Rider celebrates 150 years of women

LAWRENCE, N.J. — Rider Women’s Leadership Council (RWLC), organized a networking session, a women’s giving challenge, and a panel discussion for an audience of mostly women on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus, yesterday.

The council is celebrating 150 years of women at Rider University. These women include current students, staff and faculty, family and friends, as well as alumnae.

Among many noteworthy women at yesterday’s function were: Joan Mazzotti, class of ’72, and chair of the women’s giving challenge and also former executive director of Philadelphia Futures; Dr. Erica Ryan, chair of gender and sexuality studies; Sharrie Williams, news anchor at 6 ABC, Action News, and mentor and moderator at event; Meghan Holohan, class of ’99, ’01, and sales manager at Bloomberg LP; and Krishna Powell, class of ’05, and president of HR 4 Your Small Biz, LLC.

Following the networking segment, Mazzotti asked the audience for 100 per cent participation in making donations or pledges to the “Giving Challenge” to raise $15,000 for the council.

She notes, “This is our chance to pay it forward by ensuring that current and future generations of Rider women have the opportunities and resources they need to succeed in the 21st century. Our time is now. Never has women supporting women at Rider been more important.”

The challenge was surpassed within 10 minutes of asking.

Women supported each other from the start, with Williams mentoring current students and others who are interested in her career as a television news anchor.

Williams was also the moderator of the panel discussion, which was entitled: My style is my strength: Leadership from a place of authenticity.

The effort was a part of 2017 Homecoming celebration at the university. The event organizers recognized that “Rider women take the reins,” as they continue to support each other.