News and Events

Women's Professional Development Conference, Danvers, MA

10.01.2007 —Former CIA Agent Valerie Plame Wilson to Speak at Women's Professional Development Conference in Danvers, MA.

Former CIA operative and author of Fair Game, Valerie Plame, will be the keynote speaker at the Bay Path College Women’s Professional Development Conference (WPDC) on Friday, October 26 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Ferncroft Sheraton in Danvers, MA. For the first time, the conference is being held in eastern Massachusetts, to mark the launch of Bay Path’sBurlington Campus.

The conference, focusing on the theme of Resilience, will also feature addresses from Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle and Jeffrey Taylor, founder of Monster.com and Eons, Inc. The full-day event is expected to draw several hundred women and will also include breakout sessions on work-life balance, stress management, leadership and crisis communications.

“We are so excited to bring this terrific lineup of speakers to eastern Massachusetts,” said Bay Path College President Carol A. Leary. “Our Springfield conferences have been an inspiring and energizing experience for the women who attend them and we expect the same to be true for this event. I am particularly drawn to the theme of Resilience, since it is a quality that all of us, often unexpectedly, must call upon in order to adapt, endure, and persevere.”

In her first public address since the publication of the autobiographical Fair Game, Valerie Plame Wilson will speak to the challenges she faced both personally and professionally in the past several years. In 2003 Plame found herself the subject of a political storm when her covert identity as a CIA operative was revealed in a syndicated newspaper column. The longtime operations officer, who was involved in issues of counter proliferation, became a central, if inadvertent, figure in the U.S. Justice Department investigation involving criminal exposure of undercover government agents. As a result, Plame Wilson’s personal and professional life was dissected by the media, the government, and the public; her safety, and the safety of her family, friends and colleagues, was jeopardized; and a fierce debate ensued regarding privacy, leadership and public trust.

In her memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls describes growing up in the desert of the American Southwest and a mining town in Virginia with her three siblings and brilliant, yet unorthodox parents. She writes with poignancy and humor of surviving a childhood of poverty and bizarre neglect that would test anyone’s character.

Jeff Taylor re-invented the way job hunters seek employment. It all began with his “monster idea” of establishing the first dot-com company, known as Monster.com, that became the world’s leading online career site. This remarkable innovator and visionary is now both re-inventing himself and the way Boomers (50+ generation) live, work, and travel through his latest venture—Eons.com.

“In launching our new Burlington Campus for adult students eager to expand their career horizons, we knew that Bay Path offered a special perspective and opportunity for women to influence their own future,” said President Leary. “So it was a natural fit to celebrate the launch with a conference that looked at how individuals overcame obstacles and used their past experiences to find reservoirs of strength to help them move forward.”

For further information call 413.565.1293, or toll free at 1.800.782.7284, ext. 1293; or e-mail wpdc@baypath.edu.

The Burlington Campus of Bay Path College offers its unique One-Day-A-Week Saturday College for adult women, and graduate programs and certificates for men and women. Among the One-Day Program’s advantages are its accelerated and focused format allowing participants to earn their degree in 1 to 3 ½ years (depending on the number and applicability of past college credits); Saturday only enrollment; carefully designed locked and guaranteed class schedule ensuring course availability; and the eligibility for financial aid for full-time students.

For over a century, Bay Path, a four-year private college, has prepared graduates for successful careers and professional advancement. Enrolling over 1,600 students in its undergraduate college for women, One-Day Program for adult women, and the Graduate School for men and women, Bay Path College is consistently known and nationally recognized for its innovative and dynamic academic programs.