The third annual Women in Leadership Conference, held on May 3, 2024, at Saint Louis University, centered around breaking and powering through the "bamboo ceiling" for Asian women in leadership. The conference delved into cultural differences, a history of stereotyping, unconscious bias, struggles with identity crises, the myth of the 鈥渕odel minority,鈥� and the perpetual foreigner syndrome 鈥� challenges that Asian American women leaders face daily.
Emcee for the Day
- Peter Tao, principal, TAO + LEE Associates
Leadership Development Workshop 鈥� Hear to be Heard
Presented by Brian Wellinghoff and David Pickersgill of Barry-Wehmiller, "Hear to Be Heard: Harnessing the Power of Attention in the Academy and Beyond" allowed participants to discover the transformative impact of active listening in both academic circles and the business sector.
- Brian Wellinghoff & David Pickersgill, Barry-Wehmiller
Welcome Remarks
- Michael Medart, president, Medart, Inc. and president, Dean鈥檚 Executive Board
- Christine Rollins, Faculty Senate president, professor of law, SLU
- Betsy Cohen, executive director, STL Mosaic Project
- Michael Lewis, provost, SLU
- Barnali Gupta, Edwards Jones Dean, Chaifetz School of Business, SLU
Asian Women in Leadership Panel
- Elaine Cha, host and producer, St. Louis on the Air, St. Louis Public Radio
- Grace Lee, dean of faculty, MICDS
- Michelle Li, NBC St. Louis morning anchor; cofounder, The Very Asian Foundation
- Nalini Mahadevan, principal attorney, MLO Law; cofounder, Immigrant Professional Women鈥檚 Network in STL
- Shu Schiller, incoming dean, College of Business Administration, University of Missouri 鈥� St. Louis
- Moderator: Luchen Li, associate VP for global engagement, SLU
Asian Show
The Asian show featured musical acts and performances from SLU, WashU, and MICDS students.
- Lion Dance
Milton Duckworth, Cade Miller, Wenting Yu, Henry Oliver, Lawrence Lee, Michal Kenigsberg, Lucas Cheng, Isaac George - Step Up 鈥� Muay Thai
Mohamad Soudani and Yashwanth Majji - Vintage Vibrations 鈥� An Ode to China's Timeless Female Vocalists
Darren Cheng and Bryan But
Event Sponsors
The third annual Be Heard 鈥� Women in Leadership Conference was free for all attendees, thanks to generous sponsorships provided by:
- 抖阴pro's Chaifetz Center for Entrepreneurship
- 抖阴pro's Office of the Vice President for Research
- 抖阴pro's Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement
- The Mike Medart Women in Leadership Grant
- The UMSL Doctor of Business Administration Program