Wonder Women highlights influential leaders

By Bryce Johnson •

COURTESY OF CENTER FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS The panelists pose for a photo with the winner for the Wonder Women scholarship in 2022.

For Women’s History Month, NSU’s annual Wonder Women event will be held in the Adolfo and Marisela Cotilla Gallery from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on March 25. The event is hosted by the Center for Academic and Professional Success, H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement, and The Women’s Success Series.

Rita Shea-Van Fossen, associate professor of management in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, coordinates the Women’s Success Series, of which Wonder Women is a part.

“What we see in the classroom are these amazingly sharp women, but when they go for that top job, they go, ‘wait a minute.’ And they kind of hold back. What we wanted to do is have events, have classes that can help build that confidence,” Shea-Van Fossen said. “We had a dean that saw that vision, and when I was hired here, he said, ‘We’d love to, at some point, have a women’s leadership program and we’d love you to be a part of it.’ And that got me to definitely come to NSU, and get started. But we’re now the sixth year into it, and it is really just heartwarming, and hopefully we will continue to do it for many years to come.”

Shea-Van Fossen said the event will feature a variety of high ranking women as keynote speakers in a moderated discussion, including Tamara Chase, CEO of Chase Roofing; Katina Brown-Burgess, OB-GYN in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine; Denise Mendez, principal software engineer at Microsoft; and Carmen Rodriguez, director of NSU’s Marine Environmental Education Center. Kyle Fisher, vice president for NSU’s Public Relations, Marketing, and Creative Services, will moderate the discussion.

Johnny Kevorkian, associate director of Employee Relations in CAPS, said the winner of the $500 Wonder Women award will be announced at the event.

“Undergraduate students can nominate a student based on traits that we’ve set for a Wonder Woman, which is leadership, academic excellence and career focus, community service, integrity, ethics and women’s empowerment,” Kevorkian said.

Shea-Van Fossen said the scholarship is open to any undergraduate student. Nominations close on March 17 at 11:59 p.m.

“Those that end up being our top folks, not only are they doing amazing things, but they’re also helping others. And I have said over and over again that I will celebrate the day that we have one of our gentlemen that is one of our finalists for this scholarship, because they’re helping to empower women and make them just as successful,” Shea-Van Fossen said.

Last year, around 37 students were nominated for the award. Shea-Van Fossen and Kevorkian hope to see more this year.

“I’d like to just see more students come and support, whether they’re nominated or not, because we bring in some amazing panelists, some amazing women leaders with amazing stories and backgrounds and advice for students,” Kevorkian said.