FAIRBORN – The 2018 Women in Business Networking (WiBN) Leadership Conference will feature three leaders from Clark State Community College: Clark State President Dr. Jo Alice Blondin, Senior Vice President for Student Success Dr. Theresa Felder and Clark State Foundation Director Toni Overholser.
The annual WiBN leadership conference is sponsored by the Dayton Better Business Bureau and will be held 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the Holiday Inn by Wright State University, 2800 Presidential Drive.
“These outstanding women of Clark State Community College were selected because WiBN’s mission is to help women get from where they are to where they want to be,” said Melissa Cutcher, vice president of leadership and development for the Better Business Bureau serving Dayton & the Miami Valley. “Their topics and content will be empowering, informative and encourage our attendees to reach their goals.”
Jo Alice Blondin, Ph.D., became the fifth president of Clark State Community College on July 1, 2013. Prior to Clark State, Dr. Blondin served as chancellor of Arkansas Tech University – Ozark campus and professor of English for seven years, as well as chief academic officer, chief student officer, department chair of English, communication and social sciences. She holds a Ph.D. and Master of Arts in English from Arizona State University and Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University majoring in English with a minor in Spanish. Blondin will conduct a session on mentoring at the WiBN Conference.
“I hope that the attendees will realize that the most important aspect of being an effective leader is to be an authentic, transparent and ethical leader,” she said.
Blondin has been named to the Dayton Business Journal’s BizWomen Power 50 list for five consecutive years and was recently elected to serve on the American Association of Community College (AACC) Board of Directors and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Board of Trustees.
Dr. Theresa Felder has served Clark State since 2004 in the roles of project coordinator for the Workforce Investment Act youth program, retention specialist for the CareerPlus program, GEAR UP director, academic affairs coordinator for the Greene Center and dean of the Greene Center. She was promoted to senior vice president of student success in May of this year. In 2016 Felder was accepted into the competitive-entry Executive Leadership Institute (ELI).
Felder will speak on “How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence – Be a Better Leader and Create a Stronger Organization.”
Toni Overholser, director of the Clark State Foundation, has been with Clark State since 2014. She has served as Clark State director of business and community development and director of workforce and business solutions. She was also recently named the 2018 Greene County Career Center Friend of Education.
Overholser was selected for the award for her long-time commitment to career-technical education and Greene County Career Center as a community leader, education professional and parent of a Greene County Career Center alumnus. Overholser will speak on millennials in the workforce.
The WiBN Leadership Conference is an opportunity for diverse professional women to encourage one another’s growth and empower each other’s success. The conference agenda includes sessions and workshops with dynamic speakers who will help develop the skills and resources necessary to build relationships, expand networks and increase business opportunities through professional and personal growth.
