Catawba College female students will have an opportunity to hear from successful female professionals during a Women's Panel Discussion entitled, "What You Need to Know to Succeed." The event, sponsored by Catawba's Career Services and Ketner School of Business, is slated from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, February 17th in Tom Smith Auditorium on campus.
A panel of seven female professionals will share their best advice on success after college. Topics to be discussed include Equality in the Workplace, Legal Issues, Self-Confidence, Networking and Mentoring, Making Your Own Future, and Balancing It all – Work, Home and Self. The discussion will be moderated by Darlene Ball '62, chair of the Catawba College Board of Trustees.
Those attending will be eligible to enter a drawing for door prizes that include two $100 gift certificates to Belk of Salisbury for the purchase of professional clothing; a gift certificate from the Lettered Lily for custom business cards; two gourmet lunches donated by Morgan Ridge Vineyards, and five leather portfolios donated by I Promise Project.
Sponsors also include Wallace & Graham, Belk of Salisbury, Catawba College Institute of Business and Accounting, and Quick Copy Print Shop.
The seven panelists participating include Karen Kirks Alexander; Karen Gaskill '92; Rori Godsey '07; Kyna Grubb '89; Dr. Jolene Henning '96; Abby Hastings Kerr '72; and Mona Lisa Wallace. Brief biographic sketches of each panelist and the moderator follow:
PANELISTS:
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Karen Kirks Alexander is the founder and president of KKA Architecture, P.A. in Salisbury. Her projects, which include Catawba College's Center for the Environment, have won state, national and international awards. She has lived, worked and worshipped in Salisbury for over 25 years and is an active community leader, volunteer and advocate for preservation, the arts, the environment, and affordable housing. She served as Salisbury's Planning Board Chair prior to her appointment to City Council in January 2013, and her subsequent election to City Council in November 2013.
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Karen Gaskill '92 is a Certified Public Accountant who currently works as the Payroll Tax Manager for Delhaize America with responsibility for 30 companies across Delhaize America's operating area. She holds a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is a graduate of the AACSB bridge program, and earned a certificate in process management from the UNC Charlotte. She has taught at Catawba College and UNC Greensboro and has over 20 years' experience in industry and public accounting, serving in a variety of senior leadership roles.
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Rori Godsey '07 hails from Cheverly, Md., and came to Salisbury to attend Catawba College. She majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and was a student-athlete on the Cross Country team where she earned All-Conference Honors four times and All-Region Honors three times in that sport. Today, she works for F&M Bank as a Customer Service Representative, Teller Coordinator and Notary Public. Since her graduation from Catawba in 2007, she has served as the assistant coach for the college's men's and women's Cross Country teams.
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Kyna Grubb '89 earned her degree in Business with a concentration in Accounting at Catawba. She has been the Executive Director of Rowan Helping Ministries since July 2010. A Certified Public Accountant, her prior work experience was at Food Lion, LLC for 10 years in various positions including Assistant Controller, Forecasting Manager and Director of Community Affairs and Customer Relations. She also worked for Tanner Companies of Rutherfordton as Corporate Controller and Director of Support Services, and as an auditor with the public accounting firm, McGladrey & Pullen: Greensboro, Raleigh and Charlotte. She currently serves on the Ketner School of Business Advisory Board.
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Dr. Jolene Henning '96 earned her degree in Sports Medicine from Catawba and has been a certified athletic trainer since 1996. A member of the faculty of High Point University since 2011, she currently serves as Chair of the Department of Athletic Training. She earned her M.Ed. in Athletic Training from the University of Virginia, and her Ed.D. in Adult and Higher Education from Ball State University Prior to joining High Point University, she was a tenured associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she served for seven years as the Program Director of the entry-level Master of Science in Athletic Training (MSAT) degree.
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Abby Kerr '72 is a Financial Advisor with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. of Charlotte. Her prior experience includes 13 years as a Financial Services Representative for Wall Street Capital of Charlotte, and 17 years at Consolidated Planning, Inc. in a variety of positions with her last there as Senior Vice President/Manager of Advanced Planning. This Catawba College trustee earned her bachelor's degree in Secondary Education at Catawba and her master's degree in Counseling from UNC Charlotte. Her early career was spent in Student Services. She worked at UNC Charlotte as Assistant Intramural Director and coach of women's golf and volleyball, and at UNC Wilmington where she served as Associate Dean of Students.
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Mona Lisa Wallace is a lawyer and partner with Wallace and Graham, a Salisbury law firm, and serves on the Catawba College Board of Trustees. She earned her undergraduate degree from the UNC Chapel Hill and her law degree from Wake Forest Law School. She is licensed as an attorney in North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Tennessee. Since 1979, she has represented thousands of victims suffering from work-related diseases and cancers. Her firm has special expertise in asbestos and occupational disease, workers compensation, personal injury, mass and toxic torts, and products liability including silica, radiation, chemical, and coal tar pitch exposures.
MODERATOR:
- Darlene Ball '62 was a Biology and Chemistry major at Catawba, served as SGA president and was the Whitener Award winner. She enjoyed a long career in textiles, first at Dan River Mills in Research and later, working for close to four decades, with Burlington Industries. At Burlington, she held 11 different positions, with her last one as Corporate Vice President of E-Business Development. Since 2008, she has been a partner in Seating Safety Solutions. Active in the life of her alma mater, she currently serves as chair of Catawba's Board of Trustees and has been a member of that board since 1999. She has also served as president of Catawba's Alumni Association.
