‘Be a Catalyst for Change in Your Life and Your Career’ is the theme for March 13 event at SMC Campus Center.
Photo: Mei Xu
The University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) Women’s History Month celebration, sponsored by the University’s UMBrella Group, has expanded into a daylong event for 2019.
This year's celebration is scheduled for Wednesday, March 13, at the SMC Campus Center and features a program designed to give participants tools and strategies related to the theme “Be a Catalyst for Change in Your Life and Your Career.” The agenda includes two guest speakers, five concurrent breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon, and a closing experiential workshop designed to integrate the day’s lessons into simple mind-body practices.
“I’m confident this celebration will be a meaningful experience for all participants, as the women of today propel this University, our state, nation, and world toward true equality, inclusion, and opportunity,” says Jennifer Litchman, MA, UMB’s senior vice president for external relations, special assistant to the president, and founder and chair of UMBrella.
The symposium will open with UMB President Jay A. Perman, MD, moderating a conversation with Mei Xu, MA, the founder and CEO of Chesapeake Bay Candle, a wellness-driven, multimillion-dollar home fragrance brand and home decor company. In the afternoon, the keynote speaker will be Duilia de Mello, PhD, MS, an astronomer who is vice provost, dean of assessment, and professor of physics at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Her speech is titled “Is the Sky the Limit?”
The breakout sessions, each scheduled to last 70 minutes, will be led by three women from UMB schools and two other experts in their fields. They include:
- “How to Negotiate” — Stacy Smith, JD, director of special projects, Center for Dispute Resolution, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
- “How to be Authentic” — F. Emilia Sam, DDS, associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Howard University College of Dentistry, Washington, D.C.
- “How to Craft Your Narrative” — Laura Wexler, co-founder and co-producer of The Stoop Storytelling Series
- “How to Recognize Implicit Bias” — Kristin Reavis, MD ’09, MBS, clinical assistant professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine
- “How to Recognize and Respond to Gender-Based Violence” — Leigh Goodmark, JD, professor, Carey School of Law
There will be morning and afternoon sessions, with a short break in between. After the breakout sessions, the whole group of attendees will reunite in the Elm Ballrooms to integrate what they have learned in a 90-minute experiential workshop led by Kathy Flaminio, LGSW, MSW, titled “Taking Care of YOU: Self-Care Strategies for Mind-Body & Heart.” Flaminio is the founder and president of 1000 Petals, a well-being and training consulting company.
This is the latest event put forth by The UMBrella Group — UMB Roundtable on Empowerment in Leadership and Leveraging Aspirations — which Litchman and an advisory board of University representatives formed in 2015 to support the success of women at UMB, advancing them into leadership roles and championing women at all levels of the organization.
“Providing such robust experiences for the next generation of women leaders certainly was one of the goals when our team formed UMBrella,” Litchman says. “This expanded Women’s History Month symposium promises to be one of our finest events yet.”
To register for the symposium, click here. To see the day’s full agenda, click here.