2017 Western Women’s Summit
2017 Western Women’s Summit
Phoenix 2017: the Courage to Lead
CBLPI’s 2017 Western Women’s Summit will be held on October 13-14 at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, 7200 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85253. New speakers will be added as they are confirmed.
Confirmed Speakers:
Nonie Darwish, Middle Eastern Women’s Rights Activist
With a background in journalism and a degree in Sociology and Anthropology from the American University in Cairo, Ms. Darwish is an outspoken advocate for progress, minority rights, human and women’s rights in the Middle East.
She was born in Cairo, Egypt, and raised in the Muslim faith. Her father headed the Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai in the 1950s (when Gaza was under Egyptian control), and he spearheaded the Fedayeen operations against Israel under the leadership of Egyptian President Gamal Adel Nasser. Her father was assassinated in Gaza in 1956 when Nonie was 8 years old.
She is the author of several books on Islamic culture and the impact of Sharia Islamic Law on innterpersonal relationships, female relationships, family and Muslim society. The married mother of three lectures extensively on college campuses in the U.S. and Canada, and she has been a guest on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Al Arabiya TV and other major media outlets.
Peggy Grande, Executive Assistant to President Ronald Reagan
President Ronald Reagan chose Peggy Grande to work at his side for 10 years, and together they created a powerful partnership. Serving as his post-presidency Executive Assistant, Peggy was the liaison between Ronald Reagan personally and his staff, the public, local dignitaries and world leaders. She ensured that his events, travel, personal and political relationships and day to day operations were handled efficiently and effectively. She had a front row seat to history and got to know Ronald Reagan the man, not just the president.
She is the author of a new book, The President Will See You Now.
Antonia Okafor, Second Amendment Rights Activist
Antonia Okafor is one of the country’s foremost advocates of concealed carry on campus. In 2015, Antonia made a permanent mark in the second amendment community, when she became the Southwest Regional Director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus(SCCC), where she advocated for the passing and successful implementation of the concealed carry on campus in Texas law known as, “campus carry.”
The National Rifle Association (NRA) took notice of her activism and had her star in one of their “Freedom’s Safest Place” commercials, a national campaign that highlights the diversity of NRA members.
She is currently a graduate student at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Jane M. Orient, MD, Executive Director, Assn of American Physicians & Surgeons
Jane M. Orient obtained her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1974. She completed an internal medicine residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital and University of Arizona Affiliated Hospitals and then became an Instructor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a staff physician at the Tucson Veterans Administration Hospital. She has been in solo private practice since 1981 and is still a clinical lecturer in medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
Dr. Orient has served as Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) since 1989. She is currently president of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Since 1988, she has been chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Pima County (Arizona) Medical Society. She is the author of several books, including YOUR Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Healthcare. More than 200 of her papers and op-ed pieces have been published in the scientific and popular literature on a variety of subjects including risk assessment, natural and technological hazards and nonhazards, and medical economics and ethics. She is the editor of AAPS News (www.aapsonline.org), the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter (www.ddponline.org), and Civil Defense Perspectives (www.physiciansforcivildefense.org), and is the managing editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (www.jpands.org).
For more information on this conference, contact Camille Hart.