More than 30 SUNY New Paltz alumnae and thought leaders offered first-hand career advice on accelerating and achieving professional goals at the 5th Women’s Leadership Summit, April 10, 2019.
Hosted by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations and sponsored by the SUNY New Paltz Foundation, the Summit featured several small conversation groups led by alumnae and business experts. The conversations were categorized into three groups, “Channeling Your Passion Into Career Success,” “Making the Most of Your New Paltz Degree,” and “Maintaining Your Work/Social Life Balance, Sanity and More.”
The day began with keynote remarks given by Leslie Gordon ’93 (Sociology). Gordon is president and CEO of Feeding Westchester, a New York-based non-profit with the mission to provide good food and eradicate hunger. Prior to joining Feeding Westchester, she served as a key executive at City Harvest, where she led plans to improve food access and nutrition for 500,000 low-income New Yorkers. She pioneered a new strategy that doubled the food distributed annually from 30 to 60 million pounds.
A frequent guest speaker at various organizations addressing issues of hunger, including the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine on Seniors & Hunger, Gordon encouraged attendees to celebrate their similarities as women and to always learn from one another on the journey to success.
“I am truly honored to have the opportunity to speak at the place where I learned so much,” said Gordon. “I want everyone who leaves here today to feel like they’ve discovered something valuable about women in the work place. Our lives are all very different, but our experiences in business are common and those threads should help drive our decision making.”
New Paltz students were invited to attend the afternoon panel discussions to obtain practical advice on how to ensure a successful transition from college to career, distinguish themselves to stand out among competitive job candidates and how to balance work and life demands.
“Students benefit so much from events like this,” said Program Director for Special Events and Sponsorships Lisa Sandick. “We can’t thank our alumnae and scholars enough for taking time out of their busy schedules to participate in this unique way and give back to our current students with their time, expertise and insight.”
For more information and the full list of Women’s Summit panelists, visit www.newpaltz.edu/summit.
