Wesleyan professor to serve on leadership panel

Watkinson School presents “The Future Is Female”, a panel of Hartford area women to address the questions: How can we successfully raise future female leaders?

Panelists include Senator Beth Bye, Wesleyan University Professor Sonia Sultan, MetroHartford Alliance Interim CEO Nancy Wheeler, and Hartford Stage Associate Artistic Director Elizabeth Williamson. It will be facilitated by Watkinson’s Head of School Teri Schrader.

The event will be held on Thursday, April 19 with a pre-panel dessert reception at 6:15 p.m. and the panel at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by The Aurora Foundation.

Three student leaders from Watkinson’s Young Women’s Empowerment group, including Isabel Fitzsimons ’18 of Hartford, Grace Gardner ’18 of Glastonbury, and Olivia McAdams ’18 of Windsor, planned the event with support of the club membership. One of the purposes of the club is to be of service to area nonprofits that serve young women at risk, like the University of Hartford’s Women for Change, Sexual Assault Crisis Service and Grace Academy.

“We were tired of trying to do service work using the meager funds that a high school bake sale generates,” McAdams said in a statement. “We wanted to build a real fundraiser, one that had the potential to become an annual event, that would raise enough funds to support substantial service work.” In addition to their service work, the Young Women’s Empowerment Group’s objectives are to educate the community about issues pertaining to women, have a presence on campus as young women who matter, provide a forum for young women to discuss issues of concern to women and, most importantly, to empower the female community at Watkinson.

The event will be held held in Watkinson’s Foisie Family Amphitheater. Tickets are $10; seating is very limited and general admission and advance reservations are strongly encouraged. For tickets go to https://thefutureisfemaleatwatkinson.brownpapertickets.com/ or by calling 800-838-3006.