January 08, 2019

Media Advisory – Women in Leadership Workshop

About 30 female and male SIU School of Law students will participate in the ninth annual “Women in Leadership Workshop” Thursday and Friday at SIU Carbondale’s Hiram H. Lesar Law Building. 

The workshop will focus on the importance of diversity in leadership and feature programs that highlight the benefits diverse leadership brings to the public and private sectors. The workshop runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both days. Lawyers, judges and law professors teach different segments of the workshop, and students earn one hour of academic credit. 

Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to attend the workshops and interview participants. For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Michele Mekel, director of external relations, at mmekel@siu.edu or 618/453-8768. 

Chicago consumer law attorney is keynote speaker

As a part of the workshop, Aurora Abella-Austriaco, a Chicago consumer law attorney and past president of the Chicago Bar Association, is the keynote speaker at the networking dinner. The dinner begins at 6 p.m. Friday in the SIU Student Center, Ballroom B. 

Abella-Austriaco is a founding partner and shareholder in Valentine Austriaco & Bueschel, and concentrates her practice in several areas of commercial and real estate litigation, with clients that range from multinational corporations to small and startup companies and individuals. Abella-Austriaco was born in the Philippines and came to the United States when she was 18 years old. 

Leadership Award recipients will be honored

Last year, the law school started a tradition of honoring women and supporters who represent the legal profession’s best. This year’s honorees, with their respective award, are:

  • Women in Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Marsha Ryan. Ryan, of Murphysboro, practiced general surgery and breast surgery for 36 years before her retirement in 2017. She earned her law degree from the SIU School of Law in 1987 and taught there as an adjunct professor until 2017. In January 2017, she was appointed to the SIU Board of Trustees.
  • Trailblazer Award: Kimberly Kuhlengel-Jones. The award recognizes a person who has “made outstanding contributions to the legal community, shown a commitment to women’s issues and is emerging as a leader early in her career.” Kuhlengel-Jones earned her bachelor’s degree from SIU in 1992 and her law degree from the law school in 1995. She has been practicing adoption law since 1998 in Nashville, Illinois.
  • Organizational Award: Keuler, Kelly, Hutchins, Blankenship & Sigler, LLP, Paducah, Kentucky. The award recognizes a firm or organization that “demonstrated a commitment to creating pathways to success for women attorneys.” The 10-attorney firm includes four SIU School of Law graduates: Stacey Blankenship, a partner in the firm, who graduated in 1995; Lesley Owen and Judy Payne, associates in the firm who graduated in 2013, and Kristen Worak, a partner in the firm who graduated in 2010. 

Additional workshop and dinner details are available on the “Women in Leadership Program” page.