18th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference is fastly approaching in March 

The 18th annual Women’s Leadership Conference, created and hosted by the Office of Campus Inclusion, will take place on Mar. 13, 2025, at the Cajundome Convention Center. 

The theme of this year’s conference is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating and Inspiring Generations.” The conference is open to all of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette students, faculty and staff, as well as community members of the Lafayette area. 

The purpose of the conference is to provide “opportunity for personal and professional leadership development centered on the needs of women from various cultural backgrounds”, according to the conference website. The conference is also purposefully held during National Women’s History Month. 

The keynote speaker for this year’s conference is Jan Latiolais Hargrave. Hargrave is a “renowned behavioral authority and body language expert,”as well as the CEO of Jan Hargrave and Associates. 

She has attained degrees in education and business psychology from the University as well. 

Hargrave has taken her expertise to many major companies and media outlets, such as the New York Times, ABC News, Starbucks, NASA and IBM. The conference also holds space for exhibitors, which are individuals who have the opportunity to showcase and market their products and services. 

These exhibits can be categorized under four tracks, “Educating to Elevate: Empowering Women through Knowledge and Skill-Building”, “Illuminating Resilience: A Journey to Inner Strength”, “Nurturing for Impact: Empowering Others, Strengthening Communities, and Protecting the Environment” and “Echoes of Wisdom: Envisioning a Shared Future.” 

Vendors will also be invited to the conference to sell their products and services to all of the guests. 

Registration is currently open and tickets are on sale for this year’s conference. 

General registration for employees at the University is $127 per person and $47 per student. Registration will close on Friday, Mar. 7, 2025. 

Though the event is an event geared towards women, all are welcome to attend. 

The Office of Campus Inclusion hopes that all will come out to learn from and experience the conference.