Standing on stage, moderating a conference proved not only to be a first for Maxine Lebo, but a highlight in her Lakeland College experience.

Enrolled in the business administration diploma program, majoring in small business and entrepreneurship, Lebo put her public speaking skills to great use at the 2022 Inspiring Women's Conference.

“I'd never even been to a conference before,” Lebo confesses. “And I'm happy this was my first one.”

As part of their program, Lakeland's administrative professional students helped plan and run the Inspiring Women's Conference on Feb. 3. Speakers at the event featured local community leaders, including keynote speaker Benveet ‘Bean' Gill, Leona Carter, Michelle Lake, Stephanie Brown Munro, Alison Weaver, and Lakeland's award-winning learner strategist Karen Harris.

Lebo, who came to Lakeland searching for a sense of purpose, came away from the conference with a new understanding about what that could mean.

“Speaker Leona Carter said ‘Find your purpose' and I'm still holding onto that,” Lebo explains.

The lessons Lebo's learning both at Lakeland and from the conference are ones Lebo intends to take with her into the future, as she charts her own path in business.

“There is a business aspect to every industry. Every business has a marketing, financial or accounting department. I could do almost anything with this diploma. I wanted to be versatile, and this seemed a really good starting point to help me figure out where I want to go in the future,” she says.

“The conference has given me a lot of confidence knowing that there are a lot of inspirational women out there. It makes me feel good that there is a group of women that I can look up to, who really shine. Being asked to moderate and be part of the Inspiring Women's Conference means that maybe I'm an inspiring woman too,” she says. “We are powerful and we do have a voice - and a big voice at that.”