Santa Clara University

SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- June 23, 2004– The Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University today announced the launch of the Global Women’s Leadership Center (GWLC).  The GWLC is a new organization dedicated to providing women leaders, locally, nationally, and globally with resources and relationships to produce breakthrough results in their leadership roles.

       The launch event for the center, "Whole Woman, Whole Leader, Whole World” will be held June 30, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Louis B. Mayer Theatre at SCU. It will feature dialogue among a core group of business and community leaders about the GWLC mission: to assist women in addressing the world's challenges and opportunities within the framework of  SCU’s guiding principles of competence, conscience, and compassion.

       "By leveraging women’s leadership abilities, the world can better meet the challenges plaguing society, create sustainable communities, and develop more successful businesses,” said Barry Posner, dean of the Leavey School of Business and co-author of The Leadership Challenge: How to Keep Getting Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations. “We are pleased to partner with SCU’s School of Engineering and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, and community leaders such as Applied Materials, Silicon Valley Bank, and Wells Fargo to positively impact women’s organizations and communities.”

       Keynote speakers at the event are: Nancy Hafkin, retired director, Knowledge Working; Margaret Snyder, founder and director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and Barbara Waugh, co-founder of e-Inclusion at Hewlett Packard and co-author of The Soul in the Computer – The Story of a Corporate Revolutionary.

          “GWLC’s mission is to provide unique educational opportunities, mentoring, and leading edge research that shape and inspire women leaders to take on new local and global challenges,” said Linda Alepin, a GWLC founder and CEO of Center for New Futures, “Through the GWLC, women in developed and undeveloped countries will be exposed to the best thinking available to create a new future.”

        Attendees at the June 30 launch will have the opportunity to become a GWLC stakeholder – as a program sponsor, volunteer, client, advocate, financial contributor, or student.

       Among the GWLC   workshops being offered in fall 2004 are: Women’s Leadership for New Futures; Global Leadership; Understanding Global and International Culture; Unmasking the Gender Effect; Women and Entrepreneurship; the Leadership Challenge; Leadership, Values and Performance; Women’s Contribution to Global Ethics; Women, Science and Technology, and Beyond Vision: Women and World Leadership.

      GWLC sponsors include Applied Materials, Logitech, Silicon Valley Bank, and Wells Fargo. In addition, key women’s organizations, including the Anita Borg Institute, Mentor Resources, Women in Consulting, and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs have agreed to partner with GWLC.

      For more information on the Global Women’s Leadership Center, visit www.business.scu.edu/events/gwlc_overview.htm 

About The Leavey School of Business

The Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University began in 1926, and was one of the first business schools in the country to receive national accreditation. In April 2004, U.S. News & World Report ranked its MBA program among the nation’s top business schools, and its part-time program was listed in the Top 10. More than 80 percent of its 1,100 MBA students are working professionals in Silicon Valley. More information is available at www.scu.edu/business

About Santa Clara University

Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its 8,047 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees. Distinguished nationally by the third-highest graduation rate among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. More information is online at www.scu.edu