GW) professor and director and editor of the Eleanor Roosevelt papers; Stephanie Jason, MVC ’93, principal at the International Forum Institute; Anne Whiteman, air traffic controller at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport; and Leslie Harris, MVC ’99, co-founder of Sojourner Truth Charter High School for Humanities and Technology.