Conference for UA Women Focuses on Networking, Marketing

The UA student-run Women's Leadership Conference is hosting a conference for female UA students in business, engineering and science-oriented fields on ways to network and promote themselves.

Students from various University of Arizona colleges will participate in a full-day training on networking, ways to build interpersonal skills and how to be leaders in their respective career fields.

The Women's Leadership Conference, which is in its seventh year at the UA, will host the conference on March 28 at the Hilton El Conquistador Resort, 10000 N. Oracle Road.

"It is important for women to develop those skills necessary to be viable and successful in the real world," said Misha Pangasa, a UA molecular and cellular biology junior and Honors College student involved with the organization.

The conference, "Keys to Success: Unlocking the Leader Within," involves both graduates and undergraduates in the event's planning.

The 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. conference will include a breakfast, networking lunch, a panel discussion and several workshops. The conference is open to women in the Eller College of Management, the College of Engineering, the College of Science and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The student organization focuses on a limited number of UA colleges for reasons related to funding.

Organizers are expecting 75 UA students to attend and have extended the registration deadline to March 23. The registration cost is $15.

"The goal for each year – and initially – has always been to provide women with leadership skills," said Courtney Price, who chairs the conference and student organization.

"It's also about teaching women how to achieve goals, to make strategic decisions and take advantage of opportunities as they come along," Price said.

Ruth Brinkley, president and CEO of Carondelet Health Network, is this year's keynote speaker and is scheduled to talk about building a legacy of leadership.

Price and Pangasa said this year's conference aims to put UA students in touch with women leaders, provide a space for discussion about leadership and career concerns, to inform students about ways they can become leaders and to also help them figure out plan for future success.

"There is a lot of information about attitude and confidence – things that are often overlooked but are truly necessary to be successful in any field," said Pangasa, who is also a member of the Undergraduate Biology Research Program.

"Success in the workplace and the world is very dependent on who you know and how well you build your connections," she added.

Conference presenters will inform students about body language, business language and dress and also how to perfect the a brief pitch to potential employers or funding agencies as well as ways to communicate and network effectively.

"So the conference is definitely about how to be a better communicator and how to build those connections more, and in a charismatic way," Pangasa said. "It's a really good conference and it's something I believe in."