PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN LOCATION.

Alfa Demmellash, a "CNN Hero" and CEO of Rising Tide Capital, and Susan Coleman, professor of finance in the Barney School of Business, will speak about the role that women are playing in the economy and what they can do to help turn the economy around, in a program on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The program, "Can Women Save the Economy?," will be held from 5 to 7:15 p.m. in Butterworth Hall (new location) on the University's Asylum Avenue campus. Demmellash and Coleman will speak about the effect these difficult financial times are having on women, how women can and are coping, and what women can do to strengthen their position in the economy.

Registration and networking will take place from 5 to 5:45 p.m. Welcomes and introductions will take place from 5:45 to 6 p.m., followed by the talks by Demmellash and Coleman. There will be a question-and-answer period from 7 to 7:15 p.m.

The program is being presented by the University's Center for Professional Development as the first annual Gail Champlin Speakers Program. The Gail Champlin Speakers Program was established to honor the former senior director of the Center, Gail Champlin, for her 27 years of work on programs and services to help individuals in the Greater Hartford community.

Alfa Demmellash came to the United States from Ethiopia at the age of 12 with a keen interest in poverty alleviation and conflict resolution. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 2003.  Recognizing the role poverty played in fueling conflicts, Demmellash turned her focus to economic empowerment as a strategy in achieving peaceful societies.  Inspired by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunas, she co-founded Rising Tide Capital — a non-profit microenterprise development organization that supports underserved entrepreneurs in the low-income urban communities of Northern New Jersey.  In October 2009, out of 9,000 applicants from 100 countries, Demmellash was selected as a CNN Hero for the work she is doing with Rising Tide Capital.

Susan Coleman is the Ansley Professor of Finance at the University of Hartford.  She serves on the University's Strategic Planning Committee and, in that capacity, provides economic analyses and forecasts throughout the year.  In 2007, Coleman was named the first Ellsworth Faculty Fellow of the Barney School of Business.  Her research interests include access to capital for women-owned and minority-owned businesses.  Coleman is a member of Smith-Whiley & Company, a women- and minority-owned investment firm located in Hartford.

Pre-registration for this event is required. To register, call 860-768-5619. The event is free but donations of $10 to $20 to support the Gail Champlin Speakers Program would be welcome at the door.  Support for this program is provided in part by the Women's Education and Leadership Fund, a legacy of Hartford College for Women at the University of Hartford.