Kent State University’s Center for Student Involvement is introducing a new initiative this fall through its Leadership Development team. The Leadership Speaker Series features five speakers: Jerome Love, Kym Whitley, Chaz Pitts-Kyser, Lilly Ledbetter and Nikki Giovanni. The Center for Student Involvement is no stranger to bringing motivational speakers to the Kent Campus, but this is the first time that the speakers are being offered in a series. The topics for each speaker vary, but they all have a central theme related the center’s five leadership cornerstones: communication, service, teamwork, vision and engagement.
Della Marie Marshall, senior associate director of Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement, is excited to spearhead this new initiative.
“It is our hope that the community will attend the programs and be able to learn from leaders in the industry,” Marshall said.
Admission to all events is free. Love, who is an entrepreneur and professional speaker, kicks off the series on Monday, Sept. 15, in the Kent Student Center Kiva at 7 p.m. Love is a well-respected expert in sales and business development. He enthusiastically shares how he turned his tribulations into success through interactive examples. He proves that with a “can’t fail” mindset, anyone can find the motive behind their motivation.
Whitley, who is an actress and Cleveland native, will share her experiences as an actress on Monday, Sept. 29, at the Kent Student Center Kiva at 7 p.m. She is the star of the hit docu-series Raising Whitley, where her life as a new mom of an adopted son plays out.
On Wednesday, Oct. 15, in Room 306 at the Kent Student Center at 7 p.m., Pitts-Kyser, a motivational speaker and author, will engage the audience in an interactive session that discusses the root causes of people’s low self-esteem, which often leads to self-doubt and the fear of failure.
A crusader for equal pay and women’s rights, namesake of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, Ledbetter spent 19 grueling years working at a Goodyear plant before an anonymous note informed her that she made 40 percent less than her male counterparts. She will be on campus to share her story on Monday, Oct. 20, at the Kent Student Center Kiva at 7 p.m.
Giovanni is a world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator. Over the past 30 years, her outspokenness in her writing and lectures has brought the eyes of the world upon her. She will visit the Kent Campus to share poetry on Thursday, Nov. 6, in the University Auditorium at Cartwright Hall at 7 p.m.
For more information about leadership opportunities within Kent State’s Center for Student Involvement, visit www.kent.edu/csi.
# # #
Media Contacts:
Della Marie Marshall, dmarshal@kent.edu, 330-672-2480
Bob Burford, rburford@kent.edu, 330-672-8516