Worcester State’s Brotherhood & Sisterhood Leadership Conference March 25 will bring young men and women together to uplift and motivate them and set them on a successful college path.
The conference, originally scheduled for March 4, was postponed due to inclement weather.
The event starts at 9 a.m. in the Blue Lounge in the Student Center at Worcester State, 486 Chandler St., and will end at 3 pm. Workshops and talks will take place in Sullivan Academic Center. Lunch will be served beginning at 1:45 p.m. in the Blue Lounge.
The conference is designed to empower high school students, college students, and professionals by affirming their experiences, engaging in team building workshops, building upon their own identity and knowledge of self, and enhancing their connection to a network of first generation and/or ALANA/BIPOC community (African, Latine, Asian, and Native American and/or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). The conference theme is ‘united on the road to excellence.’
The conference aims to offer not only inspiration, but also hands-on workshops and activities geared to helping students of any background succeed through high school and college. “You will hear from those who have faced similar challenges, those who are in college now, or have graduated and are enjoying life and career success and know that one day you can and will be where they are,” President Barry M. Maloney says, in a message in the conference program booklet.
Last year, Worcester State’s inaugural Brotherhood Conference offered a day of inspiration, affirmation, and connection for nearly 100 first generation, economically diverse, ALANA/BIPOC students from across the state universities and local public schools. This year, with encouragement from the Women’s Circle and the Men’s Group of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Worcester State, the event has been expanded to become the Brotherhood and Sisterhood Leadership Conference.
The keynote speaker will be Kimberly M. Salmon, assistant vice president for community relations at the Hanover Insurance Group. Salmon is a passionate volunteer in the Worcester community, serving on several boards and leadership committees including the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Worcester State Foundation, Worcester Educational Collaborative, and the Worcester Together Task Force.
She served nine years as chair of the Worcester Women’s Leadership Conference. Since the onset of the pandemic, she has led the Mayor’s Mental Health Taskforce’s community response efforts. Her recent commitments include serving as the co-chair of the Worcester Tercentennial Celebration Committee and helping lead the search for a new superintendent for the Worcester Public Schools.
The wide range of workshops offered at the conference includes “Bridging the gap – a guide to navigating higher education and beyond,” which will offer a deep dive into strategies that have assisted ALANA/BIPOC students to successfully transition from high school to college; “Understanding your credit score and report,” to help participants make smart financial decisions; “Mental health matters,” which will affirm the importance of understanding and learning more about mental health issues; and “From paralyzed to prosperous: developing habits of success,” which will encourage participants to set personal and career goals and develop the habits necessary to achieve them.
For more information or to register, please visit the event website.
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