Women Impact Virginia
Build your network. Find your voice. Be inspired.
The Women Impact Virginia series supports women leaders in Virginia. Each regional event, held at the university's Commonwealth Campus Centers located across Virginia, promotes connections, engagement, and empowerment of women who want to better impact their community. The series is capped by the Women Impact Virginia Summit each fall.
Past Women Impact Virginia events



Embracing Your Voice
In September 2023, we hosted a series of speakers examining the culture, dialect, music, and history of women in Southwest Virginia laid the groundwork for women's success today.
Speakers included:
- Amy Clark, author of "Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community."
- Rene Rodgers of The Birthplace of Country Music
- Katrina Powell, co-director of the Virginia Tech Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies.
Rooted in Purpose
Our 2024 Women Impact Virginia event focused on how being deeply rooted in our purpose requires knowing our WHY...our reason for being in the world, our raison d’etre. Join us to hear how our speakers learned the importance of knowing their WHY, how they discovered their WHY, and how rooting themselves in their purpose impacts their everyday work.
Speakers included:
- Julie Walters Steele, director of Virginia Tech's Reynolds Homestead
- Allison Mays, director of the Virginia Tech Southwest Center
- Lori Briscoe of the Appalachian Apothecary
- Lisa Quigley, executive director of the Virginia Creeper Trail Conservancy
- Daisy Sturgill, owner of Stormbrew Farm