Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host Alumnae at An Evening with Distinguished Women
11/18/2015 10:23:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Northwestern women's basketball team members, coaches, staff and distinguished alumnae guests and panelists gathered at the beautiful Segal Visitor's Center on Thursday, Nov. 12, for the second annual An Evening with Distinguished Women, a special event intended to connect current women's basketball Wildcats with accomplished female leaders and former student-athletes through a panel and group dinner.
Head Coach Joe McKeown, Director of Player Development Kate Popovec, and the NU for Life staff planned the event in hopes of helping current 'Cats envision a promising future, while learning from role models who have been in their shoes.
Coach McKeown opened the evening, welcoming the panelists and thanking them for generously attending the event. With broad experience in journalism, medicine, clinical psychology, management, and consulting, the panelists shared wisdom with the team focused on a theme of channeling failure to fuel future success.
Featured panelists included:
Dr. Kristine Cieslak, a former Northwestern softball student-athlete and All-Big Ten First Team Selection, currently an emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children's Hospital who also has experience as Assistant Professor in pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer at Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.
Dr. Kenya Key Bryant, a former Northwestern women's basketball student-athlete who currently oversees the day to day clinical operations of mental health service delivery to inmates at Cook County Department of Corrections as Chief of Psychology at Cermak Health Services.
Sara Sortal, a former Northwestern women's basketball student-athlete who is Manager of Operations at Surgical Care Affiliates, which develops and operates ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals across the country. Sortal also has experience as a consultant and holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Former Northwestern women's basketball and soccer student-athlete Lisa Byington, now a freelance broadcast journalist who works primarily for the Big Ten Network, Fox Sports 1, and CBS Sports Network, moderated the panel.
Following this panel discussion, the group enjoyed a sit-down dinner, an opportunity to further discuss the panel as well as students' hopes and dreams for the upcoming season, the rest of their tenures at Northwestern, and their career plans and interests after basketball.
"An Evening with Distinguished Women is an event that the everyone in the program truly looks forward to each year," Popovec said. "It's a tremendous privilege for our team to be able to listen and learn from the personal experiences of such accomplished professionals. Our athletes have great professional aspirations, and we are grateful to NU For Life and our panelists for bringing this evening to life."
Head Coach Joe McKeown, Director of Player Development Kate Popovec, and the NU for Life staff planned the event in hopes of helping current 'Cats envision a promising future, while learning from role models who have been in their shoes.
Coach McKeown opened the evening, welcoming the panelists and thanking them for generously attending the event. With broad experience in journalism, medicine, clinical psychology, management, and consulting, the panelists shared wisdom with the team focused on a theme of channeling failure to fuel future success.
Featured panelists included:
Dr. Kristine Cieslak, a former Northwestern softball student-athlete and All-Big Ten First Team Selection, currently an emergency medicine physician at Lurie Children's Hospital who also has experience as Assistant Professor in pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer at Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.
Dr. Kenya Key Bryant, a former Northwestern women's basketball student-athlete who currently oversees the day to day clinical operations of mental health service delivery to inmates at Cook County Department of Corrections as Chief of Psychology at Cermak Health Services.
Sara Sortal, a former Northwestern women's basketball student-athlete who is Manager of Operations at Surgical Care Affiliates, which develops and operates ambulatory surgery centers and surgical hospitals across the country. Sortal also has experience as a consultant and holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Former Northwestern women's basketball and soccer student-athlete Lisa Byington, now a freelance broadcast journalist who works primarily for the Big Ten Network, Fox Sports 1, and CBS Sports Network, moderated the panel.
Love being a part of it! https://t.co/XGdtfeyJPZ
— Lisa Byington (@LisaByington) November 13, 2015Following this panel discussion, the group enjoyed a sit-down dinner, an opportunity to further discuss the panel as well as students' hopes and dreams for the upcoming season, the rest of their tenures at Northwestern, and their career plans and interests after basketball.
"An Evening with Distinguished Women is an event that the everyone in the program truly looks forward to each year," Popovec said. "It's a tremendous privilege for our team to be able to listen and learn from the personal experiences of such accomplished professionals. Our athletes have great professional aspirations, and we are grateful to NU For Life and our panelists for bringing this evening to life."
#B1GCats alumnae & current @nuwbball 'Cats at tonight's panel & dinner. Thanks for a great event! #PreparedForLife pic.twitter.com/NrNgvccgMq
— NU for Life (@NUforLife) November 13, 2015••••••
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