Volunteer team provides free career advancement and readiness event for women

Raleigh | April 6, 2015: The Junior League of Raleigh’s Team Community Connect will host the second annual Empowering Women’s Conference, an interactive, day-long event focused on preparing women to advance in their careers, at the League’s Center for Community Leadership on Saturday, May 2. The 2015 Women’s Conference will begin with complimentary breakfast at 8:15 a.m. and will provide personal and professional development opportunities for all Triangle women. Participants can register to attend the free event at https://www.jlraleigh.org/?nd=Womens_Conference_2015.

The event will feature keynote speaker and Girls on the Run founder Molly Barker. An Ironman triathlete, Baker founded Girls on the Run in Charlotte, NC in 1996 with just 13 girls. Barker will share how she grew the organization that now reaches more than 180,000 girls and 60,000 volunteers in 200 cities. Other speakers include:

• Kelly Ruta, CEO and founder of Milestones Counseling and FierceChick Coaching, where she teaches women how to understand their fears so they can lead purpose driven lives. Ruta will speak on “Harnessing the Power of Intention to Create an Awesome Life.”
• Deborah Oronzio, founder of Self-Empower Coaching, where she helps professionals find successes and satisfaction in their careers. Oronzio will conduct a workshop to help those seeking their next career move.
• Mimi Shankin, business development and sustainability director with AVANT Group where she helps pair business clients and job candidates to create ideal employer/employee matches. Shankin will share with attendees how to “Boost their Self Esteem with Comedy.”
• Beth Briggs, Executive Director for Dress for Success Triangle, where her team provides unemployed and underemployed women with professional attire, career and image coaching, and job acquisition skills. Briggs will host a workshop on “Dressing for Success to Boost Your Confidence.”
• Wendy Gates Corbett, President of Refresher Training, where she works with professionals to update presentation materials and styles to amplify messages and make presentations more memorable and provocative. Corbett will provide information on “7 Secrets for Presenting Yourself with Power.”

The event will also include a lunch and learn session with the Wake County Commission for Women where participants will learn LinkedIn strategies, resume building skills and job interview preparedness.

The Conference is the fourth in a series of events hosted by the League’s Team Community Connect during the 2014-2015 year. Earlier events held in the fall of 2014 included discussions on launching and sustaining planned giving programs and ways to facilitate successful effective workshops.

The 2015 Conference is the second time the Junior League has put on the event. The inaugural Empowering Women’s Conference was held on May 10, 2014 and featured speakers like State Treasure Janet Cowell, Green Chair Project Co-Founder Beth Smoot, and Hyde Street Holdings Co-Founder Patricia Healy.

The third annual Empowering Women’s Conference will be held on May 7, 2016.

About Team Community Connect

Team Community Connect is comprised of volunteer members from the Junior League of Raleigh and is committed to helping nonprofits build connections and relationships amongst their peers by organizing events and roundtable discussions. During these events, guest speakers and Junior League members share their expertise by leading discussion-based workshops and advising participants on ways to promote their programs and mission by strengthening strategic planning, promoting board development, better leveraging and managing volunteers, marketing agency mission and services as well as providing fundraising and program-expansion expertise. Team Community Connect also works to connect people with nonprofit agencies as volunteers through community presentations, seminars and panel discussions on a broad range of topics that organizations can tailor to groups’ specific needs.  Through Team Community Connect, the Junior League of Raleigh has served nearly 100 community organizations in the Triangle through Team Community Connect including the Alzheimer’s Association, Marbles, March of Dimes, Habitat for Humanity and the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association.

About the Junior League of Raleigh

The Junior League of Raleigh is the local chapter of the Association of Junior Leagues International, an organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The Junior League reaches out to women of all races, religions and national origins who demonstrate an interest in, and commitment to, volunteerism. Now in its 85th year, the Junior League of Raleigh includes nearly 1,700 women supporting community organizations around Wake County.