2017 wren summit - women's rights and empowerment …€¦ · 2017 wren summit women in the...

2017 WREN SummitWomen in the Workforce

April 3-4, 2017Columbia Marriott

Columbia, SC

Women’s Rights & Empowerment Network

Inside Cover

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful for Lindsay Lavine Webster, who provided the inspiration and the core funding for the inaugural WREN Summit. We also greatly appreciate the support of our sponsors and donors who have given generously in support of this gathering and WREN’s mission to build a movement to advance the health, economic well-being, and rights of women, girls, and their families in South Carolina. We also want to thank all of the speakers here today, who lend their expertise and experience; the businesses and institutions that strive to increase the diversity and inclusiveness of their workforce; the non-profit organizations that serve people in our state who would not otherwise be reached; and our partners, advocates and volunteers who work tirelessly to move our state forward.

letter from CEO to come

On behalf of WREN’s Board of Directors and staff, welcome to the inaugural WREN Summit. We are delighted to welcome a diverse group of business and non-profit professionals, researchers, policymakers, students, and advocates to Columbia to learn more about the role of women in South Carolina’s economy and society.

The topic of this year’s summit is “Women in the Workforce.” Over the next two days, we will share and discuss new research on the role women play

in South Carolina’s economy, and through conversations and skill-building sessions, we will identify policies, practices, and programs that can lower barriers and fulfill women’s economic potential.

Our goal is for this gathering to be a catalyst for continued progress in South Carolina. We hope that each participant will contribute by: 1) sharing your experiences, your expertise, and your perspectives with one another over the next two days, and 2) identifying at least two follow-up actions you will take to improve the economic opportunities of women and move our state forward.

Thank you for committing your time and sharing your experiences. Together, we will make South Carolina a healthier, safer, more prosperous, and more equitable state for all.

Best regards,

Ann WarnerChief Executive Officer, WREN

Welcome

1@WRENETWORK #WRENSummit

8:30am Coffee and Continental Breakfast

9:00am Summit Welcome (Capital III) Ann Warner, CEO, WREN

9:15am Research Presentation: Solving SC’s Labor Shortage: The Economic Impact of Increasing Women’s Participation in the Workforce (Capital III)

Dr. Joseph C. Von Nessen, Research Economist, University of South Carolina, Moore School of Business

9:45am Supporting Women in the Workplace (Capital III) This panel of experts will reflect on the findings of “Solving SC’s Labor Shortage” and discuss how the findings from the report are reflected in their industries and their experiences.

Dr. Christine Crawford, Owner/Operator, D&G Management Lou Kennedy, Owner, Nephron Pharmaceuticals Laura Varn, former Vice President of Human Resources for Santee Cooper Mary Beth Westmoreland, Chief Technology Officer, Blackbaud

Moderated by Ann Marie Stieritz, Chief Impact Officer, Liberty Fellowship

11:00am Concurrent Breakout Sessions 1

Noon Lunch and Conversation on Educating SC Women for 21st Century Workforce (Capital III)

This panel of experts will reflect upon the education and training needed to close thepersistent gender gaps in our workforce. Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, Director of Business Development, Clemson

University Restoration Institute Moryah Jackson, Assistant Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Community

Engagement, University of South Carolina Eddie Massey, Executive Director, Massey Global Innovation Foundation

Susan Pretulak, Vice President of Economic Development and Workforce Competitiveness, SC Technical College System

Monday, April 3


1:45pm Breaking Barriers in the Workforce (Capital III)

What could be the potential impact on our state if barriers to women’s participation in the workforce were removed? This diverse group of experts and community leaders will discuss the opportunities to overcome economic, legal, and health-related barriers to workforce participation and advancement.

Dr. Deborah Billings, Director, Choose Well Initiative Malissa Burnette, Attorney and Partner, Callison Tighe & Robinson Dr. Stephanie Cooper-Lewter, Vice President of Initiatives & Public Policy,

Sisters of Charity Foundation of SC Dr. Amy Crockett, Attending Physician in Maternal Fetal Medicine,

Greenville Health Systems Tamara King, Community Relations Director, Richland Library

Moderated by Anita Garrett, Director of Collective Impact, United Way Association of South Carolina

3:00pm Concurrent Breakout Session 2

4:15pm Wrap-Up (Capital III) Eme Crawford, Director of Communications and Learning, WREN

4:30pm Reception (Private Lounge)


Summit Breakout Sessions

Bold Change Through Women’s Leadership (Capital III)

Change is possible through the dedication of a strong leader who knows how to speak across the gender gap and identify and leverage both visible and invisible powers. Learn what it takes to create bold change in South Carolina.

Jane Perdue, CEO/Founder, The Jane Group Thetyka Robinson, Founder / Chief Strategist, PinkMoon Marketing + Consulting

Women in Politics – Running for Office (Carolina F)

Considering a run for political office? Learn about the pathway to politics and ask questions for women who have run and won campaigns in South Carolina.

Rep. Katie Arrington, R-District 94 Amanda Loveday, Senior Project Manager, NP StrategyAli Titus, Awareness and Advocacy Manager, Center for Women Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, Director of Business Development, Clemson University Restoration Institute

Media Training (Carolina G)

Talking to the media can be nerve-wracking, but it doesn’t have to be. Join a media expert as we discuss how to most effectively navigate interviews.

Meaghan Norman, Media Relations Manager, NP Strategy

Communication in the Workplace (Capital I)

Walk with an experienced career coach through a journey of how to respond to microaggressions in the workplace, establish healthy expectations and boundaries in professional interactions, find your value, and put it into action through salary negotiation.

MelissaAnne Cunningham Sereque, President, Motivation & Achievement Concepts


Tuesday, April 4

All activities in Capital III

9:00am Coffee and Continental Breakfast

9:30am Welcome and opening remarks by Dr. Katrina Spigner

10:00am Issue Education - Healthy Youth Act

Beth De Santis, CEO, South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Megan Plassmeyer, Community Engagement Coordinator, WREN

10:20am Issue Education - Pregnancy Accommodations Act and 12-Month Supply of Contraception

Andrea Johnson, Equal Justice Works Fellow, National Women’s Law Center Melissa Davis, Policy and Media Associate, WREN

10:40am Issue Education - Equal Pay

Andrea Johnson, Equal Justice Works Fellow, National Women’s Law Center Ashley Lidow, Associate Director of Policy and Government Relations, WREN 11:00am Best Practices for Talking with Legislators

Dr. Eme Crawford, Director of Communications and Learning, WREN

11:30am Practice speaking with legislators in small groups

12:00pm Lunch 1:30pm Group Picture on the Statehouse Steps

2:00pm Advocacy Day at the Statehouse

4:00pm Happy Hour Hunter Gatherer 900 Main Street


Representative Katie Arrington is a South Carolina State House Representative for District 94. She also serves as Vice President of Operations, Military & Government, Dispersive Technologies Inc., a cyber software solutions provider. Within this role she is responsible for leading all work with Defense Healthcare Agency, US Army, USMC and Navy while creating strategic campaigns for business development. She believes in service to her community and has shown that with her current and past roles serving this community: Board of Directors, The Charleston Defense Contractor Association, 2011 to present, Current Chair CDCA Summit Committee 2015 – present, Women in Defense Palmetto Chapter, 2010 to Present Chair, MWOY Fundraising Committee and member of Rotary of Summerville

Dr. Deborah Billings is the Director of the Choose Well Initiative and conducts research and programmatic work in the areas of sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice with particular emphasis on contraceptive access and prevention of gender-based violence. Dr. Billings works globally to address these issues and has consulted with agencies and organizations, including the World Health Organization and United Nations.

Malissa Burnette is a Certified Specialist in Employment and Labor Law and a Certified U.S. District Court Mediator. Currently a partner at Callison, Tighe & Robinson, LLC, Burnette practices in state and federal courts, primarily representing individuals in complex employment cases involving discrimination, civil and constitutional rights, and wage payment claims.

Elizabeth Colbert-Busch is the Director of Business Development at Clemson University’s Restoration Institute. She also serves on the Charleston School of Law Maritime Institute’s board of directors; the World Trade Center, Charleston’s Steering Committee; and is a member of the Brookings Institute Metro Export Initiative. Furthermore, Colbert-Busch is a founding member of the S.C. Clean Energy Business Alliance and the Lowcountry STEM Collaborative Planning Group.

Dr. Stephanie Cooper-Lewter is Vice President of Initiatives and Public Policy for the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. She serves as a National Board of Trustees for Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and Regional Board of Trustees of the Southeastern Council of Foundations. With more than twenty years of social work experience across nonprofit, social service, health, education and philanthropic sectors, she is a graduate of the Coaching and Positive Psychology Institute and a Riley Fellow.

Dr. Christine Crawford is the Owner and Operator of D&G Management, a second generation woman-owned business management company in North Augusta, South Carolina. Before joining D&G Management, Crawford was the epidemic

Speakers


intelligence service officer for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and a research associate for Morehouse College.

Dr. Eme Crawford is the Director of Communications and Learning for WREN where she oversees the communications, branding, public education, public events, and grassroots mobilization activities. Prior to her position at WREN, she served as the Director of Advocacy for Tell Them, social media manager for the Soda City Market, and taught professional communication at the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business.

Dr. Amy Crockett is a maternal-fetal medicine physician with Greenville Health System, and was recently named the winner of the prestigious John P. McNulty Prize for her leadership in reducing preterm births in South Carolina by expanding access to Centering Pregnancy group prenatal care. Dr. Crockett has served as the Clinical Lead for the South Carolina Birth Outcomes Initiative since 2011.

Melissa Davis is the Policy and Media Associate for WREN where she is responsible for supporting WREN’s policy and research efforts, coordinating media outreach, and contributing to WREN’s communication initiatives. Prior to her position at WREN, Melissa served as both Policy Intern and Policy Associate at the New Morning Foundation and as a Communications Specialist for the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Beth De Santis serves as the CEO of the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. De Santis began her work at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, and after four years was promoted to Program and Operations Manager for three counties. From there, she transitioned into the role of the Director of DHEC’s statewide Family Planning Program, and eventually the Director of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Anita Garrett is the Director of Collective Impact at United Way Association of South Carolina. She has worked in the fields of philanthropy and community engagement for more than 20 years helping develop leaders, build capacity and create public/private partnerships globally. She is a member of the National Women’s Leadership Council of United Way Worldwide, the first African-American Chair of Women In Philanthropy of The Midlands, and in 2016 coordinated the first statewide Self-Sufficiency Study for South Carolina.

Moryah Jackson is the Assistant Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Community Engagement at the University of South Carolina. She has served in higher education for over ten years advancing access, equity, and opportunity. Most recently, she was quoted in Sir Ken Robinson’s book Creative Schools for her grassroots work


successfully launching TransformSC, a public-private partnership working to redesign public education in South Carolina.

Andrea Johnson is an Equal Justice Works Fellow on the Workplace Justice team at the National Women’s Law Center. Andrea works on legislation and litigation related to pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and unfair scheduling practices.

Lou Kennedy is the Owner of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation. She has held a variety of marketing and operational roles during her career and created a national sales force from the ground up, a rarity in the pharmaceutical industry. Under Kennedy’s leadership Nephron Pharmaceuticals grew by 300% and increased shipped products to one billion doses per year.

Tamara King is the Community Relations Director at Richland Library and supervises the office of Development which supports the Richland Library Foundation and the Richland Library Friends. King has been a radio personality, television news reporter, motivational speaker and an award-winning public information professional.

Ashley Crary Lidow is the Associate Director of Policy and Government Relations, advancing WREN’s policy objectives with the South Carolina General Assembly, leading WREN’s research activities, and coordinating the South Carolina Coalition for Healthy Families. In addition to Ashley’s advocacy work, she has co-authored research on how policy-level interventions have been shown to be effective in increasing public health benefit.

Amanda Loveday is the Senior Project Manager for NP Strategy, a strategic communications firm that is housed within the Nexsen Pruet law firm. Previously she served as the Communications Director for Congressman Jim Clyburn and Executive Director for the South Carolina Democratic Party. Amanda has been awarded the 20 Under 40 Award from The State Newspaper and is a graduate of Leadership Columbia and a current class member of the Riley Diversity Leaders Initiative.

Eddie Massey is the founder of the Massey Global Innovation Foundation, an organization that uses STEM education as a tool for social justice. His organization focuses on teaching minorities, women, and rural students STEM and coding so they can become game changers in technology. His organization has helped reach hundreds of youth at home and more recently abroad through out-of-school time education.

Meaghan Norman is the Media Relations Manager for NP Strategy, a strategic communications firm that is housed with the Nexsen Pruet law firm. Prior to joining NP Strategy, Meaghan served as the weekend evening anchor and general assignment reporter for WIS-TV. Meaghan attended Wellesley College and earned a Master in Science in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern University.


Jane Perdue is the CEO/Founder of The Jane Group, a female-owned professional development firm focused on leadership, inclusion, and women’s issues as business issues. She was a vice president for 15 years at Fortune 500 telecommunications companies including Comcast, AT&T Broadband, MediaOne and Continental Cablevision. Perdue has co-authored two books on leadership, and is currently writing a book about women and power.

Megan Plassmeyer is the Community Engagement Coordinator, advancing community involvement in priority issues by managing and nurturing partnerships across South Carolina. She previously spent two years working with WREN’s grassroots advocacy program, Tell Them, the It’s On Us Campaign, a national campaign to reduce sexual assault, and Bedsider, an online birth control support network funded by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Susan Pretulak is the Vice President of Economic Development for the SC Technical College System. She is responsible for the oversight of both nationally recognized programs ReadySC™ and the Apprenticeship Carolina™.

Thetyka Robinson is the Founder and Chief Strategist of PinkMoon Marketing + Consulting, a boutique style cause marketing and brand management firm specializing in creative campaigns through the lens of cultural consciousness and awareness. On top of holding numerous leadership positions throughout her career, Robinson was been recognized as a Pace Setter in the Black Meetings and Tourism Magazine, and received the Innovator Under 35 Award from the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

MelissaAnne Cunningham-Sereque is the President and Owner of Motivation & Achievement Concepts, a career development company specializing in career coaching, resume writing, interview training, job search training, and specialized corporate trainings.

Dr. Katrina Spigner is the founder and CEO of Re-Source Solutions, LLC, a personal and professional growth and development company. She is a Certified Personal & Executive Coach, Consultant, Speaker, Author, and Adjunct Professor with over 15 years experience as a senior leader in the nonprofit, philanthropic, and higher education sectors.

Ann Marie Stieritz is the Chief Impact Officer for Liberty Fellowship. Her career includes over 20 years in economic and workforce development in South Carolina, including her past role as President and CEO of South Carolina Council on Competitiveness and President for Economic and Workforce Competitiveness with the South Carolina Technical College System.


Ali Titus currently serves as the Advocacy and Awareness Program Manager at the Center for Women. She joined Center for Women by way of Coastal Community Foundation of SC where she served as Program Officer and facilitated the granting of more than $1.5M annually to nonprofits across a nine county service area.

Laura Varn has served as the Vice President of Human Resources Management at Santee Cooper, and she is the past Chair of the Board of Directors for the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, a Liberty Fellow, a “40 Under 40” award winner, and mentor to Schottland Scholars and other Liberty Fellows.

Dr. Joseph Von Nessen is a Research Economist in the Division of Research at the Darla Moore School of Business where he specializes in regional economics, regional economic forecasting, and housing economics. He serves on the advisory committee of the South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors, and is a frequent speaker for business and government leaders through the Southeast, providing information and consultation about business, housing markets, and local economies.

Ann Warner serves as the CEO of WREN with more than 15 years of experience advocating for the rights of women and girls around the world and in the South. Previous to her position as CEO at WREN, Ann spent eight years with the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) in Washington DC, was the Co-Chair of the US national chapter of Girls not Brides: Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, and served as the Director of Development of CARE USA.

Mary Beth Westmoreland is the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Blackbaud Inc. She has over 15 years of experience in the fields of engineering and software development, including her past role as Vice President of Research and Development of Ipswitch Inc.


Notes


WREN would like to thank our generous sponsors:

Lindsay Lavine WebsterIn honor of all South Carolina Women

(803) [email protected]

1501 Main Street, Suite 130Columbia, SC 29201

WREN, the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, is a South Carolina-based network created to build a movement to advance the health, economic well-being, and rights of South

Carolina’s women, girls, and their families. WREN provides a strong, collective voice for South Carolina’s women and girls. WREN is a non-partisan, non-profit organization.

2017 wren summit - women's rights and empowerment …€¦ · 2017 wren summit women in the...

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