On the eve of the 2022 Women's Symposium, we gathered together with our 2022 Award Members in shared dialogue and discussion. We were so thankful to these amazing community award winners and their wisdom, insight and inspiring stories. It was such an honor to share space with them and we hope you will find this episode as inspirational as we did. 

You can learn more about our Community Award Winners here. 

This week's podcast features our last community award winner, Leah Parker! Leah Parker is a Dallas native. She has past corporate experience in human resource management with Westinghouse  Electric Corporation  in  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and franchise  ownership of  a  local  Baskin  Robbins. after that, she worked with st paul UMC as a church business administrator. Although retired, she still pursues  her  passion  of  working with the St Paul UMC church’s community  outreach  programs., primarily as  Coordinator  of the 24-year-old Body and Soul Homeless Ministry and as a board member of the Roseland Community Partners

On the eve of the 2021 Women's Symposium, we wanted to take some time to gather together with our 2021 Award Members in shared dialogue and discussion around what we have learned from each other and from this process of developing a podcast this year. We were so thankful to these women who continued to give us amazing insight and shared stories that were heartfelt and inspiring. It was such an honor to share space with them again and we hope you will find this episode as inspirational as we did.

Today's podcast is with SMU First Lady, Gail Turner! Gail Turner is a civic-minded leader in Dallas, Texas, and a member of several nonprofit organizations that serve the needs of women. Much of her time is spent on the campus of Southern Methodist University, where her husband, R. Gerald Turner, has been president since 1995. Mrs. Turner is on the board of the Shelter Ministries, Austin Street Homeless Shelter, Genesis Women’s Shelter, Dallas Symphony Women’s League, Charter 100 and the Women’s Board of the Dallas Opera; she is past chair of the New Friends New Life Ministry aiding women and their children. At SMU she serves on the Executive Board of the Meadows School of the Arts, the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and the Archives of Women of the Southwest at SMU’s DeGolyer Library. She is a member of the SMU Woman’s Club and life member of the SMU Mother’s Club. Reared in Graham, Texas, Mrs. Turner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology at Abilene Christian University and received a secondary teaching certificate from The University of Texas at Austin. For 13 years she taught in public and private schools. Dr. and Mrs. Turner are devoted parents and grandparents. Mrs. Turner is an active congregant at the Preston Road Church of Christ in Dallas. Her passion for helping women and children in need, her graciousness in serving the SMU community alongside her husband, and her joy in being a mother and grandmother identify her as a woman of character and distinction.

This Friday's podcast features another Profiles in Leadership Community Award Winner, Jessica Walker! Jessica has had 40+ years of Program Development, Partnership Development, Grant Writing, Management and Area Agency on Aging experience to promote continued growth, grant acceptance and diverse team-related strategies to serving the Community Council of Greater Dallas/Dallas Area Agency on Aging and other Community-based organizations. Jessica serves as the program lead for her work with the NIH All of us Research Program. This program works to engage and educate the community on the importance of medical research. She has worked tiredless to spread awarness and champion women's health. Jessica works to educate the community about health and health disparities, particularly the elderly, both women and men. She is a fireball on a mission to help build up those less fortunate then herself. Jessica is awesome, and we hope you enjoy learning more about her story! 

This week's podcast features Profiles in Leadership Community Award Winner, Suzi Greenman! Throughout a distinguished career in public relations, real estate, and as development director and executive director for nonprofit organizations; Suzi has always made time to take on and excel at various leadership roles as a volunteer: During her tenure (1999-2001) as one of the few women board presidents of Dallas’ Temple Emanu-El, Suzi led successful measures to improve accessibility. She also initiated and recruited leadership for Temple’s Jacob’s Ladder project whose goal was to help low income, middle-aged women without high school diplomas obtain their GEDs and find employment. In 1992, Suzi was recognized as a JCPenney Golden Rule Award finalist for her leadership in the Junior League’s and National Council of Jewish Women’s (NCJW) Paths to Prevention program, featuring a city-wide conference, with representation from every sector of the community as participants, aimed at combatting substance abuse among Dallas County youth. From 2007-2009, for NCJW and in partnership with TRAC (Transition Resource Action Center of City Square), Suzi co-initiated the WACHS (Women’s Access to Comprehensive Health Services) program which developed and delivered a sex education curriculum for teens aging out of foster care. Suzi excelled at fundraising for organizations and charities she believed in during a time when women were not typically welcomed in these roles. As a National Board member of Girls, Inc. and chair of its Development Committee (1990’s), she brought in a record amount in contributions and grants. Suzi is a visionary leader who motivates organizations to identify community needs and then implement ways of addressing them. While living in NewYork and serving as public affairs chair of the Junior League, a top issue was efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment for women. Suzi led delegations to lobby for the ERA with state legislators. As a woman who has successfully and consistently juggled career, community service and family obligations, Suzi is a role model for future generations. 

Join us for this inspiring conversation with our Women's Symposium Profiles in Leadership Awardee, Thear Suzuki. Thear’s personal purpose is to inspire courageous actions in others so they can lead more impactful lives. Thear develops and implements talent strategies for a $7B Consulting business with 23,000 employees across the Americas. She builds an inclusive culture of belonging that challenges the norm and encourages professionals to grow their careers and build a better working world. Thear’s previous roles have included Advisory Managing Partner for the Southwest Region and client service roles focused on large and complex technology transformations.

Thear is passionate about building leadership and philanthropic capacity in others to improve lives. At EY, she  serves on the Americas Innovation Council, Americas Inclusiveness Advisory Council, and she champions leadership development programs that build strong, innovative, and courageous leaders for the 21st century.

Thear is active with non-profit organizations that develop leaders and lifts up those who need a voice. With the Texas Women’s Foundation, Thear served 6 years on the Board of Directors, 2 years as Co-Chair of the Economic Leadership Council and a proud founding member of the Orchid Giving Circle. Thear serves on the SMU Lyle Engineering School Executive Board, the Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum Board, the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board, the National Asian/Pacific Islander Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship Board, and she is Co-Chair for the 2020 Women on Boards – Dallas Conversation on Board Diversity.

Thear is a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar and has received several recognitions, including Women Leaders in Consulting Future Leader Award, NAAAP 100 Award, WING’s Mentors & Allies Award, Each Moment Matters Award, and the Nomi Network Abolitionist Award. Thear has been included in several publications including the Everest Project research study called Women Redefining Corporate America, Understanding and Engaging High Net Worth Donors of Color, and EY Journeys that Inspire.

Thear earned her BS in Electrical Engineering with Biomedical Engineering Specialization from Southern Methodist University. She lives in Plano, Texas with her husband Eric and their four sons.

In our second episode of CORE the Podcast, we begin our series highlighting our exceptional Women's Symposium Community Award Winners. This week we were so honored to speak with the always inspiring, Marsha Clark of Marsha Clark & Associates.  

Marsha Clark is the owner of Marsha Clark & Associates, which offers a wide variety of workshops targeted to enhance leadership, team, and individual development. Marsha's passion is supporting women in their personal and professional development. Marsha has also co-authored a book with Dottie Gandy entitled Choose! The Role That Choice Plays in Shaping Women's Lives (Brown Books 2004) and has been featured in several other publications regarding accomplished women.

Prior to starting her own business in 2000, Marsha was a Corporate Vice President for EDS. During almost 21 years with EDS, she held a variety of roles with ever-increasing responsibility. In her last role she served as an assistant to the Chief Operating Officer working in the areas of strategic alliances, performance management, and account operations improvement. Marsha has a Masters of Science in Organization Development from American University in Washington, D.C. 

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode with Marsha as much as we enjoyed recording it. 

This is a behind the scenes look at CORE and the planning that goes into the Women's Symposium. On this 1st episode of CORE the PODCAST, you will get to know some of the students of CORE and see just what it takes to decide on the theme and the speakers for the Women's Symposium. This is a fun and engaging look into the behind the scenes world of the Women's Symposium. 

This marks the 56th year of the Women's Symposium (WS) at SMU. The WS is the space where we lift up the voices, work, and lives of women in the DFW metroplex and all over the world. One of our favorite aspects of the WS are the community awards, and we wanted the opportunity to share with our listeners the profound inter-generational dialogues that are happening behind the scenes with our CORE students and our community award winners. We hope you will join us for these inspiring talks. Nominations for the Community Awards are open. Find out more information here.