Each year, Douglass students, staff, alumnae, and featured professionals gather at the Christiana Foglio DC’84 Career Conference, a career advancement forum open exclusively to Douglass students through The BOLD Center for Leadership, Career, and Personal Development. Composed of interactive panels, keynotes, and networking sessions, the day is specially designed to have a transformational effect on a student’s professional development journey. Whether students begin the day pursuing a long-held ambition or start off questioning their direction, the Conference offers resources for all stages of career exploration.
Due to the remote instruction format of the fall 2020 semester, this integral Douglass event underwent a remodel to adapt to the virtual landscape, resulting in a day composed of high-impact and accessible professional development programming for over 530 student registrants.
The Conference took place entirely over Zoom, a video conferencing platform. Students and guests moved throughout the day by following an online agenda with links to a virtual room for each session and panel. Through this format, students were able to hear keynote presentations from Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, Douglass alumna and Former Chief of Staff to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Obama Administration; Victoria Salami, Douglass alumna and Attorney at Fox Rothschild; and Abby Melone, CEO & Founder of Capital Analytics. They also participated in panels on various topics ranging from executive-level leadership with professionals from Instagram and Amazon to beginning a career in STEM.
In past years, the Conference has also been a chance for students to make connections with alumnae and employers, yielding lasting relationships that lead to externships, internships, and more. This year, networking happened online, with a LinkedIn swap session dedicated to matching students with panelists and speakers.
The success of the 2020 Career Conference proves that flexibility, innovation, and the dedication of Douglass students, staff, and alumnae are incredible tools to ensure the power of the Douglass Difference.
To learn more about the Career Conference, please view this message from sponsor Christiana Foglio DC'84.
