I. Women
Leaders for our Army and
Nation
Session I-1. Leading in
the Private Sector: From Battalions to
Boardrooms
Today
more than ever, the governance of private, public, and
nonprofit corporations is under greater public scrutiny. Academy
Graduates
possess essential leadership skills that can positively impact private
sector
for- or not-for-profit companies. Gain insight into the types of
leadership required and how they might differ from the military model.
This
panel will consist of graduates with executive experience leading
organizations
in the non-profit and private sectors. Learn about some of the
compelling
research regarding women and leadership in the private sector and
unique
challenges non-profit executives encounter.
Moderator: Andrea
Hollen '80, Systems Architect, Integration Services, Public Services,
Bearing Point Consulting - New
York
Speakers/Panelists:
Donna
McAleer '87, Former Executive Director of People's
Health
Clinic, Business
Consultant, Writer and Ski
Instructor - Utah
Margaret
Wilson '88, Operations Manager, Lean Technology Solutions -- Arizona
Becky
Kanis '89, Director of Innovation, Common Ground - New York
Jen
Olivia '96, Attorney--Washington,
D.C.
Session I-2. Leading in
Government and Politics: Start Here to
Become President
All
Academy Graduates eventually transition from military
careers to jobs in the civilian sector. The
possibilities for future employment
or volunteerism are
endless. Many graduates, however, still want to serve Uncle Sam and are
interested in myriad Federal jobs available in the Career Civil Service
and
Politics. There are numerous positions intended to bridge the gap
between the
Federal Government, and State and Local Governments, and experienced
managers
are needed. This panel will discuss opportunities to serve our
Nation in
Government or Politics and the rewards that accrue from continuing to
give your
best to your country after your military career—or perhaps after
you transition
to Reserve Status. Panelists will share experiences of how they
have made
these transitions.
Moderator:
Meg Kulungowski '81, Senior Legislative
Coordinator, Army
Budget Liaison Office --Washington, D.C.
Speakers/Panelists:
Mary
Whitley '80, Senior Executive Staff (ret). Vice President, Sales
& Marketing,
Enterprise Systems, Maximus, Inc.--Washington , D.C.
Terry
Gerton '83, Director, Programming and Fiscal Economics Division,
Program Analysis & Evaluation, Office of the Secretary of
Defense --Washington,
D.C.
Elisa
Westfield '91, Attorney, Debevoise & Plimpton, LL, New Jersey
Session I-3. Leading in
Uniform: Command of a Brigade and Battalion
This
panel will provide an opportunity to hear about the
daily experiences of USMA graduates who are wearing ‘green
tabs’ now.
Come hear these talented women share and compare their professional
experiences
and perspectives. Each commander will discuss the top three
lessons they
have learned in their career so far, and the key
“take-aways” from those
lessons. This unprecedented panel will consist of women graduates
who are
contributing to West Point’s
legacy of
leadership: from the first woman graduate to be promoted to
Brigadier
General to the first woman to be an Air Defense Artillery Battalion
Commander.
This session will provide a snapshot of command from their
perspective at
the Division, District, Brigade, and Battalion levels.
Moderator:
Dr. Susan
Kellett-Forsyth, PhD ‘80, Dissertation on Leadership Styles of
Women in the Army
Speakers/Panelists:
COL Debra Lewis
’80, EN,
Commander, Seattle District, United States Army Corps of Engineers
COL
Heidi Brown '81, AD, 32nd ADA BDE Commander in Iraq, Fort Bliss, TX
BG
Becky Halstead '81. OD, Commander, 3rd Support Command
COL
Kristin Knapp French '86, QM, Former Commander, Regimental Support
Squadron, 3rd ACR. Current Student, United States Army War College,
Carlisle, PA.
Session I-4: In
Command of a Company and Platoon: Leading
in Uniform
Many
officers tell us that the hardest and
best
job they ever had was as a Company Commander. It’s 24-7,
intense,
exhausting, and exhilarating by many accounts. The professional
bonds
formed between the Company Commander, the Platoon Leaders, and the
Non-Commissioned Officers are essential. Add
to this, well planned training, good order
and discipline, and an encouraging leadership climate, and one has the
environment for success. Training
provided by USMA and the Officer Basic Courses is essential, but
there’s no
substitute for experience. Members of this panel will discuss
their
firsthand experiences commanding companies and leading platoons in
today’s
challenging military
environment
Moderator:
CPT
Casey Moes '99, MP, Plans Officer, 16th MP BDE, XVIII Airborne Corps,
Ft. Bragg, NC
Speakers/Panelists:
MAJ
Kate Guttorsmen ’96, EN, Operations Officer, 3-74th Training
Support Battalion, Fort Riley, Kansas. Chief of Detainee
Operations in Afghanistan
CPT Evangeline
Rosel '97, AG, Chief, Transformation & Personnel Services Delivery
Redesign, 18th Soldier Support Group (Airborne)
CPT
Jeanne
Hull '00, MI, Company Commander in Iraq, US Army Student Detachment
studying at Princeton Unversity for a Masters in Public Affairs.
CPT (ret)
Dawn Halfaker ’01,
MP, Technical Consultant, DARPA. Former platoon leader in
Iraq,
awarded Purple Heart
II.
Our
Army
Session II-1. Military
Recruiting and
Training: Ensuring the Legacy
Every USMA graduate remembers
the day they decided to join the Long Gray Line. We are a nation
at war and the military is attempting to recruite well over 200,000
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines between the four Services.
The military is facing the biggest challenge in recruiting since
the inception of the All-Volunteer force. This session will discuss
various wasy women are recruited into the Army and how graduates can
assist to continue the legacy of attracting high quality women to our
Academies.
Moderator: Marene
Allison '80, Former member of DACOWITS
Speakers/Panelists:
LTC
(ret) Donna Alesch White
’80, Former Assistant Director of Admissions, USMA.
Committee Member, Representative Heather Wilson (NM) Service
Academy Nominating Committee
COL
Lori Sussman '83, Assessions Command. Former Signal
Training Brigade commander
LTC
Debra McDonald ‘85, Assistant Director of
Admissions, USMA
LTC
Donna Dorminey '89, Market Research Analyst -- USAAC Center for
Accessions Research (CAR)
Dr.
David Segal, PhD, Professor,
University
of Maryland
Session II-2. Military
Career
Choices and Timing: Making
Informed Decisions
Positioning
yourself for success is important. Early on,
Junior Military Officers are faced with a brief period during which
they must
meet all of the requirements to become “successful”
military officers. It is
critical that young officers make the right decisions when planning
their
military careers. Military personnel officers will present both the
“official”
timeline of requirements for today’s Army officers, and discuss
where the
decision points exist for choice within that timeline. The session will
also
discuss mentorship and how mentors can offer support and guidance to
young
officers so that they are well informed when making career decisions.
Moderator:
COL Donna Brazil '83,
TC, Academy Professor,
Dept of
Behavioral
Sciences and Leadership, USMA
Speakers/Panelists:
LTC(P)
Patti O’Keefe ‘82, AG, Chief,
Officer Accessions Policy
Branch
COL
Anne Davis '82, OD, Commander, Tooele Army Depot, Tooele, Utah
Session II-3. Current
Culture at USMA and the Army
Learn
about attitudes and behaviors that are characteristic
of the cultures at USMA and in the Army. The panel will consist
of a
former training battalion commander, USMA staff/faculty and current
cadets. They will share anecdotal information, a cultural
anthropological
study, and empirical data to discuss changes in attitudes over time
while
sharing experiences. Cadet authors will
also read selections from a USMA Anthology project that has been in
compilation
since 2005.
Moderator:
LTC Lauren Barone
Speakers/Panelists:
COL
Lori Sussman '83, SC, Assessions Command. Former 15th
Regimental Signal Brigade Commander
MAJ Naomi
Stankow-Mercer Professor, Department of English, USMA
Cadet
Erin Morgan '06
Session II-4. Current
Military Assignment
Policies and Practices: A
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My
Career
The
Women’s
Army Corps (WAC) was disbanded in 1978 and all
“WACs”
became
members
of the Regular Army. Assignment
policies and practices have come and
gone several times since then. The
number of women in the active Army
has risen from 10.5% in 1985 to 15.9% in 2001. Currently the Army
operates under Army Regulation 600-13 Army
Policy for the Assignment of Female
Soldiers and women comprise 16% of the Total Army. In this
session, military personnel officers will review the current policies
and the
actual practices of the assignment
of women in the Army. In addition,
they will address demographics and current data where women
are serving in the Army today.
Moderator: BG
(ret) Pat Foote, Former Commanding General, Fort
Belvoir, VA; Current President of the Alliance for National
Defense
Speakers/Panelists:
COL Casey Wardinski
’80, Office of
Economics and
Manpower Analysis, USMA
COL
(ret) Barbara Lee, Former USMA Faculty Member, Alliance for National
Defense
LTC
Lynn Jackson, Chief of Women in the Army Policy Branch, Office of the
G-1, Washington, DC
Session II-5. DOD Task Force Report:
Recommendations and Response
In
September 2004, DOD established a Task Force to assess and make
recommendations to the Department of the Army on how it could more
effectively address sexual harassment and assault at the United States
Military Academy. This panel will cover task force findings on
victim's rights and support, confidential reporting, offender
accountability, training and eduction, culture, case management, sexual
assault review board, preventions, civilian resources, and prep school
integration
Moderator: COL Jeanette
McMahon '83, AV, Special
Assistant to the Superintendent,
USMA
Speakers/Panelists:
LTC Dave Jones '85, IN, Values Education Officer, USCC, Simon Center
for the Professional Military Ethic
MAJ
Samantha Breton, EN, Special Assistant to the Commandant for Human
Relations,
USMA
III.
Career
and Networking
Session III-1. Effective
Networking:
Fuel
for Your Professional Life
Learn
from the experts how you can be more effective at
networking. Find out how to effectively make contacts, keep them
current, and
call upon those who can help you with issues concerning your career,
industry,
or personal relationships. Networking is critical in the private sector
and, as
you can imagine, it can be extremely helpful within government or
military service.
The session will include guidance from those whose business depends on
effective networking and success stories from women who have used
networking to
attain their goals.
Moderator: Kelli
McKechnie '96, McKinsey & Company
Speakers/Panelists:
Danna
Maller Rocuque '80, Director of Marketing, Tamro Capital Partners
Marianne
Malizia, '81, Associate, Booz Allen Hamilton
Holly
Flores '96, Financial Advisor, USB
Susan
Kratch, Junior Military Officer Leadership Program Manager, General
Electric
Session
III-2. Work/Family
Balance and Lifestyle: Maintaining a Balance
Imagine
both achievement and enjoyment existing harmoniously
in your life. Some individuals have personally managed to work around,
with and
through different challenges to achieve work-life balance. Many,
however,
didn’t always have this balance, nor recognize the need for such
balance. You
may be a parent, but you don't need to be one to struggle with trying
to “do it
all.” This session will bring together persons from various
personal situations
to address how to move toward a more balanced life. Decisions
concerning
careers, job changes, and family issues are often competing priorities.
This
diverse group of panelists will share how they’ve made important
decisions in
their lives, the criteria they used, successes, and lessons learned.
Moderator: LTC
(ret) Deirdre Dixon ‘84, Professor of Military Science,
University of Tampa
Speakers/Panelists:
COL
Michele Matthews Putko '83, Student United States Army War College
COL
Christine Gayagas '84, Chief of Staff, 13th Corps Support Command
Leslie
Stein '97
Jeanine
Andreassi, PhD, Professor Zicklin School of Business, City Univeristy
of New York Graduate Center. Disseration, "Personality &
Work-Family Conflict: New Directions."
Session
III-3. Career
Transitions: Getting Back in the Game
In
recent years, significant media attention has focused on
the exodus of highly educated women from the workforce. A recent
research
study, Back in the Game: Returning
to Business After a Hiatus, delved into the challenges women face
in
re-entering the workforce and identified proactive measures that women
can take
to facilitate the transition back to work. In this session, two
of the
three study authors will discuss their findings and recommendations.
If
you have temporarily stepped out of the workforce (whether military or
civilian) or are contemplating such a move, this session will help you
formulate an approach for paving your return to the working world.
Moderator:
Betsy Jackson '89
Speakers/Panelists:
Marla
Driscoll, Independant Consultant
Mary
Gross,
Director of Learning & Development, Merrill Lynch Investment
Managers
Angela
Messer '85, Director, Booz Allen Hamilton
Session
III-4. Mentoring: Guidance, Encouragement, and Counsel
Serving as a mentor can have a
lasting influence and important impact of the decisions a young officer
will make in the course of her or his career. Learn from experts
about the organizational and personal benefits of mentorship programs.
West Point Women was formed to facilitate the creation of strong
networks and mentors at every level from cadet to "old grad."
This panel will discuss ideas for establishing a mentoring
relationships, as well as present the formal mentoring program
developed by West Point Women.
Moderator: Bridget
Altenburg '95, Senior Director/Chief of Staff, Bally
Total Fitness
Speakers/Panelists:
MAJ
Stephanie Ahern '95, EN, Professor, Dept of Social Sciences, USMA
MAJ
Devon Blake '95, MI, Professor, Dept of Military Instruction, USMA
MAJ
Kris Colwell '95, MI, Professor, Dept of Social Sciences, USMA
Janet
Hanson, Founder, 85 Broads and Managing Director, Lehman Brothers
Michele
Nadeau-Schaff, Director, Student Success Course, Center for Enhanced
Performance, USMA
IV. Wellness
Session IV-1. Physical
Health: Taking Care
of Yourself
All
of us remember the days of two-mile runs in combat
boots, obstacle courses and mandatory gymnastics class. As teenagers
and young
“twenty-somethings,” we were up to the challenge, but some
of these activities
could be classified as unnatural acts and left their marks on our
bodies. Add
airborne school, rappelling, ruck marches, and war zones and you could
have a
recipe for future health problems. Military health professionals have
been
diagnosing and treating us for everything from stress fractures to
coronary
heart disease for decades. This panel exposes illnesses and injuries
common
among military and ex-military women and discusses ways to mitigate
long-term
health problems. The panel will also present strategies and
recommendations to
maintain your optimal health profile, now, and as you gracefully age.
Moderator: COL
Terry Tepper Walters, MD ’80, Specialist Geriatric Medicine
Speakers/Panelists:
COL
(ret) Pat St. Pierre, MD ’80, Orthopedic Surgeon
LTC(P) Jimmy Hill,
MD ’81, Specialist OB-GYN
Session
IV-2. Behavorial Health: Understanding and Strategies
Inherent
in Academy life, all cadets experience the rigors
of fitness and training requirements, discipline, academic pressure and
the 4th
Class system. Women have historically known an additional dimension. In
this
session, professional counselors and behavioral health practitioners
will
discuss short and long term health effects observed by the Academy.
Experts
will also discuss strategies to promote wellness.
Moderator/Speaker: LTC
Becky Porter, PhD, Clinical Director, Center for Enchanced Peformance,
USMA
Speaker/Panelist:
BG
(ret) Howard Prince '62, Former Department Head,
Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, USMA. Director,
Center for Ethical Leadership, Lyndon B. Johnson School of
Public Affairs, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
Session IV-3.
Stress...What
Stress?
Learn
about stress management strategies to reduce and cope
with stress. It’s a little known fact that the U.S Army War
College
identifies those persons with “Triple A” personalities in
every class and works
with them during their stay at Carlisle Barracks. Learn about the
criteria for
“triple A” personality and whether your share any of the
same traits. This
expert panel will share its observations of the stress experienced by
active
duty and ex-military women. The panel will also report on the latest
methods
for managing stress daily and over the long term.
Moderator/Speaker: COL Susan Myers, USAWC
Leadership Division
Speaker/Panelist:
Dr.
Carol
Ann Malizia, Wellness Expert
Session
IV-4. Fitness and Wellness:
Now and For Life
While
at the Academy, the Department of Physical Education
insured continued fitness through classes and wonderful tests. In
addition, DPE
also had many offerings intended for cadets to simply learn new
“life-long” or
“carry-over” sports. During this session, experts in adult
fitness will address
effective exercise programs for busy lifestyles and strategies for
continuing
fitness during various stages of our lives.
Moderator/Speaker: BG
(ret) Maureen
LeBouef, former Master or the Sword, Department of Physical Education, USMA
Speaker/Panelist:
Dr.
Sue Tendy, Professor, Department of Physical Education, USMA
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