Diversity expert to speak on women and ambition

Jennifer W. Allyn, a managing director in the Office of Diversity for PricewaterhouseCoopers, will discuss women and ambition in a special interactive lecture co-sponsored by the Louisiana Chapter of the International Women's Forum.

"A Candid Conversation About Women and Ambition" will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 12 noon in Room 131 of Goldring/Woldenberg Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public, and a reception with food and refreshments will follow.

Allyn's presentation will cover topics including leadership, retaining and advancing women, differences between men and women regarding ambition, and factors that can promote--or undermine--ambition in executives. The lecture is designed to make women think about ambition and institutions think about opportunities and roadblocks.

As an executive and thought leader promoting diversity initiatives, Allyn is responsible for designing programs to retain, develop and advance women and GLBT professionals. Allyn has been recognized as a subject matter expert on gender and work/life challenges. She is a frequent public speaker and has been quoted in over 30 publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CFO, and U.S. News & World Report. Among her many accomplishments, Allyn spearheaded the effort to enhance PwC's parental leave policy and launched Full Circle, a program designed to assist parents who want to "on-ramp" after taking an extended period of time off from work. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been recognized as a best-in-class employer by Catalyst, Working Mother, Diversity Inc., Out & Equal and Fortune.

Prior to joining PwC, Allyn was a senior consultant at Catalyst, where she advised a diverse group of Fortune 500 clients, among them PricewaterhouseCoopers. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Women's Leadership Board at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Corporate Council of The White House Project, and the Advisory Board of the National Council for Research on Women. In 2008, she received the Crossing Borders Award from the Feminist Press. Allyn is a graduate of Brown University and earned her master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

"A Candid Conversation About Women & Ambition" is presented by the Louisiana Chapter of the International Women's Forum and is co-sponsored by the A. B. Freeman School of Business, the Newcomb College Institute, the Tulane Chapter of the National Association of Women MBAs, and the Tulane Office of Institutional Equity.

For more information about the presentation, please contact Peggy Babin, associate dean of the Freeman School, at 504-865-5412 or pbabin@tulane.edu.