Women's Foundation of Arkansas, ASU, host Girls of Promise conference March 31

March 28, 2012
Arkansas State University will host the Women's Foundation of Arkansas Girls of Promise conference on Saturday, March 31, from 8:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the Carl R. Reng Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road, Jonesboro. Dr. Janet Ply, an engineer and pilot, is this year's keynote speaker, and former television reporter and anchor Yolanda Young will serve as emcee for the program. This the ninth year for ASU to host the conference on its campus, and more than 90 area girls are expected to attend and to participate.

Arkansas State University will host the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas “Girls of Promise” conference on Saturday, March 31, from 8:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the Carl R. Reng Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road, Jonesboro. Dr. Janet Ply, an engineer and pilot, is this year’s keynote speaker, and former television reporter and anchor Yolanda Young will serve as emcee for the program. This the ninth year for ASU to host the conference on its campus, and more than 90 area girls are expected to attend and to participate.

Keynote speaker Dr. Janet Ply is the co-founder and a managing partner of Pendére, a company that specializes in helping large companies solve hard problems. She has more than 20 years experience managing large, complex software solutions in the United States and Europe and has taught hundreds of people how to manage large software development projects. Pendére is a woman-owned business formed in 1993 to provide IT strategy, consulting, and training services to Fortune 1000 companies and the federal government. Pendére has an impressive client list that continues to grow, and the company’s approach provides high quality services that deliver business value to its clients. Pendére only engages with clients where it believes it can be successful. Since 1993, Pendére has been helping clients build effective Information Technology (IT) project management and delivery solutions. Pendére works with clients to develop a multi-dimensional delivery infrastructure that provides a repeatable delivery capability for on-time, on-budget projects and initiatives, reinforces a culture that will sustain the changes introduced, and contributes to the bottom line. Visit Pendére online.

Dr. Ply has a BS in mathematics, an MS in Engineering, an MS in Procurement and Acquisition Management, and a PhD in Information Technology. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute and is certified by the Software Engineering Institute to assess organizational software processes. Dr. Ply is also an instrument-rated pilot, and she got her private pilot’s license in 1979 out of Conway, Arkansas. She frequently flies patients for medical treatment as a member of the South Central Chapter of Angel Flight.

Dr. Ply is a frequent speaker at numerous Information Systems conferences, including the ICIS conference in Paris, France, and the SEPG conferences in San Jose, California, and Austin, Texas. She has also been a speaker at the last four Women in Technology conferences sponsored by the University of Arkansas.

In 2000, the Women’s Foundation created the Girls of Promise initiative to introduce 8th grade girls across Arkansas to information about careers in areas related to math, science, and technology while giving them the opportunity to meet with women professionals for a greater understanding of their own potential and power. These day-long conferences encourage girls to pursue academic excellence in their high school and college years. Attendees get to meet other girls like themselves and realize that it’s okay to be a bright, motivated girl with big dreams. Every year at Girls of Promise conferences, Arkansas girls meet and learn from women with amazing careers, such as scientists, astronauts, physicians, computer systems engineers, and others. During the Girls of Promise conference at ASU, the young women will hear from many talented and gifted speakers. They also will engage in hands-on activities. Visit Girls of Promise on Facebook.

Girls of Promise conferences help the Women’s Foundation achieve its mission of “promoting philanthropy among women and helping women and girls achieve their full potential” by providing inspiration to young girls that expands their understanding of their own power and possibilities. Through participation in Girls of Promise programs, girls begin to believe they can be and do anything. “Let us continue to educate, enlighten and empower our ‘Girls of Promise’ as they mature into effective leaders of our country and the world,” says Dr. Natalie Johnson-Leslie, associate professor of secondary education and local committee chair at ASU.

The Women’s Foundation was established in 1998 by a key group of prominent Arkansas women pooling their money together to create a charitable fund dedicated to investing in projects benefitting women and girls in Arkansas. One hundred women giving $1,000 each raised the initial $100,000 used to create an endowment fund with the Arkansas Community Foundation to ensure a perpetual source of grant-making funds.

The Women's Foundation of Arkansas is the only not-for-profit, statewide organization with the sole focus of developing the professional, economic, and philanthropic potential of Arkansas women and girls by ensuring they have the necessary resources, tools, and knowledge to reach their full potential. Visit the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas online and on Facebook.

For more information on ASU’s Girls of Promise conference, contact Dr. Natalie Johnson-Leslie at (870) 972-3947.