Four women with outstanding business and finance credentials will headline a high school panel as part of the 23rd annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science Conference at MTSU in late September.

The conference, which has a Saturday, Aug. 31, online registration deadline, will be held Saturday, Sept. 28, on the MTSU campus. The event is for fifth- through 12th-grade girls from across the Midstate. Registration is $20.

To register and for more details, visit www.mtsu.edu/eyh.

Tomilayo Bello, left, an MTSU master’s degree candidate in chemistry, Expanding Your Horizons participant Fiona McGoffin and chemistry professor Judith Iriarte-Gross make slime in a MTSU Science Building lab. McGoffin, 12, is a seventh-grader at Central Magnet School. The deadline for the 2019 EYH is Aug. 31. (Submitted photo)

EYH helps girls and young women investigate science and mathematics careers, talk with women in math and science, attend workshops with their peers, participate in hands-on activities and meet girls interested in the STEM disciplines of math, science, engineering and technology.

Wanda Lyle

Carrie Green

The high school panelists will include:

• Wanda Lyle, managing director and general manager of the UBS Business Solutions Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She is responsible for overseeing the center’s operating model and associated service delivery.

• Carrie Green, director of equities for the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, the $50 billion pension system for state of Tennessee employees, and a certified financial analyst.

• Jackie Morgan, senior education program manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta-Nashville branch. She is recognized as a state and national leader in personal financial education.

• Yolanda Green, Rutherford County market president for First Tennessee Bank. Her expertise and experience with multiple lines of businesses allows her to provide local leadership and delivery to the bank’s Rutherford County market.

Jackie Morgan

Yolanda Greene

“This all-star panel of women will expand the horizons of our young women in Middle Tennessee to include the powerful and lucrative STEM opportunities in economics and finance,” Dr. Keith Gamble, chair of the MTSU Department of Economics and Finance, said.

“We are fortunate to have such accomplished leaders in their fields in our backyard and on our team.’

Jones College of Business Dean David Urban weighed in on the STEM factor, noting that “many people do not think of economics and finance as STEM fields, but both of them are based on sophisticated approaches to gathering and analyzing quantitative data, as well as translating the data into useful information.”

Dr. Keith Gamble

Dr. David Urban

“This panel is composed of highly accomplished financial professionals who are role models for young women who aspire to rewarding careers,” he added.

Lyle said she hopes to convey to the young women attending EYH “that there is a place for them whatever their chosen field. Strive to be the best at what you do and you will create opportunities for yourself. Really understand what motivates you and stay true to yourself.”

EYH is important, Lyle said, because “we have a responsibility to pay it forward. If young women see other women, like them, who have been successful, maybe they will be able to see themselves achieving their own goals and giving back in the future.”

“Success is built on the power of raising your hand,” Green said. “I hope the young women will take away a confidence in their ability to rise to any occasion and learn the skills they need to be successful in their own careers.”

Green added that EYH is important because “seeing someone who looks like you in a particular career makes concrete that the opportunity is attainable if you want to go after it.”

Morgan said she hopes young women will “realize that their possibilities are endless. There are so many opportunities available to them, many of which have not been created yet. I hope they will believe in themselves and embrace their potential.”

“Having the opportunity to network with and meet other women is valuable to help them envision their career success in innovative and technical fields.”

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)