Women and Leadership Summit

Students and faculty from three Bard College campuses--Annandale, Simon’s Rock and Microcollege Holyoke--will come together on November 11, 2017, from 10:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. on the Simon’s Rock campus for a Summit on Women and Leadership, to explore urgent questions about women's place in contemporary politics and everyday life.

We seek to learn from diverse women who share a commitment to making a difference in the world through their personal and professional choices and roles and to inspire a new generation of women to lead positive social and political change in the 21st century. 

The day will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Kellogg Music Center with a keynote address by Sarah Chace on Adaptive Leadership. Dr. Chace, a visiting professor at Bard College, holds a doctorate in education from Columbia University. She recently administered a grant-funded program in adaptive leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School for urban school superintendents.

Registration suggested for this free event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bard-women-and-leadership-summit-tickets-39560064217

At 11 a.m. a panel discussion on Women and Leadership will begin. Panelists are:

Shirley Ann Session Edgerton holds her B.A. from Lehman College (City University of New York) and her M.Ed. from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. She is the founder of the Women of Color Giving Circle, the Rites of Passage and Empowerment Program (ROPE) and the Director of Youth Alive. The ROPE program helps teen girls grow into successful independent and well-educated women.

Roberta McCulloch-Dews currently serves as Director of Administrative Services within the Office of the Mayor for the City of Pittsfield and is also the founder of RMDews Media. Roberta began her career as a newspaper journalist in 2000, and later transitioned to marketing communications and public relations. Roberta is active in the community through board participation and affiliations.

Carla Oleska, Ph.D. is Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Elms College, Chicopee MA. She previously served as CEO of the Women’s Fund of Western MA and initiated the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact (LIPPI). Before joining the Fund, Carla had 22-year career in administration and teaching at Elms. She has developed many programs to enhance educational preparation, access, degree completion, and leadership development for women and girls.

Anne Thalheimer is an artist and educator based in Holyoke, MA, where she is involved in local politics. A graduate of Simon's Rock, she holds an MA/Ph.D. in English from the University of Delaware and works as a museum educator in Springfield. Anne is currently one of 90 people nationwide named as an Everytown Survivor Fellow working with organizations that seek to end gun violence through story-sharing, legislative action, and organizing. She is an alum of Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant is the CEO and Founder of Multicultural BRIDGE, a justice and diversity-driven nonprofit that delivers educational, advocacy, social service, and empowerment programs with and for Berkshires residents and trains corporations and human services organizations in Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. She serves on the Berkshire County Commission on the Status of Women and on the UU Mass Action Board of Directors. A graduate of Simon’s Rock, Gwendolyn also spearheaded the Sanctuary Town campaign in Great Barrington. 
She is an alum of Bard College at Simon’s Rock. 


Issues to be discussed at the Summit include include health care, education, politics, family and relationships, workplace equity and more. Speakers will discuss their own paths to leadership, share their perspectives on current issues they’re working on, and offer mentoring advice for student leaders today.

Questions to be considered:

Why are women still under-represented in the senior management of business, science & technology, politics and media, and how does this affect women's ability to advance?

How do we talk about equality, representation, privilege, freedom, inclusiveness, authority, and success in ways that improve real outcomes for everyone?

How, in concrete, practical terms, can we become the leaders our world needs now? 

After the panel, students from the three Bard campuses will gather together for guided discussion over lunch in the Dining Hall.

From 2 - 3:30 p.m. the Summit program will continue at Leibowitz, where we will engage in lively small group work on leadership development, and hear closing remarks from MA State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield). Rep. Farley-Bouvier, a native of Pittsfield, began her career as a teacher, earning her B.A. in Special Education from Salve Regina University in 1986 and her M.A. in Education at the University of Connecticut in 1991. After serving as a City Counselor, Rep. Farley-Bouvier was elected to the state legislature in October 2011, where she focuses on ensuring the well-being of vulnerable populations.

The Bard Women and Leadership Summit is organized by Deirdre d’Albertis, Associate Dean of the College and professor of English at Bard College, Mary Anne Myers, program director of the Bard Micro-college Holyoke, and Jennifer Browdy, professor of comparative literature, gender and media studies at Bard College Simon’s Rock.