Women’s Leadership Speaker Series

About the Series

The Women’s Leadership Speaker Series is a collaboration between ACE and the ACE Women’s Network Executive Council designed to attract, develop, and support women leaders in higher education. The series will include four events each year, featuring inspiring leaders and recognized experts discussing their accomplishments, challenges, and insights.

Each event in the series will provide our state networks with the opportunity to engage with these leaders and experts, host conversations about important topics with women leaders in their states, and promote action that strengthens the pipeline for women’s leadership in higher education.

Past Events

Intersectionality and Women of Color in Higher Education Leadership

September 28, 2022

Today’s challenges require leadership that is well-respected, well-positioned, and well-resourced at the institutional level to identify and implement meaningful strategies.

Representing only 5.4 percent of top executive officers at non-minority serving institutions, women of color experience leadership roles quite differently from men and white women leaders. Based on the pioneering work of Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality provides a prism, or lens, to better understand how the intersection of sexism and racism impacts women of color.

Join us for the fourth installment in the Women’s Leadership Speaker Series, as Maria Gallo, president of the ACE Women’s Network Executive Council, engages in dialogue with three distinguished women of color in executive leadership roles.

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Panelists

Maria Gallo

Chancellor, University of Wisconsin–River Falls

Moderator

Maria Gallo

Chancellor, University of Wisconsin–River Falls

Paulette Dilworth

Chief Diversity Officer, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Panelist

Paulette Dilworth

Chief Diversity Officer, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Judy C. Miner

Chancellor, Foothill-De Anza Community College District

Panelist

Judy C. Miner

Chancellor, Foothill-De Anza Community College District

Belle Wheelan

President, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Panelist

Belle Wheelan

President, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Title IX: Celebrating 50 Years and Preparing for the Future

July 13, 2022

Title IX passed 50 years ago.

Since that momentous event on June 23, 1972, the education sector has been realizing advances in gender equity and sex discrimination has been prohibited in any educational program or activity receiving federal funds.

Help us celebrate this milestone and join our discussion on progress made so far and plans for the next 50 years. We will acknowledge the many accomplishments resulting from Title IX passage and consider future legislative implications that aim to accomplish optimum gender equity across every aspect of higher education.

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Panelists

Luoluo Hong

Vice President for Student Engagement and Well-Being, Georgia Institute of Technology

Moderator

Luoluo Hong

Vice President for Student Engagement and Well-Being, Georgia Institute of Technology

Gayle E. Hutchinson

President, California State University, Chico

Panelist

Gayle E. Hutchinson

President, California State University, Chico

Linda Livingstone

President, Baylor University

Panelist

Linda Livingstone

President, Baylor University

Fayneese S. Miller

President, Hamline University

Panelist

Fayneese S. Miller

President, Hamline University

A Conversation With Thasunda Brown Duckett

March 5, 2022

WNEC chair Judy Sakaki engaged TIAA’s CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett in a conversation about issues important for women leaders.

This event took place at the ACE Women’s Leadership Dinner in San Diego, in conjunction with ACE2022, ACE’s Annual Meeting.

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Participants

Thasunda Brown Duckett

President and Chief Executive Officer, TIAA

Thasunda Brown Duckett

President and Chief Executive Officer, TIAA

Judy Sakaki

President, Sonoma State University (CA), and Past Chair, Women’s Network Executive Council (WNEC)

Judy Sakaki

President, Sonoma State University (CA), and Past Chair, Women’s Network Executive Council (WNEC)

Advancing to Leadership Roles in Higher Education: A Conversation with Scholars Barbara Cozza and Ceceilia Parnther

February 8, 2022

The inaugural event of the ACE Women’s Leadership Speaker Series featured scholars Barbara Cozza and Ceceilia Parnther from the Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership at St. John’s University discussing their upcoming book, Voices from Women Leaders on Success in Higher Education. The book, scheduled for release in February 2022, advises aspiring and current women leaders on how to advance into higher education leadership roles.

Ted Mitchell, president of ACE, and Judy K. Sakaki, chair of the ACE Women’s Network Executive Council and president of Sonoma State University, joined the dynamic conversation with the authors.

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Participants

Barbara Cozza

Chairperson and Professor, Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership, St. John’s University

Barbara Cozza

Chairperson and Professor, Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership, St. John’s University

Ted Mitchell

President

Former college president and top federal policymaker Ted Mitchell became president of the American Council on Education (ACE) on September 1, 2017. Mitchell brings a wide array of experience and accomplishments from across the higher ...

Ted Mitchell

President

Ceceilia Parnther

Assistant Professor, Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership, St. John’s University

Ceceilia Parnther

Assistant Professor, Department of Administrative and Instructional Leadership, St. John’s University

Judy Sakaki

President, Sonoma State University (CA), and Past Chair, Women’s Network Executive Council (WNEC)

Judy Sakaki

President, Sonoma State University (CA), and Past Chair, Women’s Network Executive Council (WNEC)

About the ACE Women's Network

The ACE Women’s Network facilitates the networking of women interested in pursuing leadership opportunities in higher education. A four-part structure—Network Executive Council, independent, state-based networks with state chairs, presidential sponsors, and institutional representatives—facilitates these connections, allows for sharing of best practices, particularly at the State Chairs Annual Conference, and enables local leadership training by the state networks.

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