Two longstanding events that are organized by students continue to make an impact on the Smeal experience.
Powerful Women Paving the Way, a two-day event co-hosted by the Women in Business student organization and Smeal, celebrated its 15th anniversary in April. The keynote speakers for this year’s event were:
- Rachel Pell, ’00 Mktg, vice president for strategic communications at Penn State
- Lindsay Peoples, editor-in-chief of New York magazine’s The Cut and former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue
- Asia Grant, ’17 Mktg, founder and creative director of Redoux
The START (Striving Toward Awareness and Respect for Tomorrow) Conference, organized by a committee of mostly Smeal students and staff in Smeal’s Office of Diversity Enhancement Programs, is an annual professional development conference designed to increase diversity and inclusion awareness in corporate settings. It will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.
The keynote speakers for the 2023 START Conference, which was held on March 30, included:
- Alicia Petross, chief diversity officer at The Hershey Co.
- Kelly Palumbo, vice president of finance, global transformation and talent strategies for Johnson & Johnson
– Anne Louise Cropp and Andy Elder
