On Wednesday the Jasper Arts Center was full of young women from 15 different schools.
In addition to keynote speaker Julie Carrier, the Young Women LEAD conference featured local female leaders presenting 11 unique, interactive breakout sessions focused on the conference theme “Be the Change.”
Young Women LEAD is made possible by local community support, donations, grants, and volunteers. The organization that chairs the conference is SOAR, a leadership development program for local young professionals. As part of the capstone for this program, the participants are responsible for organizing and producing the Young Women LEAD conference.
This year’s SOAR participants and conference steering committee included Beth Werner, Shannon Leinenbach and Jen Mendel with Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, Tracey Blendowski with Kimball Electronics, Tammy Kiefer and Kayla Yeast with Kimball International, Becki Gehlhausen with Jasper Engines and Transmissions, Jackie Hochstetler with German American Bank, Kristen Woolums with Toyota and Tasha Reese with MasterBrand.
Young Women LEAD is also supported by a local Advisory Council composed of Jasper area women who lend support to the planning of the conference and the cause. The Young Women LEAD Advisory Council members include Dana Coultas, Kimbra Gunselman, Sue Habig, Jill Kidwell, Danielle Moya, Brandy Nord, Donna Oeding, Sara Schmidt, and Jen Verkamp.
The planning committee worked to create a day that allowed these young women to see and hear how important and strong they are and to know they have so very much to give.
“The Young Women Lead Conference is a testament to the power of community collaboration, where local businesses, volunteers, and our dedicated advisory council join forces to inspire and empower the next generation of young women leaders” stated Tasha Reece, MasterBrand, SOAR member.
Conference information is available at http://youngwomenlead.com and information about SOAR https://www.soarlead.com/.
