CONFERENCE ON WORLD AFFAIRS

Committee Chair

Every April, 200 panelists come from around the world to speak about topics ranging from the future of international conflicts to the possibility of self-aware artificial intelligence. Or as the conference likes to say, everything imaginable. Over my four years at CU, I’ve been lucky enough to be involved as a student chair on the human condition committee where we focus on discovering, vetting and inviting panelists to talk about a wide range of humanitarian issues on a national and global scale. I, along with my fellow student chair, am charged with representing the student perspective when choosing which topics we’d like to focus on during the conference.
This responsibility consistently reminds me of the duty that leaders have in representing viewpoints and belief systems other than their own. It’s also taught me the difficulty of making sure that those voices are heard. For years, the conference has been working on bringing in a more diverse group of speakers. During my first year, the ratio of women to men left a lot to be desired. And I heard plenty of feedback about the lack of women on important panels from my friends as well as women panelists who had been largely confined to “women in…” panels. During the next year’s planning process, I made a conscious effort to be a stick in the mud about having more female representation in all aspects of the conference.
While being stubborn certainly had an impact, I quickly realized that it wasn’t enough to be an advocate. I needed to be doing the ground work too. I couldn’t just say no to another white man over the age of 60 being on a panel about international humanitarian aid: I had to get out there and find someone to take that spot.
Leadership is about sticking to your values, yes. But it is also about making things work in the long run. It’s about actively making sure that all voices are heard. Not just by saying so, but by paying attention to what they are saying and doing your very darn best to make sure everyone else is too.