In conjunction with the NASBA Eastern Regional Meeting, the NASBA Center for the Public Trust also welcomed 21 rising college students to participate in the inaugural Student Leadership Conference. This two-day event held in Point Clear, AL (June 21-22) exposed students to a variety of leadership development workshops and networking events designed to broaden their understanding of accountability, communications, personality traits and career awareness. As a result of the conference, attendees learned more about self discovery and also how they can position themselves (and others) for success.

Students represented schools such as the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Baruch, Elan, Lipscomb University, Birmingham Southern and Middle Tennessee State University, to name a few.

CPT’s Student Leadership Conference provided students from New Jersey to New Mexico a platform to network and develop friendships with fellow students and seasoned professionals.

Featured speakers included Linda Galindo, author of The 85% Solution: How Personal Accountability Guarantees Success; Robert Chandler, Director of Nicholson School of Communication; Alfonzo Alexander, NASBA Chief Relationship Officer; Julie Peters, Faculty Relations Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers; Elizabeth Wallin, Senior Tax Manager at Deloitte Tax LLP; Jennifer Bouchard, CPT Manager of Programs; Jack Faris, retired CEO of National Federation of Independent Business and Lisa Axisa, CPT Executive Director and Vice President.

From Galindo, the students learned that personal accountability is critical to success and that culture competence plays a big role in this world, with 90% representing awareness. Chandler’s presentation focused on vocabulary and how it leads into communication. He stressed the model, “Seek first to understand, then seek to be understood.” Alexander’s True Colors session was interactive and introduced the students to four distinct personality traits and paired them based on their most dominant and least dominate traits. Wallin and Peters led a riveting panel discussion on transitioning from college to corporate America. Bouchard led a discussion on effective resume and interviewing skills. The conference came to close with a discussion on ethics led by Faris and a closing wrap up with Axisa.

All participants expressed great appreciation to NASBA and the CPT for hosting the event and inviting them to participate. Too, they found the training as well as the networking activities timely and beneficial to their growth as young professionals. The students created friendships, learned about NASBA and were hungry for more and appeared somewhat reluctant to return home at the end of the conference.

As one NASBA member commented, “You could see the wheels turning in each of the students’ eyes as they left the resort.  Each ready to pass their new found knowledge onto his or her peers back on campus, in hopes to begin a radical change in the way people coincide with one another.”

For more information about the NASBA Center for Public Trust visit www.centerforpublictrust.org.

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