Orianna Cardoza/Contributing Writer
The FIU College of Business in collaboration with the FIU Women’s Alumni Council will be hosting their third annual Power Up Women’s Leadership Summit on Thursday, March 8.
Conference attendees will have the chance to listen to speakers, ask questions, and network with experienced women in the business world.
“Our goal is to bring energizing and motivational speakers that will bring insight on for example, how to cope with corporate challenges,” said Joanne Li, the dean of the College of Business . “Talk with women in technology, which is a field dominated by guys, and also negotiations and entrepreneurship among women.”
The event will cover certain situations women deal with in the field and some of the strategies they can use to be successful. Two of the most important sessions will be “How to Swim with the Shark”s and “Be Your Own Boss,” according to Li.
““How to Swim with the Sharks” focuses on the challenges and advantages women face when they’re working in a non-diverse industry,” Li said. “For “Be Your Own Boss,” the goal is asking our participants, are you ready to start your own business? Do you have ideas of what could be the next step?”
Among the speakers will be the vice president of L’Oréal Barbara Pestana, senior executive vice president for BankUnited Cristina di Mauro and other women CEOs and business owners.
“We invite different women in different stages of their entrepreneurship journey to share their passions, their successes, their lessons, and advice,” Li said. “So that our young women students and participants will have an opportunity to hear from these people that have the experience.”
Nerea Recalde, junior double majoring in international business and marketing, finds having a leadership summit geared towards women helpful.
“These women know what it’s like to work in a world that’s male driven and they know the challenges,” Recalde said. “It’s better in the sense that you’re receiving the help from the gender that has been in your shoes.”
Li emphasizes having a summit geared towards women can help the female students find a better connection and open them to asking more questions.
“We are expecting over 300 attendees for this conference,” Li said. “We want to create a strong network, even with 300 attendees, we went them to feel like this is home, this is a safe zone. Let’s help each other so that we lift everybody else when we climb.”
Daniela Garcia, a sophomore studying political science, said making this summit for women is necessary because we’re living in a time when women are taking more control.
“Women are starting to be more in charge and are starting to push themselves to be at the top along with the men,” Garcia said. “Any networking event is very helpful specially because you get the opportunity to talk to people who are already in the work field, have a lot of experience, and it also opens up a lot of doors for internship opportunities.”
FIU has students from all over the world and Li wants to emphasize that FIU COB’s identity is to embrace diversity and inclusiveness.
“We think that this topic is not only for business students,” Li said. “The topics are very current, the topics are very real, and we want students in all walks of life.”
The conference will be held in the Hilton Miami Downtown from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Each ticket costs $175 and FIU students get a discounted rate of $165. For more information, visit powerupsummit.fiu.edu.
Feature Image courtesy of perzonseo.com/Flickr
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