By Brittney Payette
Managing Editor
At 5:20 p.m. on April 6 in the McCasland Ballroom, Cameron’s engineering club hosted the Empowering Women in Leadership and STEM conference, which was funded through CU Lectures and Concerts and CU Home Savings Bank Endowed Lectureship in Organizational Leadership.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Angela Sivadon, Chief academic officer at Tulsa Community College.
“Tonight, I’m going to share a little bit of information with you that’s going to change your life,” Sivadon said. “We’re going to figure out how to connect with different personalities.”
One topic Sivadon covered was about a person’s temperament, which she defined as part of an individual’s personality that is genetically based.
“Our behavior is based on our unmet needs,” she said. “I’m going to talk about needs versus wants. I’m going to describe different core needs for each one of the temperaments.”
Sivadon said there are four temperaments: the promoter, the planner, the ponderer, and the performer. Each kind of temperament has a key value.
The key value for the promoter is relationships, the planner’s key value is responsibility, the ponderer’s key value is competence, and the performer’s key value is freedom.
“We’re a combination of all four of them,” Sivadon said. “The promoter, planner, ponderer and performer.”
There were also female leaders in the community who were introduced as honorees at the conference.
These honorees included Lieutenant Colonel Adia H. Terry, Command Sergeant Jeanette Clement and Sergeant First Class Jacqueline Wells.
Additional honorees include Staff Sergeant Maria Tina Rogriguez, Army Veteran Specialist Silvia E. Qualls, Army Veteran Captain Regina DeLoach and Lieutenant Colonel Sherene L. Williams.
After the keynote speaker finished, participants were able to enjoy appetizers and network with other attendees and local female leaders.
Next, there was a panel discussion featuring Sivadon, CU Veterans Affairs Coordinator Vicki Henson and the President of the Lawton Chapter of Oklahoma Women Veterans Organization Una “Lisa” Williams.
Williams said she has faced various obstacles over the years, especially as a soldier. She said her biggest challenge was trying to be there for her son while being a soldier and a single mom.
“When you know a lot, and you want to do the right thing, a lot of people will try to question you and challenge you with that,” Williams said. “You have to know, no matter what, doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.”
Williams said people should not be afraid to take the lead.
“I like a challenge,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to take challenges… (and) ask questions because a closed mouth won’t get fed.”
Sivadon said she became the Chief Academic Officer at the Tulsa Community College during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a challenge.
“Everyone was affected in some manner or another,” Sivadon said. “For someone like me, who’s a very positive and extroverted kind of person, it was hard to replicate that. You know, with the remote stuff and everything and not being in person.”
Henson said that she finds teamwork to be extremely important and helpful when it comes to overcoming formidable problems in one’s life.
“If you get to know people in your community, you’ll be amazed (by) all their talents and their abilities,” Henson said. “The fun thing is to be able to enable somebody else to contribute back and to help you to do something amazing.”
One of the attendees was sophomore engineering major Quinton Mendes said he came to this event because it was hosted by the engineering club, which he is a part of.
“I thought it was very nice,” Mendes said. “It was an insight for guys and girls to see the struggles of women in the workforce.”
For more information, contact Faculty in Residence Christopher Sauer at csauer@cameron.edu.
