Soaring Beyond Roadblocks: A Heartfelt Leader’s WOW Factor Journey

November 5, 2020 | 3:30PM
Virtual

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Join the URI College of Business for the annual Vangermeersch Endowed Lecture Series featuring alumnna, Debra (Nelson) Boelkes ’81, award-winning author of The WOW Factor Workplace: How to Create a Best Place to Work Culture and Heartfelt Leadership: How to Capture the Top Spot and Keep on Soaring. You can buy The Wow Factor Workplace from the URI bookstore here.

From an early career in fashion design in southern California, Deb relocated to Newport, Rhode Island in 1980 when her young naval officer husband was reassigned to Naval Station Newport. Intent on eventually running her own company, Deb completed her degree in Business Administration at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Business in 1981 and earned her M.B.A. in Management Information Systems in 1982.

Thanks, in part, to a URI internship with Raytheon’s Missile Systems division in Portsmouth, RI, Deb went on to spend over 25 years leading sales, operations, and professional services organizations within Fortune 150 technology firms. A role model heartfelt leader in her own right, Deb became the ultimate authority on creating “Best Place to Work” organizations. In 2009, Deb founded Business World Rising, LLC to accelerate the advancement of high-potential leaders within best places to work.

Deb will join us to share her journey and insights gained from fearlessly overcoming obstacles at every turn, to deliver WOW factor results in school, in the corporate world, and as an entrepreneur.

There will be an opportunity for questions & answers at the end of the talk.

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