On March 23 Maricopa Community Colleges hosted their fourth year running Women Rising Conference to honor and empower members of the Women Rising Club in MCCCD’s campuses.

The conference provides workshops on communication, health, wellness and financial literacy for attendees.

Speaking at the conference, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at Maricopa Community Colleges, Felicia L. Ganther explained that education is an important element of the conference.

Ganther also expressed the importance being your own motivator, without relying heavily on family and friends for motivation.

“Be your own cheerleader. And it might sound difficult but if you are not your own cheerleader then nobody else is going to believe you and we learn from mistakes,” Ganther said. “I don’t really like to be a role model; I just want to be a lantern holder.”

Dr. Cassandra Aska, the Dean of Student Affairs at Arizona State University West campus, emphasized the role of women in inspiring youth and educating one another as women.

During her keynote speech, Aska requested the women in the room to vocalize a quote.

“Justice for one has to be justice for all,” Aska said as the attendees voiced after her.

As the women recited words on the presentation screen saying, “If I can have it…”, “If I can do it…” and “If I can see the bigger picture…”, Aska shouted back, “So can you.”

Daniel Adike, a student at Scottsdale Community College spoke to Northeast Valley News about being a man and attending a women’s conference.

“Being in this conference was a privilege for me,” Adike said. “It was a great opportunity to be present in a room and get impacted by women and how they are transferring knowledge to the outer generation.”