University Of Kentucky Women’s Forum Announces Annual Conference Dates, New Name

From the University of Kentucky:

By Drew Elisabeth Ard

September 25, 2020

The University of Kentucky Women’s Forum is excited to announce its annual conference. It is a landmark year for the event for many reasons. Not only will UK Women's Forum be hosting the event fully online for the first time ever, but the event name is also changing to Womxn+ Conference. The program will be held over two days and will be completely free of charge.

The conference theme is Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges and it will run 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, with potential special programming 7-8 p.m. that evening, and 8 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Dec. 9. The virtual conference will be on Microsoft Teams Online.

Why Womxn+?

This alternative spelling to women includes not only cis women, but trans women, nonbinary, people of color and female-identified individuals. The swapping of letters promotes inclusivity and the + represents our allies that help advance our mission of creating a space to discuss relevant issues and using collective problem solving and educational opportunities to empower and champion womxn.

The conference may include, but is not limited to, the following topics: understanding racial trauma, ally development, career advancement, salary negotiation, midcareer development and management, work-life balance, coping mechanisms for anxiety and stress, and mental health.

So far this year’s keynote speakers include local icon Judge Pamela Goodwine. Goodwine was elected to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in November 2018 to serve Division 1 of the 5th Appellate District. Before her election to the Court of Appeals, Goodwine was chief regional circuit judge for Fayette County. She served as a circuit court judge since November 2003. She served as a district court judge from August of 1999 until November of 2003. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics in 1991. She graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1994. She was admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky in October 1994. Goodwine was in private practice with the law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs from 1994 until her appointment to the district court bench in August 1999. Her primary practice area was labor and employment law.

Additional keynote speakers, breakout session speakers and entertainment will be announced at a later date. To receive upcoming notifications about this event join the UK Women’s Forum mailing list by emailing UKWF@uky.edu.

This press release was produced by the University of Kentucky. The views expressed here are the author’s own.