By Siyu 'Fish' Wu, For The Miami Student
The Miami Initiative for Advancing, Mentoring and Investing in Women (M.I.A.M.I. Women) will hold the second annual Women in Leadership Symposium from April 23-24.
The opening session at 7 p.m. April 23 will take place in Armstrong Student Center Pavilion and feature two keynote speakers. April 24 features Women's Leadership and Male Ally Awards break out sessions, keynotes and lectures.
"We have a huge team that helped us for the event," said Susie Brower Sadler, the senior director of Development for M.I.AM.I. Women. "The planning actually started right after the 2014 Women in Leadership Symposium last year. We reached out to the people who attended to find out what they like and possible topics they are interested in."
The two keynote speakers, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, are Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of the books "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" and "A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity." The two speakers have successfully attracted the public to participate in the coming symposium. Almost 500 free tickets have alreadybeen reserved.
Sadler said the two authors will discuss turning "worldwide oppression" into opportunities for women.
"I think it is a very important topic, not just for women, but also for the Miami community," she said. "That includes students, alumni, faculty, staff and local community members."
The principal topic that Kristof and WuDunn will discuss is the human trafficking issue and the solutions they composed in "A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity." The book describes how human trafficking is not exclusive to developing countries, but is also prevalent in the United States.Ohio particularly has a high rate of human trafficking.
Another discussion, Sadler said, will be "The First Five Years After Graduation Young Alumnae Panel."
Darinka Sutic, president of the Panhellenic Association, will moderate a "Young Alumnae Panel" on April 24.
"Guests will share their own experience about what they took from Miami University and transferred to the real world," Sutic said. "The audience will receive great advice, ideas and skills."
Advanced tickets for the two keynote speakers can be reserved at the Miami Box Office at earliest convenience and registration information is available on the Miami Alumni Association website.