Alumni Relations is back with another installment of their webinar series Northern Now. This month’s webinar, titled “Northern Now: Women in Leadership Panel” will be held on Tuesday, March 28 at 7 p.m.

The panel will feature four alumni who are all women in leadership who will be talking about their education and how it prepared them for their careers. The panelists set to speak are Amber Libby, ‘10 B.S., Roxanne Daust, ‘94 B.S., Amanda Rosenburg, ‘07 B.S. and Carol Johnson, ‘81 B.S.

The alumni will be reflecting back on their time at NMU, discussing any obstacles they overcame and sharing ways that they have impacted the communities that they live in. A moderator will be sharing audience questions with the panelists. 

The webinar is meant to focus on women’s history month and women in leadership, Alumni Relations Director of Alumni and Foundation Communications Kylie Bunting said. 

“We really liked the idea of focusing on women in leadership and thought it would be a really cool perspective,” Bunting said. “It’s a great way to show where our alumni are now, what they’re doing, get their perspective and hopefully inspire some others.” 

Throughout each semester, Alumni Relations hosts various Northern Now webinars. For each webinar, they take topic suggestions from alumni and select topics that may be of value to their alumni base. Previously, Alumni Relations has hosted a Black History Month panel, cooking segments with Chef Alden MacDonald and an archaeology webinar. Some alumni even write blog posts that are featured on the NMU blog. 

Amber Libby, attorney magistrate at the 89th district court in Cheboygan County and alumni panelist, wrote a blog post for the NMU blog titled “Female Forte.” Libby’s post discusses the “indefinable strength” that women have along with the obstacles they may have to face throughout their lives. Throughout the post, Libby discusses her own personal struggles and how she was able to continue her education while overcoming them. 

Life as a student does not stop, students can be successful while being in school, Libby said. 

“I was a young mother at school, and I certainly embraced that aspect of life versus fighting against it,” Libby said. “Northern allowed me to maintain that goal, which was to be a mom and to complete my education.” 

The webinars held by Alumni Relations offer more opportunities for alumni to get involved and stay connected with NMU. Many alumni give back to students through donations to the school. The Northern Now series offers alumni the chance to help students learn from them and allows them to become a resource to be utilized. 

The number one thing that alumni say they want to do is help students and give back to them, Bunting said. 

“The first thing people think of giving back is monetarily,” Bunting said. “You can give back with your talents, with your connections and students should understand that this resource of alumni is right there in their back pocket.” 

The webinar is free, although registration is required to attend. Once registered for the events, attendees will receive a link to the live stream of the event.