Media Contact: Barbara M. Fornasiero; EAFocus Communications; 248.260.8466; barbara@eafocus.com
Auburn Hills, Mich. – September 14, 2017 – Anne Doyle, a global speaker, change agent and author of Powering Up! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, now out in its third edition, will be a keynote speaker at the 2017 Women and Leadership Conference: Lessons in Leadership hosted by the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. The annual conference, which takes place September 27–28 and is already sold-out, attracts 800 attendees and features female leaders from the military, the boardroom, the arts and technology sharing lessons and strategies for women to rise to greater levels of leadership in business, politics and beyond.
Doyle, who has spoken at some of the leading corporations and universities in the U.S., the Mideast, the Caribbean and Europe on women’s leadership, gender issues, communication skills and changing media trends, will present “Powering Up to Leadership” on Thursday, September 28, from 3:45 p.m.–4:45 p.m. As the conference’s closing keynote speaker, Doyle will discuss the fundamental need for women to leverage their collective influence to affect change.
“The prestigious Andrus Center Leadership Conference is an important forum for me to share with the next generation of women leaders the lessons I’ve learned during my over four decades as both a witness and participant on the front lines of women’s progress,” Doyle said. “My generation of trailblazing women professionals is counting on women just hitting their stride to pick up the torch and continue to push up against deeply-ingrained gender barriers that still hold women back.”
A Michigan Journalism Hall of Famer who honed her locker room leadership by serving as one of TV’s first women sports broadcasters, Doyle also worked in corporate America, pushing up against the auto industry’s “steel ceiling” as an executive at Ford North America. Dipping into political waters, Doyle was the top vote getter in 2008, when she won a four-year seat on the Auburn Hills, Michigan, city council.
“Women have fought valiantly to level the playing field in all facets of public and corporate life, but there’s still so much work to do. One need only look at the Global Gender Gap Report, which ranks 144 developed countries on equality between men and women, to see that the United States is in freefall,” Doyle said. “In 2015, the U.S. fell to 23rd in the world, and in 2016 dropped to 45th position, behind most European nations and several African countries. The great paradox is that the USA is ranked #1 in the world for educational opportunities for males and females. But we are 78th for political empowerment, based on the small number of American women in national elected office. There is something very wrong with that picture! It is time for American women to regain our momentum and “power up” to our next frontier: Leadership.”
Doyle’s sought-after insights come not only from her experience in leadership hot seats and journalistic research in the United States, but also globally. She currently serves as the President of the Michigan chapter of the International Women’s Forum, the preeminent global network for women of achievement from 37 countries. Under Doyle’s leadership, Detroit recently won the privilege of hosting IWF’s Global Conference in October 2020, the first time in the organization’s 45-year history, bringing 1,200 women leaders from every continent except Antarctica to the Motor City. In October, she will represent Michigan at the IWF’s 2017 World Leadership Conference, which will be held in Houston.
About Women and Leadership 2017
Now in its fifth year, Women and Leadership is the only leadership conference of its kind in Idaho. Welcoming women and men, the conference combines keynote presentations from accomplished women leaders in a variety of fields, skills-based training sessions that focus on professional development and morning and evening receptions that enable attendees to connect with their peers and develop their personal networks. It is hosted at the Andrus Center for Public Policy, founded by Cecil D. Andrus, a former four-term Idaho Governor and U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The Center has been “common ground” for serious discussion about public policy and some of the critical issues confronting the U.S. today. For more information on the conference, visit https://sps.boisestate.edu/andruscenter/events/women-leadership-conference/.
About Anne Doyle and Powering Up Women
From journalist, corporate executive and public servant to author, global speaker and commentator, the trajectory of Anne Doyle’s entire life has been toward empowering women. A trailblazing TV news and sports broadcaster, Doyle was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame for her role in opening sports locker rooms to women reporters. She earned her business stripes with Ford Motor Company, where she rose to Director of North America Communications and was named one of the “100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry.” Doyle also entered public service as a four-year member of the Auburn Hills City Council from 2009–2013, and by invitation, participated in the U.S. Department of State’s International Speaker & Information Programs. The author of Powering Up! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, Doyle is the founder of Powering Up Women, LLC, a leadership consulting practice. To learn more about Anne Doyle or to purchase Powering Up! How America’s Women Achievers Become Leaders, click here.
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