Winter Greetings from VWPN!

Welcome to the Winter 2020 Newsletter for the Villanova Women’s Professional Network (VWPN)! I hope 2020 is off to a strong start for all of you!

This edition highlights the upcoming events in the spring of 2020 and recaps Fall 2019 events sponsored by VWPN and those in which we partnered with The Anne Welsh McNulty Institute for Women’s Leadership. It also features articles on:

“Nine Personal Branding Tips for Professional Success” by Catherine Kaputa, branding specialist and author of “You Are a Brand”
Michele Pistone, Director of Clinic for Asylum, Refugee and Emigrant Services (CARES) and Professor of Law
Heather Cluley, PhD, Associate Director and Assistant Professor of Human Resources & Development, Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences
Meredith Okenquist CLAS ’96, Career Transitions Coach at Villanova

For those at Villanova wishing to be more involved in research involving gender, work and the family, the Anne Welsh McNulty Institute recently set up a Gender, Work, and Family Community of Scholars. Please follow this link to learn more!

In the newsletter that follows PLEASE CLICK on the blue lettering at the beginning of each entry to read the rest of the article.

I look forward to seeing you at some of our Spring 2020 workshops! As always, if there are topics you would like to see or if you have speakers to suggest, please let us know.

Warm wishes,

Cheryl Carleton, PhD
Department of Economics
Director, The Villanova Women’s Professional Network

Upcoming Events

AAUW Work Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops

Tuesday, March 17, 6 – 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 26, 1 – 3 p.m. HSB, Room 200

Join us to learn how to negotiate for a pay raise, a promotion, or other benefit. Look for the registration link on our webpage.

Financial Literacy for Post-College Women

Friday, March 20, 2 – 4 p.m. Dougherty West Lounge (Additional dates TBD)

Attend this workshop to learn about managing your financial matters with confidence. Look for the location for March 20 workshop, the additional dates and a registration link on our web page soon.

Legal Literacy panel

March 26, 2020 6 to 7:30 pm, Bartley 1011 (PwC Auditorium)

Join us and a panel of lawyers to learn more about when to consider hiring a lawyer and how to go about doing so, wills, elder care law, family, law, trusts and estates, and special needs planning. Please see our website (www.villanova.edu/vwpn) for more information and a link to registration.

AAUW Start Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops

Monday, April 6, 6 – 7 p.m. and Friday, April 17, 3 – 4:30 p.m. McNulty Institute in Tolentine Hall

We will again hold a few Start Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops for undergraduate students. Students: watch the Wildcat Newswire for information for dates and the registration link.

Recognizing Faculty - Heather Cluley

Heather Cluley, associate director and assistant teaching professor, Graduate Programs HRD, Psychological & Brain Sciences, discusses her research on work and family

Recognizing Faculty - Michele Pistone

Michelle Pistone, professor of law, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and the Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates (VIISTA), discusses the impact of immigration advocacy education.

Learn about VISTA, Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates program.

Recognizing VSB Alumni

As a Career Transitions Coach at Villanova, Meredith Okenquist CLA '96 brings a wealth of experience with career development and transitions.

Meredith Okenquist joined the Experienced Career Services Team last summer in a newly developed role for Villanova University as a Career Transitions Coach.

Nine Personal Branding Tips for Professional Success: What Women Need to Know

Success in a company or profession these days requires careful personal branding, both to enter the arena and to stay in the game. Hollywood icons and high-profile athletes have long tapped into the branding model to build a personal brand. Now, savvy professional people and entrepreneurs are using personal branding to be more successful.

Recap of Fall 2019 Events

Fall Speaker: Catherine Kaputa

September 25, 2019

On September 25, the VWPN welcomed brand strategist, speaker and author, Catherine Kaputa, as our fall speaker. Catherine gave a talk on “You Are a Brand: How Smart Women Brand Themselves for Success.” The event was preceded by a roundtable dinner attended by the speaker and approximately 20 women student leaders from around campus. To read some of Catherine’s advice, please see “Nine Personal Branding Tips for Professional Success: What Women Need to Know” in this newsletter.

Work Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops

October 3 and 27, 2019

The VWPN and The Anne Welsh McNulty Women’s Leadership Institute held Work Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops again on October 3 and October 27. Aimed at women already in the work force or looking to return to the work force, participants learned about negotiating for a promotion or salary increase. The workshops also helped them identify their personal value, develop persuasive responses and negotiation strategies, conduct objective market research to benchmark a target salary and benefits, and acknowledge the effects of the gender pay gap on economic security and life goals.

The workshops were led by VSB faculty members Jennifer Altamuro, associate professor, Accounting and Information Systems and Cheryl Carleton, assistant professor of Economics and Director of the Villanova Women’s Professional Network.

Start Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops

September 27 and November 14, 2019

On September 27 and November 14, 2019, the VWPN and The Anne Welsh McNulty Women’s Leadership Institute facilitated AAUW Start Smart Wage Negotiation Workshops. Aimed at current students who will be beginning their careers, these workshops were facilitated by Maggie Songer, director of Employer Relations in the University Career Center, and Danielle DeWesse, assistant director of the Anne Welsh McNulty Women’s Leadership Institute. If you know of a current student or student group who would benefit from this workshop, please contact us.

Financial Literacy Workshop

December 12, 2019

The VWPN and The Anne Welsh McNulty Women’s Leadership Institute hosted a Financial Literacy Workshop on December 12, 2019. Aimed at post-graduate women, the workshop encouraged participants to explore how they approach money matters, as well as the past, current, and future state of their financial health to approach money matters with competence and confidence. The facilitators provided information on the basics of tracking expenses and creating a spending plan, saving for the future, managing credit scores and debt. Facilitated by Jennifer Altamuro, PhD, associate professor, Accounting & Information, this workshop included a break-out session on taxes led by students from the Tax Clinic at the Villanova Law School. Look for another workshop in spring 2020!