| University Commons | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
Carlow President Suzanne K. Mellon Announces Formation of InstituteDuring Inaugural Address
Pittsburgh, Pa. –Today, during her inaugural address, Suzanne K. Mellon, PhD, president ofCarlow University, announced that the institution will establish an Institute for Women’s Leadership and Empowerment.
“There is a strong need to address the social and health disparities of women and the role that women’s leadership and voice can have for our community and the world,” said Mellon. “This Institute will increase the capacity of women to become skilled change agents and social entrepreneurs within communities regional to global. The Institute will help empower women – at all levels – who will use their voices to advocate for inclusiveness, justice, and democratized decision-making in their lives and in the lives of others.”
The Institute for Women’s Leadership and Empowerment is grounded in the belief that the complex nature of most social problems requires more than the efforts of a single program or organization if lasting and sustainable change is to be created.
The Institute will go beyond traditional collaborations, networks, and joint efforts to:
• Create a single, focused infrastructure for educational and community initiatives;
• Hire and maintain a committed staff dedicated to the Institute; and
• Integrate processes that lead towards a common agenda, shared measurements, continuous communications, and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants.
In addition, the Institute will be founded based on the Sisters of Mercy’s mission of social justice, which seeks to give voice to others. By bridging theory to practice, the Institute seeks to create connections and opportunities for applied models in academic work, which will link practitioners to research which will inform their leadership and their communities.
The Institute’s programs will provide women with the skills and tools to create change, launch social enterprises, or become social entrepreneurs within their workplaces and communities. This will be accomplished through the following objectives:
• Raise awareness of issues and the best practices to impact social change;
• Build skills through curricular and applied educational programs that enable women to become skilled and successful change agents; and
• Provide opportunities to convert ideas and goals for social change into deliverable solutions through innovative practices.
In each area, the curriculum is supplemented with career development opportunities, internships, and mentoring that involve the direct engagement of women leaders, including those women who have been honored as Carlow Laureates or Women of Spirit®.
While an aggressive campaign is underway to fund all aspects of this new initiative, Carlow will commence Institute activities with the start off all classes.
### About Carlow University
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, Carlow University is a comprehensive master’s institution dedicated to learner-centered education at the collegiate levels and at the elementary school level in the Campus School of Carlow University.