Education and Inspiration: A preview of the 2025 Women’s Leadership Conference

The 2025 Women’s Leadership Conference, hosted by the Office of Campus Inclusion, is on Mar. 13, 2025 at the Cajundome Convention Center. The annual conference is an in-person event that allows students, faculty and staff from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, as well as community members, to partake in an experience that provides personal and professional development.

  This event also serves as a commemoration of National Women’s History Month, which is celebrated in the month of March. The theme of this year’s conference is “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating and Inspiring Generations.” 

Kayla Patel, the associate director of employer relations for Career Services, as well as a member of the planning committee for this year’s conference, was excited to share details about what attendees should expect to experience. “Attendees can look forward to engaging breakout sessions, an uplifting awards presentation, and an incredible keynote speaker—all focused on leadership, personal growth, and empowerment.” 

When discussing breakout sessions, their purpose, as well as their impact on the overall conference, Patel said that “sessions provide a space for attendees to dive deeper into key issues, learn from inspiring speakers, and engage in meaningful discussions” and that they “add tremendous value to the overall conference experience by offering practical insights, new perspectives, and opportunities for personal and professional growth.”

According to the current conference schedule posted on the official website, there are a total of four breakout session opportunities available for attendees, scheduled at 9-9:45 a.m., 10-10:45 a.m., 1-1:45 p.m. and 2-2:45 p.m. During each of these blocks, there is a list of programs that attendees can choose from that fall within the four tracks for sessions/exhibitions. Some of these sessions are led by individuals, while others are panel-lead.

The four tracks for this year’s conference are “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.”

“Educating to Elevate: Empowering Women through Knowledge and Skill-Building” is the track that highlights the transformative property of education in regards to unlocking women’s potential and creating opportunities for them. “Illuminating Resilience: A Journey to Inner Strength” is meant to guide attendees to explore their personal growth and self-empowerment. Sessions in this track will showcase to attendees ways to tap into their inner resilience.

“Nurturing for Impact: Empowering Others, Strengthening Communities, and Protecting the Environment” is a track that will encourage attendees to assess how their leadership efforts impact those around them. This includes conversations surrounding sustainable practices, inclusive initiatives, social and environmental justice and ways to mentor with empathy and impact. 

“Echoes of Wisdom: Envisioning a Shared Future” is centered on respecting and honoring the wisdom of past generations and how that can further propel the collective into the future. All of these tracks feed into the overarching theme, which is the generational presence and persistence of women in leadership.

Another highlight of the annual Women’s Leadership Conference is the keynote speaker. This year’s keynote speaker is Jan Latiolais Hargrave, a renowned behavioral and body language expert. When asked why Mrs. Hargrave was chosen to be this year’s speaker, Kiwana McClung, the University’s Chief Inclusion Officer, said that “the expertise and experience that she brings is important to all women.”

“The way that you kind of engage non-verbally with people is so important to relationships, whether they be professional, personal or personal, to making sure that you don’t offend people, to making connections and networking”, says McClung, when discussing the vitality of Hargrave’s expertise. Hargrave is also a repeat alum from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, having received multiple degrees in education and business psychology.

When asked about the most important part of the conference, McClung states that networking would have to be the answer. “We need to be able to network, to talk to others, to celebrate people who have had great careers.”

Faryal Atif, a residential engagement coordinator for Residential Life at the University, in addition to being on the promotion and marketing committee for the conference, has also attended the conference numerous times during her educational career here at UL Lafayette, which has granted her a unique perspective of the overall experience.

Her first time attending the conference was as an undergraduate student at South Louisiana Community College (SoLAcc, formerly SLCC). When asked by the college if students were interested in attending, Atif applied to attend. “I was one of the students who were selected to attend the conference with the SLCC delegate.” Atif’s journey with the conference did not stop there. 

In 2019, after finishing her first year on UL Lafayette’s campus, she and other female international students submitted a proposal to have a panel at the conference. “It was about international students, especially women and them just, you know, shattering the boundaries and whatnot.” The following year, Atif did another panel, this time with Lafayette student leaders, about their journeys and what made them so involved on campus. 

Looking ahead, Atif is excited about her new position in the committee and what that will do to shape her conference experience this year.

Both Atif and McClung would like students to know that they are welcome, and definitely encouraged to attend this year’s conference. “You want to come to this conference because it is an opportunity to expose yourself to a different kind of learning, learning about how to be a part of the professional workplace in society.”

Registration for the 18th annual Women’s Leadership conference is currently open, and ends on the day of the conference. The student registration fee is $47, while the registration fee for all others is $97. Keynote-only and table registration are available as well.