Walton College Hosting 'Leaning In' Business Leadership Event

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Sam M. Walton College of Business and Women Impacting Supply Excellence are hosting the Leaning In: Diversity in Business Leadership Conference on Oct. 9 to educate Walton students on the opportunities for leadership roles that exist in business.

The conference will be held from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Enterprise Development on the University of Arkansas campus.

The conference is made possible through the Committee of 200 Foundation’s Scholar Awards, granted at C200 Reachouts worldwide. The Committee of 200 (C200) selected the Walton for these prestigious awards due to its support of women in leadership through Women Impacting Supply Excellence. The group is housed within Walton’s Department of Supply Chain Management and has active student and executive branches dedicated to supporting women in leadership on campus and in surrounding industry.

The mission of C200 is to foster, celebrate and advance leadership in business by women. The awards include $45,000 in Scholar Awards for MBA students and scholarships for undergraduate students.

The conference features a presentation by Rebecca S. Halstead, former U.S. Army brigadier general and a member of the first class of women to graduate from West Point. Halstead also is founder of STEADFAST Leadership LLC. Halstead’s presentation is sponsored by Network of Executive Women as part of their college outreach.  

The keynote speaker for the conference is Gay Gaddis, C200 chair and founder and chief executive officer of T3, The Think Tank, the largest independent advertising agency in the country owned by a woman. Her agency works with clients including Allstate, Coca-Cola, JPMorgan Chase, MetroPCS, Phillips 66 Lubricants, Reliant Energy, Sprite, UPS, 7-Eleven, H-E-B and Windows Phone. 

The conference also features two industry expert panels and moderated discussions covering the topics of “Executives in Corporate,” “How to Lead Leaders,” “How to Maintain Values While Leading” and “How to Hold a Healthy Work/Life Balance.”

Another session will be a moderated discussion that covers the topics “How to Become Successful and Create a Profit Margin on Your Passion,” “How to Make Unconventional Yet Wise Career Choices” and “Entrepreneurship, and How to Become and Entrepreneur in the Corporate World.”

There also will be a session offered by CHIC Boutique and Origins Skincare for “Capitalizing on Your Personal Brand: Dressing for your body type while caring for your skin type.”

All Walton College students are invited to attend. If you are a Walton student and have not received an invitation, contact lmosher@walton.uark.edu for more information.