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ATLANTA – Ten years after the first section of WomenLead was piloted in spring 2015, more than 200 students, alumni, faculty, staff, and supporters gathered on March 11 at the University Club at Center Park Stadium to celebrate a decade of empowering Georgia State University students to aspire to and achieve leadership roles.
The three-hour elective, offered through Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business, began with 15 students enrolled in WomenLead in Business. Over the past 10 years, the WomenLead course portfolio has expanded to include undergraduate offerings in policy and politics, the arts, science, technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, and, most recently, a graduate-level WomenLead course. Fall 2025 will mark the launch of two new sections: WomenLead in Sports and WomenLead in Law.
The 10th-anniversary celebration began with words of welcome and encouragement from Georgia State President M. Brian Blake and First Lady Dr. Bridget Blake, followed by Robinson College’s Dean Richard Phillips, who discussed the course’s origin story.
WomenLead director Sarah Gershon, an instructor for its policy and politics section, talked about the significance of the moment: “It is my hope for our guests here tonight that you can see the impact you have made and will continue to make through this program – not only in the students here, but in the people they will lead and inspire in the future. To our students, I hope this event, like your experiences in WomenLead, reaffirms our collective confidence in you as you lead us all into the future."
Nadine Kabengi, associate dean of Georgia State’s Graduate School and WomenLead faculty member, facilitated “Leading Beyond Limits: A 10-Year Journey of Inspiration,” a panel discussion with Georgia State administrators, faculty, alumni, and community supporters who have been instrumental in the program from its beginning to the present.
- Angie Allen (MBA ’80), WomenLead Advisory Board member and Founder of Full Circle Living
- Allison Calhoun-Brown, Senior Vice President for Student Success and Chief Enrollment Officer
- Jerona Duthie (B.B.A. ’20, MBA ’23), WomenLead in Business alumna (’20) and marketing coordinator for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association
- Nitcelle Emanuels (B.S. ’03, MBA ’11), Senior Director/Chief of Staff, Global Belonging, Equity, and Impact Consulting, Strategy, and Operations for UKG, and WomenLead board chair
- Nancy Mansfield, WomenLead Founding Director and faculty (WomenLead in Business, WomenLead in Policy & Politics)
- Victoria Wallace (B.B.A. ’15), WomenLead in Business alumna (’15)
The night ended with an interactive networking reception where current students interviewed WomenLead alumni, university leaders, and community supporters for a class assignment.
Learn more at https://robinson.gsu.edu/womenlead/.
