What makes a great leader on a global scale? A coalition of eight student groups has been working for nearly a year to organize a conference to answer that question.
The Global Leadership Conference is set for Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 at Siegle Hall. It is free and open to the public.
It will feature a keynote address by Jimmy Wales, the founder of the international web-based encyclopedia Wikipedia and additional talks from the heads of noted for-profit and nonprofit organizations that operate globally but have ties to Washington University.
“Our mission is to provide an environment where the Washington University community can further the development of their global leadership ability,” Chris Cassidy, sophomore in architecture and vice president of the conference, says.
Other speakers include Theresa Wilson, first nonprofit winner of the Olin Cup competition and founder of the Blessing Basket Project in St. Louis, and Soo K. Chan, alumnus, founder and principal architect of internationally award-winning SCDA Architects in Singapore.
“We wanted to bring in diversity not only from different regions of the world, but also from various career paths and industries,” Cassidy says.
To foster cultural understanding of different regions, the conference will also host various performances on Saturday. They include the Sensasian a capella group, WUSauce, WU Cypher, and the juggling troupe from the Lunar New Year Festival.
Simply organizating the conference has been an education, President Jason Tarre, a senior in liberal arts, says.
“It has been a great learning experience,” he says.