First Women of Color leadership conference begins Friday

The first Women of Color Leadership Conference will try to empower women through teachings about health and education Friday and Saturday at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. \nThe conference, beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, will consist of three workshops geared toward high school students. Saturday’s three workshops will be geared toward college students. Saturday’s events, which begin at 9:30 a.m., also include a keynote address by Audrey McCluskey, interim director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, and a lunch speech by Valerie Grim, chair of the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, according to the conference itinerary.\nThe conference was originally proposed by two undergraduate students, Jessica Garcia and Sharell Hendricks, after they saw how successful the Men of Color Leadership Conference has been, said conference adviser Regina Barnett. \nBarnett said she would like to see students use the conference as an opportunity to strengthen their networking skills. \nIU associate professor Carla Brown will present a workshop called “HIV/AIDS 101 for Empowered Women: Implications for Improving the Sexual Health of Minority Women.” Brown said she wants to empower women by giving them strategies for preventing HIV.\n“I think it is critically important for women to at least have information,” Brown said. \nBrown said she wants her workshop to open up the conversation about HIV/AIDS. A high percentage of minority women are \ninfected with HIV/AIDS, she said. \nOther workshops that will be presented include “Career vs. Marriage: A 21st Century Review,” “What Shall I Do?: Academic and Career Goal Setting for Women of Color” and “I am Not my Hair: Black Women’s Guide to Overcoming the Constraints of Physical Activity.”\nBrown said she was most excited about networking with women of color.\n“I’m looking forward to interacting with a bunch of women of color,” Brown said. “Sometimes when you sit in class, you feel like one of a kind.” \nStudents who have not registered can do so from 8 a.m. to noon the morning of the conference, Barnett said. The cost to attend the conference is $10 for IU students.\nThe conference is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs, the Office of Academic Support and Diversity, the Department of Athletics, Monroe County Community School Corporation, Timothy Womock, the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, the Office of Mentoring Services and Leadership Development, and the IU Student Association.