Stephens College has partnered with Florida International University (FIU) to become a satellite location of the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center.
As the second-oldest women’s college in the United States, Stephens shares the center’s mission to empower women as leaders in communication and to uphold diversity and inclusion in communication practice and research.
The Kopenhaver Center at Stephens will provide access to guest speakers, networking events, and virtual workshops for the benefit of students, early professionals, and seasoned communication experts alike.
“The College’s new partnership with the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center is opening doors and creating connections between Stephens and some of the most powerful women in the media/communications industry,” said Dr. Dianne Lynch, president of Stephens College.
Those connections include Dianne Festa, a Senior Vice President of NBC Universal; Mindy Marques Gonzalez, Vice President and Executive Editor at Simon & Schuster; Marisabel Munoz, Vice President of Communications for Major League Soccer; and Susan Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic.
“We are excited about the inauguration of the Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College,” said Dean Emeritus Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver. “This partnership enables us to expand the work and the reach of the center across the country and to join with the folks at Stephens to enrich educational opportunities at both institutions. It also provides possibilities for FIU students to join Stephens students for future events.”
"I’m excited for the Stephens community to learn from and network with high profile women in the communications field,” says Aurola Wedman Alfaro, inaugural director of The Agency and the Kopenhaver Center at Stephens College. “I envision our students pursuing competitive internships with confidence and landing that first job they have been working for.”
To celebrate the launch of the satellite center at Stephens College, Daniella Zalcman led a virtual workshop, “Through the Lens: Elevate Your Voice as a Visual Storyteller” via Zoom on Feb. 22.
Zalcman is a multiple grantee of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation, a National Geographic Society grantee and the founder of Women Photograph.
The Kopenhaver Center at FIU was established in 2013 by Dr. Lillian Kopenhaver as a pioneering site for the advancement of women in the field of communication. For more than three decades, she has been a tireless advocate for women in communication and envisions the center to lead the way for future generations of communicators, professionals and scholars.
Since its inception, the Kopenhaver Center has been serving women nationally and internationally. Its Women Faculty Moving Forward workshop, hosted every summer, has helped women from nearly 200 colleges around the world move forward in their careers through mentoring, networking and preparing for leadership positions.