Presenters Announced for Young Women Lead Conference

Presenters at the Young Women Lead (YWL) Conference at Ashland Community and Technical College in October will talk about the issues and opportunities facing teenage girls today, with the focus on all things that are possible.

The support we are receiving from the community is gratifying, said Karen Coburn, ACTC Director of Workforce Solutions and YWL chair. Many women who are leaders in our area are involved in giving presentations or are working on the planning committee to help young women develop their career and leadership potential.

The emcee will be Julie Reeves, a former Virgin Records country recording star and host on amorning show on 93.7, the DAWG radio station.

Breakout sessions will cover important skills and life choices such as leadership, financial literacy, careers, social media, fitness and health. The presenters are listed below.

Ashley Akers-Shepherd is Coalition Coordinator at Operation UNITE.

Nikki Bryant is Associate Professor and Director of the Health Professions Pathways Project at ACTC.

Jerri Compton is Executive Director of United Way of Northeast Kentucky,.

Megan S. Daniel, Clinical Services Manager at Insulet.

Kennedy Haught is a student at Morehead State University.

Mae Marks is Co-Founder of Wordsworth Publishing Group.

Oreatha Claborn Murray is the Student Activities Coordinator and a recruiter at ACTC.

April Russell Perry is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Kentucky Farmers Bank.

Ellie Pucket is Director of Operations for the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation and Director of Accelerator Space Tango, a business accelerator in Lexington.

Viviane Vallance is a Certified Personal Trainer at Preferred Fitness.

Jennifer Vlahos Online Marketing Manager, and Kristi Middleton, Public Relations Manager, are from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System office in Versailles.

New this year is a Career Panel of women executives and managers who will share information about jobs in their organizations. Students can find out about career paths, requirements for different kinds of jobs and what it takes to move ahead in an organization. Each day will feature a different panel.

Panelists are Maria Manriquez and Amy Moffatt from Toyota, Kristie Whitlatch and Autumn McFann from Kings Daughters Medical Center, Brooke Frye from Calgon Carbon Corp., Katie McKnight and Kaitlin Stringer from Marathon Petroleum Company LP, and Lisa Pruitt and Carolyn Stevens from Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital

Young Women LEAD is a free leadership development and education conference for high school girls in the Ashland area and surrounding counties. The conference is presented by Toyota Manufacturing North America in partnership with SOAR, a womans professional development organization, and ACTC. Support also comes from local business and organizations.

The one-day conference is offered on October 14 and 15, and approximately 250 students are expected to attend each day.

Registration is required for students and chaperones, and registration in ongoing through October 4. Interested girls who will be juniors at any FIVCO area schools may contact their school counselors for information. For conference information, email Coburn at: karen.coburn@kctcs.edu.