Schreiner University Women’s Leadership Conference
September 16, 2020
Virtual event
Join us on a journey of exploration – how women embrace and manage personal, professional, social, and technological change.
Leading a Purposeful Life, Through Meaningful Work, In a Changing Global Society
As society’s expectations of leaders evolve, young people need the opportunity to be exposed to professional, ethical, and thoughtful leadership qualities. The purpose of this year’s Women’s Leadership Conference is to bring noted women leaders to campus in a virtual environment to share their knowledge and wisdom about the challenges women leaders face and the strategies used to overcome them. This is a free one-day virtual conference beginning at 8:30am CST on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.

Schedule & Sessions – A powerful day filled with passionate speakers.
Please register prior to the event at: https://bit.ly/3aU40Mx
- Conference Kickoff – Embrace the Day! – 8:30am – 8:55am; Karen Sides; Topic: Shifting Your Reality Through Mindfulness, Meditation and Self-Compassion
- Welcome to Participants – 9am – 9:10am; Wendy L. Blaettner, Director of the Schreiner Experience and Dr. Charlie McCormick, President, Schreiner University
- Keynote Speaker – 9:10am – 10:25am; Chaunte’ Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Centurion Military Alliance; Topic: Diversity, Inclusion & Acceptance
- Breakout Session #1 – 10:30am – 11:25am; Danielle Carosello, GM, Federal Health Sector with GE Healthcare, Topic: Guiding Principles & Non-Negotiables
- Breakout Session # 2 – 11:30am – 12:25pm; Major General Angie Salinas, United States Marine Corps (retired), CEO Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas; Topic: Earning Your Stripes
- Breakout Session #3 – 12:30pm – 1:25pm; Marilyn Thompson, Associate Provost, Human Resources, University of Waterloo; Topic: Building Resilience in Times of Change
- Breakout Session #4 – 1:30pm – 2:25pm; Kimberly Lasseter, Global Director of Partner Program Design at Google, Topic: My Journey to a Successful Career in High Tech
- Breakout Session #5 – 2:30pm – 3:25pm; Tuesdae Knight, President and Chief Executive Officer, SAGE – San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside; Topic: Life Takes us to Unexpected Places
- Closing Session – 3:30pm – 4:30pm – Suit Up Event with JCPenney
Speakers
Conference Kickoff – Embrace the Day! (8:30am – 8:55am)

Dr. Karen Sides, Personal Coach, Mindful & Creative Living
Session Topic: Shifting Your Reality Through Mindfulness, Meditation and Self-Compassion
With 25 years in higher education and a lifetime of working as an artist, poet, seeker and wanderer, coaching is a natural path for Dr. Karen Sides. For the last several years, her creative exploration has been focused on a daily mindfulness practice that she has incorporated into a coaching practice for adults who are working through changes in their lives.
Dr. Sides earned…

Dr. Charlie McCormick, President, Schreiner University
Charlie is serving as the 6th president of Schreiner University. Prior to this appointment, he served for 7 1/2 years at Schreiner as the provost and vice-president for academic affairs. McCormick grew up in Snyder, Texas, and earned degrees from Abilene Christian University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Pennsylvania. McCormick pursues…

Ms. Wendy L. Blaettner, Director of the Schreiner Experience
Wendy serves at the Director of the Schreiner Experience, where she currently oversees the areas of Career Development and Meaningful Work. Prior to this new role on campus, she served as the Director of Human Resource Services for 6 years at Schreiner University. Wendy possesses over 20 years of experience in the field of Human Resource Management.
Wendy earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University, and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Houston Baptist University. She has…

Ms. Chaunte’ Hall, Chief Executive Officer, Centurion Military Alliance
Session Topic: Diversity, Inclusion & Acceptance
Chaunte’ Hall is no stranger to understanding military culture. Growing up as an Air Force dependent in a family steeped in military tradition, it is easy to understand her drive, determination and unyielding passion for serving the military and the military-affiliated community.
As a U.S. Air Force OIF/OEF Veteran…

Ms. Danielle Carosello, GM, Federal Health Sector with GE Healthcare
Session Topic: Guiding Principles & Non-Negotiables
Danielle has had a long and successful track record in the healthcare industry, which included 10 years Active Duty in the US Army and 14 years with GE Healthcare.
Danielle joined GE Healthcare the day she retired from the US Army in 2005, as a member of the Service Leadership Program. She then served as Director of Service for the Central/South Texas territory…

Major General Angie Salinas, United States Marine Corps (retired), CEO Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas
Topic: Earning Your Stripes
Angie Salinas, Major General U. S. Marine Corps (Ret) has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas (GSSWT) since July 1, 2015. Prior to becoming the CEO, she served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 39 years. A woman of many firsts, she made history as the first Latina selected and promoted to the general officer ranks in the U.S. Marine Corps. At the time of her retirement in September 2013, she was the senior ranking woman and the senior Hispanic in the Corps.
A Girl Scout alumna, Salinas is a role model to girls and women seeking…

Dr. Marilyn Thompson, Associate Provost, Human Resources, University of Waterloo
Topic: Building Resilience in Times of Change
Dr. Marilyn Thompson is currently Associate Provost, Human Resources at the University of Waterloo, Canada where she oversees the administration and long-term planning of all university human resources, organizational and human development, and total compensation activities and programs. As the chief human resources officer, she plays a key role in strategic planning…

Ms. Kimberly Lasseter, Global Director of Partner Program Design at Google
Session Topic: My Journey to a Successful Career in High Tech
Kimberly Lasseter is a Global Director in the Google Cloud Partner Programs & Strategy team and is responsible for program strategy and design for all partners to include distribution across all of the Google Cloud product portfolio. Her team is responsible for enabling partners to grow profitably by building their Google Cloud partnership via the partner program, portal, tools and other program enablement and activation initiatives.
She is an accomplished channel sales and marketing executive…

Ms. Tuesdae Knight, President and Chief Executive Officer, SAGE – San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside
Session Topic: Life Takes Us to Unexpected Places
Tuesdae Knight is an accomplished, forward-thinking marketing and communications leader who offers proven expertise in translating brand vision into innovative, engaging promotional events that produce high return and measurable results. Tuesdae consistently demonstrates outstanding interpersonal, presentation, and communication skills that create synergy in achieving organizational goals. Recognized for developing rapport and cultivating top-producing relationships with clients and business partners; demonstrates an ability to build high-performance teams that achieve unprecedented results.

Holly Parker-Ruiz, General Manager at JCPenney North Star Mall in San Antonio, Texas
Session Topic: Suit Up Event with JCPenney
Holly Parker-Ruiz is the General Manager at JCPenney North Star Mall in San Antonio, Texas. She has been with JCPenney for 32 years, she started her career in 1988 as Sales Associate, then held many positions within the organization such as Receiving, Money Room, multiple Supervisor roles, Sales Manager, Assistant Store Manager and Store Operations Manager in the Home Office.
She became a General Manager in 2012…
A big THANK YOU to our partnering institutions



