Smithtown West Hosts "Pathways to Success" Conference

Smithtown West DECA recently hosted Pathways to Success, a conference that allowed students to connect with professionals in the business community and discover the possibilities of their futures.

This event was organized by Smithtown West DECA as part of an entrepreneurship promotion campaign. Project leaders Darian Kane-Stolz and Victoria Tiranno planned this event as part of the chapter’s campaign to promote entrepreneurship to students and the community. Pathways to Success was the culminating event of the project, which served to to wrap up the ideas of our project and to involve the entire school district.

The goal of the conference was to bring together our future workforce to give talks that are idea-focused to foster learning, inspiration and wonder in our younger community. The speakers focsed on topics, such as workplace readiness, journeys as a businessperson or entrepreneur, and how different careers fit into the skillset of entrepreneurship.

The keynote speaker of the event was Alfred Khan, the CEO of CraneKhan. Mr. Kahn is known for developing iconic brands such as Pokemon, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Other speakers at the event included Dr. Kimberly Cline, Dr. Hassan Abdulhaqq, Susan Gubing, Ken Havranek, Steven Gottlieb, Raffelina Cipriano, Jamie Davis, Cristina Capone, Lauren Pearson, and Lisa Ludwig.

Overall, the event was a huge success. Students were engaged and thoroughly enjoyed the different ideas from each speaker. This event was the first annual conference, and students expressed excitement for next year’s event.

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