By Felix Hoover

For YourNewsColumbus

Posted 05-10-09

 

 

The noon meal by itself would have been a valuable experience for participants in the 10th Annual Young Women's Empowerment Conference on Thursday, May 7, at the Hyatt Regency Columbus.

 

For many of the school girls, the dialogue circle luncheon program was their first "power lunch," as emcee Shamecka Moore pointed out. She was one of the many young women who had an active role in the day's activities, which include a career fair, workshops on science and other disciplines and hints on etiquette.

 

Many of the city's best known and most respected women in various fields sat at different tables so they could dialogue with and mentor the young women from local schools who have demonstrated potential for leadership and ability to excel in disciplines and professions that typically are underrepresented by females.

 

The luncheon included the keynote speech by Gwendolyn E. Boyd, an engineer and executive assistant to the Chief of Staff at Johns Hopkins University Applies Physics Laboratory.

 

She charged them to follow their dreams, to challenge the status quo and to ignore naysayers

 

Boyd shared her Five Wells of Success, urging the young women to be:

    Well read

    Well spoken

    Well traveld

    Well dressed

    Well balanced

She had been the featured speaker at the inaugural conference in 2000.

 

This year's conference included awards presentations to winners of essay, bridge-building and roller coaster design competitons.