The Utah Women & Leadership Project invites you to join us for our second Women’s Leadership Forum of the academic year.

Although 2020 will be known as the year of the global pandemic, it will also be recognized for years to come as the year of a dramatic shift in the discussion of race in America. This equality dialogue also builds on the ongoing discussion of women’s equity propelled by #MeToo movement in 2015. The Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements have placed a spotlight on enduring racial and gender inequalities in the U.S. Both movements were launched by Black women who continue to call attention to the intersections between race and gender in shaping opportunity and justice in America. The purpose of this panel discussion is to explore these issues in the U.S. and Utah. Join us as we examine the lived experiences of women and girls of color and how they navigate politics, the workplace, education, and mental health services. The panel will also examine the roles of power and identity and how they contribute to the experience of marginalization and oppression for many women. Finally, we will turn to how we can all challenge race and gender norms, break stereotypes, empower each other, and learn to celebrate our similarities and differences. In addition, we will discuss how all of us can take action in ways that will respect and benefit everyone.

Sponsors: Jon M Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University & the Utah Education Network (UEN)

Panelists

Sui Lang L. Panoke is a visionary leader, social entrepreneur, and international trainer and facilitator with a passion for diversifying political and corporate leadership and democratizing the media landscape. She is the founder of Rethink International, a global social enterprise and international training and consulting firm designed to challenge people to ‘rethink how and what they think.’ She has trained thousands of leaders around the world leading in politics, business, government, higher education, nonprofits, and the media on a wide range of leadership topics including global leadership, personal empowerment, diversity, inclusion, unconscious bias, strategic communications, POWER speaking, branding, civil discourse and building cultures of inclusion in the workplace. Sui Lang currently serves on the executive board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association, the Advisory Board of YWCA Utah’s Real Women Run, and is an Ambassador for the Utah Women & Leadership Project. She holds an MPA from American University with a Certificate in Women, Policy, and Political Leadership from the Women & Politics Institute and a BS in Political Science from the University of Utah.

Michelle Love-Day has been an educator for 18 years. She received her Bachelors in Education (K-8, Minor In Spanish), and Masters in Reading (K-12) from Bowling Green State University (Ohio), and a Masters in Education, Leadership, and Policy from the University of Utah. She was a 2nd grade teacher, Literacy Coach, Principal for 7.5 years, and Associate Director of Educational Equity for 4 years. In March 2020, she began as Consultant for Jordan School District in the Educational Language Services, Teaching and Learning Department. As she began to see the needs of black students in Utah, she created an online virtual academy called RISE! Mrs. Love-Day serves on many boards including the University of Utah College of Education Advancement Board, the Hale Centre Theater Board of Trustees, the Access to Justice Commission, and the Conviction Integrity Board. She enjoys acting on stage and in commercials (Talent Management Group) and is a member of the Actors Equity Association. She is passionate about schools being student focused, equitable, and a place where all students feel that they are welcomed and have an adult they can believe in and who believes in them. In 2019, she has run as candidate for Bluffdale City Council and is the proud mother to 5 children and wife to a supportive husband.

Christy Glass is a Professor of Sociology and the Interim Director of the Center for Intersectional Gender Studies & Research at Utah State University. She joined USU after completing her PhD in Sociology at Yale University. Her teaching and research focus on gender and racial inequalities in work organizations. Her current research analyzes the factors that shape the careers of women and minority professionals including CEOs, senior executives and board directors. In collaboration with Dr. Alison Cook, she has led the development of research on the glass cliff and the risks women and people of color endure across their careers. Her work has appeared in top journals in sociology and management including Social Forces, Work & Occupations, Gender & Society, Social Problems, Strategic Management Journal and Human Resource Management. Her work has also been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, National Public Radio, PBS, Forbes Magazine, Newsweek, CNBC, BBC, CNN and the Harvard Business Review.

LaShawn Williams is a licensed clinical social worker with a doctorate in education and a faculty member at Utah Valley University. She owns Relational Spaces in Orem, Utah where she provides mental health therapy, personal coaching, and professional consultations for connecting across difference. She is a co-founder of The Black Clinicians, a community training and referral resource of medical and mental health professionals.