Posted on April 1: Posters present remarkable women leaders

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/women_in_leadership.jpg” caption=”Mary E. Keyes Leadership Program logo”]Posters representing amazing women leaders will be on display in the McMaster University Student Centre today.

McMaster's Mary E. Keyes Leadership Program, offered through the Centre for Student Development, is recognizing women leaders through a Women in Leadership Poster Session.

Fourteen women leaders are featured on the posters. Some of those include: Erin Laende, Student Walk-Home Attendant Team co-ordinator, Carol Wood, ecumenical chaplain, Debbie Marinoff-Shupe, manager, recreation services, Therese Quigley, director of athletics and recreation, Mary Williams, associate vice-president, University Advancement, Eileen Schuller, chair of religious studies, Nasrin Rahimieh, dean of humanities, Susan Elliott, dean of social sciences, Cristina DeSilvio, experiential education officer for social science and Cheryl-Ann Jackson, international students' advisor.

Women presented on the posters were chosen from suggestions provided from students, staff and faculty. The posters will be displayed in the McMaster University Student Centre Marketplace Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and then across campus on bulletin boards.

As part of the poster session, CSD peer helpers and poster session organizers Candy Hui and Nila Mulpuru interviewed leaders on campus.

“These interviews and posters have been done in recognition of the fact that McMaster is home to many remarkable students, faculty and staff who are engaged in many different leadership activities,” says Marge Huntley, CSD leadership co-ordinator. “Among these are women who are working towards making a difference on campus and in their communities.”

The session is part of CSD's Mary E. Keyes Leadership Program, an initiative where McMaster students learn and develop leadership skills. The program is named in honour of the late Mary E. Keyes, associate vice-president student affairs for 10 of her 38 years at the University.

The primary goal of program, says Huntley, is to provide students with the opportunity to learn and develop the skills needed to take on leadership roles and become collaborative, responsible and effective citizens. “Today, leadership is no longer simply defined by the person or the position, but more so by the process and outcome. Leadership, now, is often defined as a collaborative process whereby leaders and participants have the opportunity to exchange roles and work towards meaningful change.”

This is the second year of the program, which has seen a steady increase in attendance at workshops. It has grown from 92 participants last year to almost 200 this year, Huntley says.

For more information about the program visit http://csd.mcmaster.ca/leadership/index2.htm. For a slide show of the posters, click here.