Women in Motion Series

Breakfast & Networking

Continental breakfast, registration and networking

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Introductions and Overview of  the Women in Motion Leadership Series and our BLOOM Community.

About Liz: Elizabeth Kiehner is an enterprise transformation and AI executive, author, entrepreneur, and board leader who helps organizations navigate the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology, creativity, innovation, and business growth.

Throughout her career, Elizabeth has held leadership roles at some of the world’s most influential organizations, including IBM, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Capgemini, and Adobe. Her experience spans enterprise transformation, growth, strategy, technology, innovation, and AI, giving her a distinctive perspective on how organizations of every size can translate disruptive technologies into meaningful business results.

A dynamic business leader, Elizabeth brings a rare combination of business strategy, technology, creative leadership, and human-centered innovation. She has helped global enterprises and emerging organizations navigate transformation, develop new business models, reimagine customer experiences, and create new opportunities for growth. Her leadership is grounded in the belief that technology delivers its greatest value when paired with strong business strategy, creativity, and a deep understanding of people.

Elizabeth is known for igniting conversations and creating catalytic momentum around emerging technologies helping leaders move beyond experimentation to build practical strategies and organizations capable of thriving through change.

She is a frequent keynote speaker, moderator, and panelist at major technology, business, and creative-industry events. Recent appearances include CES, SXSW, Advertising Week, Digital Hollywood, RIT Saunders College of Business, NYC Tech Week, the Baltic American Freedom League, ACG South Florida, and the Tallinn Digital Summit.

Break

Developing your Leadership Identity, Living your Passion and BLOOMING through your Life Phases

Session Description: We all lead in some way, shape or form in our lives, whether that be personally and/or professionally. This session includes a reflective and interactive leadership identity exercise to explore how our experiences, choices, and relationships shape the way we see ourselves as leaders, and how we can intentionally step into the leader we are becoming.

Participants will begin to consider not only who they are as leaders today, but who they want to become in the next chapter of their leadership, and create a path forward to BLOOM in their personal and professional lives.

About Molly: Molly McGowan has spent the past 25 years studying, practicing, and teaching best practices in leadership.  She is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Management Department at the Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology specializing in leadership & team development, managerial skills, human resource management, personal leadership development, and business planning. Molly also currently serves as the Co-director for EMBA and Executive Education Programs at Saunders. She previously served as the founding Director of the Leadership Academy @ Saunders and is the founder of the Step Forward Leadership Program for high potential women leaders at RIT.  Molly has a strong passion and unique talent for coaching individuals to develop and achieve their leadership potential.  She has also coached numerous executive teams to develop strong, collaborative relationships and achieve organizational goals.

Molly earned her PhD in Organizational Psychology and her research is focused on soft skills and emotional intelligence for high performance in the workplace.  She is a DISC and Franklin Covey certified trainer and has developed award winning leadership programs for all levels of organizations – from frontline employees, to emerging leaders and middle managers, to high level executives.  She has delivered training and coaching for hundreds of individuals both domestically and internationally. 

Last, Molly has also been active in her community by previously serving on the Board of Trustees for Aquinas Institute, and as a Girl Scout leader for her daughter’s troop, as well as currently serving as an alumna of Leadership Rochester, and volunteering as the youth group leader at Community Christian Church.

About Wendi: Wendi Gammon is a higher education leader with nearly a decade of experience in leadership, program development, and supporting professional growth. She currently serves as Manager of the College of Art and Design Interpreting Team at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, where she leads a large professional team and oversees complex operations in a fast-paced higher education environment.

Wendi holds an Executive MBA from RIT’s Saunders College of Business and brings a practical, people-centered approach to leadership development. Her experience includes team leadership, program development, mentoring, communication, and building cultures where people feel connected, supported, and able to contribute their strengths.

Wendi is passionate about helping leaders better understand themselves, navigate the challenges of leadership, and recognize the importance of connection in how we lead and experience our work. She believes that strong professional communities, where people can show up authentically, feel psychologically safe, and learn from one another, are an important part of sustainable leadership. This spring, Wendi will partner with Molly McGowan to facilitate a series of women’s coaching circles offering space for reflection, connection, and meaningful conversation around the real-life challenges and opportunities of leadership.

Executive Presence: Who's in Your Corner?

Session Description: Leadership is shaped not only by what you know, but by the people who challenge, advocate for, and open doors for you, and by how you show up when your voice matters most. Join Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper and Chief of Staff Kerry Calnan for an interactive conversation about mentoring, sponsorship, and executive presence. Through candid stories, hands-on exercises, and real-world leadership scenarios, participants will examine who is in their corner, identify gaps in their professional network, and practice simple strategies for communicating with greater clarity, composure, and conviction. This will not be a sit-and-listen session. Come ready to participate, reflect, practice, and leave with one action you can put into motion within 48 hours.

Meet the Speakers: 

About Mary-Beth: Mary-Beth A. Cooper is the 13th President of Springfield College and an accomplished higher education executive with more than three decades of leadership experience. Since becoming president in 2013, she has guided Springfield College through a period of significant change and advancement, strengthening the institution while positioning it for long-term success in an increasingly complex higher education environment.

President Cooper is also a nationally engaged leader in higher education. Her leadership has included service as Vice Chair of the NCAA Board of Governors and significant involvement with the Council of Independent Colleges, where she has supported and mentored college presidents. Across these roles, she has developed a distinctive perspective on executive leadership, governance, organizational culture, and the responsibility of leaders to make consequential decisions while bringing people with them.

Her leadership philosophy combines strategic clarity with an abiding belief in people and purpose. She brings to The Power & Influence Leadership Certificate the perspective of a sitting president who understands firsthand the challenges of leading at the highest levels, building influence across diverse constituencies, navigating change, and developing the confidence to lead authentically.

About Kerry: Kerry Calnan is Chief of Staff to the President at Springfield College, where she serves as a strategic advisor to the president and works across the institution to translate presidential priorities into action. Her portfolio spans strategy, governance, organizational effectiveness, executive decision making, and complex initiatives that require influence across traditional organizational boundaries.

Kerry brings more than 30 years of experience across business and higher education, including executive leadership, academic leadership, finance, innovation, and teaching. Before joining Springfield College, she held senior leadership positions in higher education and began her career in corporate finance, including serving as a divisional controller for ABB. She has also spent much of her career teaching and developing emerging and experienced leaders.

Her work has given her a particular interest in how leadership actually gets done: how leaders build credibility, read organizational dynamics, influence without relying on authority, make difficult decisions, and move ideas from strategy to execution. In The Power & Influence Leadership Certificate, Kerry brings a practical perspective on helping women understand and use their own leadership.

Women's Wellness, Burnout Prevention & Sustainable Leadership

Session Description: Women in leadership are often expected to give endlessly to their teams, organizations, families, and communities while their own well-being is pushed aside. In this session, Dr. Chimere Clark explores what it means to lead longer by prioritizing wellness, resilience, and sustainable habits. Drawing on her experience as a women's health provider, educator, and entrepreneur, she shares practical strategies for recognizing burnout, setting healthy boundaries, and creating a foundation for leadership that is both impactful and enduring.

About Chimere: Dr. Chimere Clark, DNP, APRN, WHNP-BC, CNEcl, is a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner, educator, entrepreneur, and Navy veteran. She is the founder of CoVA Care, PLLC, an inclusive sexual and reproductive health practice serving women and gender-diverse patients across Virginia and New York. As Clinical Transitions Coordinator and Assistant Professor at Frontier Nursing University, she prepares future women's health providers for clinical practice through simulation-based education. Dr. Clark is passionate about empowering women to lead with resilience, prioritize their well-being, and build fulfilling careers without losing themselves in the process.

Lunch, Connection & Conversation

An opportunity to continue the conversation, build relationships, reconnect with colleagues and meet new people.

Closing Reflection & Leadership Commitment: What Will You Carry Forward?

An opportunity to continue the conversation, build relationships, reconnect with colleagues and meet new people.

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