by Ann Grauvogl
Donna Shalala, former UW–Madison chancellor and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will consider the status of women and well-being in Wisconsin and the world during a talk on Saturday, April 16. Photo: Philanthropy.com.
Donna Shalala, president of the Clinton Foundation and former University of Wisconsin—Madison chancellor, and Zimbabwe humanitarian Tererai Trent headline a public slate of speakers for the 2016 Summit on Women, Gender and Well-being April 14-16 at the University of Wisconsin— Madison. The summit focuses on the junction of women, gender and social justice.
Shalala, recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Human Rights and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will consider the status of women and well-being in Wisconsin and the world during a talk on Saturday, April 16.
Trent, who has been called Oprah Winfrey’s favorite guest, champions a new future for women and girls around the world in her presentation Friday, April 15. The conference will be shared internationally through a free live stream, thanks to support from the UW–Madison Division of Continuing Studies.
The summit is hosted by the UW Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium and the UW–Madison 4W (Women and Well-being in Wisconsin and the World) Initiative. 4W is convened by the Global Health Institute, the School of Human Ecology and the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies.
All talks are at the Alumni Lounge in the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St., except for Trent’s talk, which will take place in room 1306 of the Health Sciences Learning Center, 750 Highland Ave.
Thursday, April 14
6 p.m. — Human Trafficking: What’s the Real Story? CBS Travel Editor Peter Greenberg and anti-trafficking expert Michele Clark, executive director of Artworks for Freedom, together in a discussion about the messaging on human trafficking and why it matters. Streets of Hope is a local project that helps survivors of human trafficking.
7:15 p.m. — The Transformation of Women’s Health; Richard Davidson, founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin— Madison, and Melanie Contreras, founder of Women to Women by Julia, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of women, are joined by panelists from Curemark, eMindful, The Sweat Life, University of Colorado Boulder and Georgetown Medical School.
Friday, April 15
9:30 a.m. — Nuestra Historia: Stories of Strength and Struggle Across Generations; Maria Cotera, University of Michigan; Andrea “Tess” Arenas, University of Wisconsin, and Linda Garcia Merchant, Chicana filmmaker, will discuss their efforts to recover the histories of Chicana and Latina activists through an innovative mix of digital media, oral history and archival collection that centers cross-generational feminist praxis.
4:15 p.m. — Tererai Trent: Dreams from Adversity: Championing a New Future for Women and Girls. Trent grew up in a cattle herding family in rural Zimbabwe and always dreamed of getting an education. With a desire to give back to her community and the firm belief that education is the pathway out of poverty, Trent founded Tinogona Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to build, repair and renovate schools in rural Zimbabwe. Through strategic partnerships with Oprah Winfrey and Save the Children, Tinogona is helping build nine schools, improving the lives of nearly 4,000 children. Using her prominent global platform in conjunction with world leaders and international audiences, Trent tirelessly speaks on behalf of children without an access to education.
Saturday, April 16
8:30 a.m. — Social Transformations to End Exploitation and Trafficking for Sex (STREETS); Jean M. Geran and Araceli Alonso, co-directors, UW-STREETS initiative, and Amy Bintliff, STREETS project assistant, discuss a new anti-trafficking initiative on campus that seeks to support local and global work to end trafficking and other forms of sexual exploitation.
11:30 a.m. — Women, Well-being, Wisconsin, the World; Donna Shalala, president, Clinton Foundation, introduced by UW–Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank. The first annual 4W Summit on Women, Gender and Well-Being presents a new vision of research to action, built upon four decades of teaching, learning, scholarship and field work of the larger UW–Madison women’s and gender studies learning community.