Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 10-20-17

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USF’s Women In Leadership & Philanthropy Set To Host 12th Annual Fall Symposium
The 12th annual USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy Fall Sympo- sium, presented by Florida Blue with additional under- writing by USAmeriBank, will take place on Friday, Oct. 20, at the Hilton Tampa Downtown.
Themed “Finding Your Grace,” this inspirational event features keynote speaker Grace Gealey Byers ‘06, a University of South Florida Honors Col- lege Theatre grad who now stars on the Fox hit music- industry series, Empire.
Byers, who portrays a ruthless record label execu- tive on television, is in real- ity a passionate and committed champion for young women and girls, generously devoting her
time and star power to ini- tiatives that combat bully- ing and promote self-esteem and achieve- ment. Drawing on her expe- rience growing up in the Cayman Islands as a bi- racial child of deaf adults (CODA), and as an immi- grant who moved to the United States alone to at- tend college at the age of 18, Byers leverages her unique background and personal story to motivate others to transcend barriers and fol- low their dreams.
In addition to her acting career, Byers is an elo- quent public speaker who addresses issues of diversity and the need for greater un- derstanding of people’s dif- ferences. “What I found with the lack of under-
The event will feature USF Grad Grace Gealey Byers ’06, star of Fox TV’s hit, Empire.
standing with diversity is that when people don’t un- derstand something, there is fear and when fear is present, love can’t be,” she has said in her talks.
Her appearance will highlight a half-day of com- pelling moderated sessions on an array of topics related to personal improvement, leadership, and civic en- gagement, as well as the presentation of WLP’s most prestigious awards: the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ann McKeel Ross ’79 and the Commu- nity Leadership Award to Debbie Nye Sembler. The awards celebrate women who have exhibited transformational leader- ship through their volun- teer, professional and philanthropic contribu- tions.
The Symposium begins with an 8 a. m. networking breakfast, followed by breakout sessions from 9-
11:30 a. m. on the following issues: Transforming the Future of Health; Creative collaboration for a healthier region; How to Be More than a Keyboard Warrior; Aiming Higher; Media and Communication: How to find the real news; Finding Grace Under Pressure; and Financial Fitness at Any Stage of Life, sponsored by AXA Advisors.
The lunch program and keynote address is noon to 1:30 p. m.
For further information, please contact Kate Rodi Evans at (813) 974- 6996 or carodi@usf. edu.https://www.yumpu.c om/en/document/view/59 458357/12-annual-wlp-fall- symposium-guide-to-suc- cess.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-B