Women’s Summit brings alumnae and thought leaders to campus for panel discussions on success

The College welcomed 32 women scholars and business leaders, the vast majority of whom are New Paltz alumnae, for a summit entitled “Successful Women: What Does It Take?” on March 11.

The summit was broken into five panel discussions, each of which corresponded to one of the College’s five schools: School of Business; School of Education; College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LA&S); School of Fine & Performing Arts (F&PA); and School of Science & Engineering.

Attendees had the opportunity to listen as women in various phases of their careers reflected on their academic, professional and personal successes, and offered advice for those about to enter the workforce.

Amber Greene ’03 (Public Relations), public advocate for the City of New York, served as a panelist for LA&S and reminded students to be unafraid of doing great things. “I think oftentimes people are hesitant to take chances and think they can reach beyond,” Greene said. “Being able to have a college experience and graduate from a school like New Paltz is a great opportunity that many people don’t have. I would encourage everybody here to use it as an opportunity, to be inspired by it.”

Another panelist, Judy Paige O’Brien ’70 (Sociology) ‘74g (Education), vice president for the Travelers Insurance Company (retired), spoke at the School of Business panel. She said, “One of the things I benefitted from tremendously was finding people who were willing to provide their knowledge, guidance, support and information. Now that I have the opportunity to do the same, the message I want to share is that if you have confidence in yourself, you’re willing to work at something and be tenacious and persistent, you can really do whatever you want to do.”

Student attendees Dana Liuzzi ’17 (undeclared) and Nicole Gilmartin ’16 (Accounting) shared similar sentiments about the summit’s takeaways. They noted that being professional, confident and assertive are essential qualities to have as they embark on their future careers.

“The panelists gave us a lot of advice for transitioning from college to the workforce, including the struggles they overcame to achieve success,” said Gilmartin.

“It was inspiring and empowering,” added Liuzzi. “It was great to see how many women from SUNY New Paltz have been successful in so many different fields.”

To see full gallery and download photos, click here.