PREVAIL Women’s Leadership Conference a Success
PREVAIL is Vanderbilt’s first leadership conference exclusively for students who identify as women. PREVAIL was created for the Vanderbilt student who identifies as a woman who is looking to learn, grow, develop, and be a part of positive personal and community change through a transformational and fun leadership development experience. PREVAIL gave Vanderbilt women a space to network with one another and learn from women in leadership positions in various fields from the Nashville community and alumni network around them.
PREVAIL was a collaborative effort, with a planning team of various campus partners including Student Leadership Development, the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center, Greek Life, Student Organizations and Anchor Link, Athletics, Project Safe, Student Centers, Wellness Programs and Alcohol Education, LGBTQI Life, the Office of Housing and Residential Education, Inclusive Initiatives and Cultural Competence, and the Center for Student Professional Development.
Vanderbilt alumnae, Samar Ali presented as the conference’s keynote speaker. Samar is an international attorney, with experience working for the Obama administration and Governor Haslem regarding issues abroad. She kicked off PREVAIL and students listened to her speak about the challenges of a demanding career, rewards, finding work-life balance, and tips for being a great leader. Following Samar’s keynote, students had the opportunity to create their own leadership adventure by choosing from three different options in three 1-hour breakout sessions for the rest of the day. Breakout session topics ranged from Assertive Communication, Salary Negotiation, and Chasing Perfectionism to panels on Feminism and Women in Leadership Roles. The breakout sessions gave students ownership of their development as a leader. Additionally, he day showcased local businesses owned by women, such as a t-shirt screen-printing business called Hip Hues.
100% of students who attended recommend their friends attend PREVAIL next year, and we had a diverse group of women identified students that was greater than overall campus diversity percentages that provided collaboration and idea sharing from various backgrounds and valuable conversations.
A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the PREVAIL Planning team of DOS staff and Graduate Assistants for making PREVAIL possible! We hope to expand PREVAIL next year with materials students can use throughout their Vanderbilt experience and space to include more alumni and Nashville community members into their network and for their leadership journey while at Vanderbilt.
“Networking and forming relationships with other women is also important for the overall empowerment.” Student Respondent
“I really appreciate this opportunity and hope this becomes an annual event for other Vanderbilt Women.” – Student Respondent
