Smeal Executive MBA Program to Host Women's Leadership Forum

On Thursday, April 4, the Penn State Smeal Executive MBA Program will host its inaugural Women’s Leadership Forum, a one-day professional development opportunity at the ACE Conference Center in Lafayette Hill, Pa., where EMBA Program classes take place. Current students and alumni of the EMBA Program are asked to share their Smeal experience by recommending their colleagues for attendance.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (March 12, 2013) -- On Thursday, April 4, the Penn State Smeal Executive MBA Program will host its inaugural Women’s Leadership Forum, a one-day professional development opportunity at the ACE Conference Center in Lafayette Hill, Pa., where EMBA Program classes take place. Current students and alumni of the EMBA Program are asked to share their Smeal experience by recommending their colleagues for attendance.

“We want our alumni and students to nominate women from their personal and professional networks to attend,” said Alphonso Wilson, managing director of the EMBA Program. “It may be someone that you supervise, someone you are mentoring, or even a peer. We hope they leave the day feeling energized and excited to take on the next challenges in their careers.”

Top Smeal professors, EMBA Program alumni, and special guests who lead their fields will moderate panel discussions and breakout sessions exploring subjects of special interest to professional women, like work-life balance and developing your personal brand.

If you are a Smeal EMBA student or graduate and would like to recommend a woman from your company to attend the forum, please contact Gwen Cohen, associate director of the EMBA Program, at gcohen@psu.edu or 814-880-7776.

Wanda Bryant Hope will deliver the keynote address on how to plan and accelerate your career. Currently the vice president of global performance and development for Johnson & Johnson, Hope is a Penn State Smeal College of Business alumna with a bachelor of science degree in marketing.

Ralph Oliva, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets at Smeal, will lead a breakout session on developing your personal brand. Al Vicere, the EMBA Program’s interim faculty director, will lead the session on leadership development.

Michelle Martinez, vice president of CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services, will moderate a panel discussion on work-life balance. Panel members include Cynthia Betterson, product development manager of innovation at Campbell Soup Company; Dina Galeotafiore, senior vice president of human resources at NBC Universal; and Theresa Zechman Johnson, attorney at Stevens and Lee.

The event will also give attendees a chance to learn more about the Smeal EMBA Program through a question-and-answer session with Wilson, the program’s managing director.

Launched in 2001, the Penn State Smeal Executive MBA Program is a 21-month program designed for working professionals with classes held on alternating weekends at the ACE Conference Center in suburban Philadelphia. The program features personalized executive coaching, intensive communication training, a weeklong international residency experience, and coursework focused on the unique challenges of the students’ firms. Learn more at www.smeal.psu.edu/execmba.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.