Daily News

Bay Path Women’s Leadership Conference Slated for March 31

SPRINGFIELD — Bay Path University will hold its 22nd annual Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC) on Friday, March 31 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. This year’s event will explore empathy, how it empowers people individually and as teams, and how it can help them become better, stronger, and more compassionate leaders. Keynote speakers include Nicholas Sparks, Nely Galan, and Shiza Shahid.

In today’s workplace, a successful bottom line is defined by how much an organization values and cultivates human capital. Leaders need to understand not only their business, but also their people. At the 2017 conference, attendees will discover how becoming a more empathetic leader builds strong teams and relationships in the workplace and at home. Empathy creates connection between socio-economic, ethnic, and geographic lines, allowing people to influence, inspire and help others achieve their dreams and goals. Keynote speakers will share their own perspectives on the subject, motivating and inspiring attendees to engage empathy in their daily lives.

Sparks, author of 20 New York Times #1 bestselling books, storyteller, and producer, will give the afternoon keynote address. Before he was a world-famous novelist, Sparks worked a variety of jobs, including real-estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and starting his own small manufacturing business, which struggled from the beginning. In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote The Notebook over a period of six months, and in October 1995, Warner Books bought the rights. He has gone on to write and publish a novel every year, all of them domestic and international bestsellers.

A Latina media dynamo and women’s empowerment advocate, Galán was dubbed the “Tropical Tycoon” by New York Times Magazine. An immigrant and self-made media mogul, Galán was the first Latina president of Entertainment for a U.S. television network (Telemundo). She is an Emmy Award-winning producer of more than 600 episodes of television in Spanish and English. After becoming self-made on her own terms, Galán has made it her mission to teach women — regardless of age or background — how they, too, can become entrepreneurs. Her New York Times bestselling book, SELF MADE: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way, was published in 2016.

Shahid is co-founder and former CEO of the Malala Fund. She’s also a social entrepreneur, television personality, speaker, and women’s-rights advocate. Shahid co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and led the organization as founding CEO. She is now focused on supporting startups, innovators, and entrepreneurs, particularly women, who are creating positive global impact. She is an advocate for women entrepreneurs, and hosts Women’s Story-telling Salons, bringing together leading female entrepreneurs to collaborate. She is the host of the new show ASPIREist, which airs on Flipboard, Facebook, and YouTube, reporting on the suicide epidemic.

Bay Path’s Women’s Leadership Conference is attended by approximately 2,000 women and men annually. For further information on the conference and to register, visit www.baypathconference.com.