WREN Mobilizes Diverse Leaders from Across State at Annual Summit and Gubernatorial Forum

COLUMBIA, S.C. – On April 9th-10th, 2018, the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN) hosted its annual summit at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center and USC Alumni Center.

Registrants had the opportunity to engage in conversation with diverse business owners, community leaders, students, and advocates, while taking part in hands-on skill-building activities designed to address and increase women’s economic empowerment in South Carolina. Topics included salary negotiation training, speaking your own greatness, innovative strategies for working mothers, and advocating and organizing for women’s rights.

Today’s Gubernatorial Forum, which culminates on Equal Pay Day, served as the summit’s closing event and featured Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, Rep. James Smith, Catherine Templeton, and Marguerite Willis. Focusing on the economic well-being of women, other topics that arose included healthcare access and leadership opportunities.

“The Gubernatorial Forum today elevated the attention to issues affecting women and families in our state and gave candidates a chance to talk about how they see the issues. It also gave voters a chance to hear and consider the differences in the candidates’ approaches to improving women’s health, education, safety, workforce participation, and more. On Equal Pay Day, it’s so important to acknowledge the progress we have made as well as the distance we still have to go to reach true equality,” said WREN CEO Ann Warner.

While this Columbia-based event has come to a close, WREN has begun planning for an additional educational event to be hosted in Greenville this fall. More information will be released in the months to come.

Additional content and event calendar at www.scwren.org

MORE: The WREN Summit is made possible by our planning committee and generous sponsors. If you are interested in assisting in next year’s event or making a financial contribution, please forward all inquiries to Dr. Eme Crawford at [email protected].

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The Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN) is a South Carolina nonprofit, non-partisan network that is building a movement to advance the health, economic well-being, and rights of South Carolina’s women, girls, and their families. WREN provides a strong, collective voice for South Carolina’s women and girls.


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