The GOLD Speaker Series brings compelling leaders who are trailblazers in their fields to speak to Brenau students and the community as an ongoing component of The Women’s College’s GOLD Program. Each year, the program emphasizes one of four carefully chosen themes, including Gender awareness, Ownership of personal responsibility and civic engagement, Leadership and Diversity.
The GOLD Speaker Series
Tracey Enerson Wood
Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023, 12:30-1:45 p.m.
Watch Tracey Enerson Live on Vimeo
Tracey Enerson Wood loves discovering amazing women whose stories have been lost to history, and bringing them to life for today’s readers.
Her debut novel, The Engineer’s Wife, historical fiction about the woman who built the Brooklyn Bridge, is an international and USA Today best seller. Her newest novel, The War Nurse, which tells the unforgettable story of Julia Stimson and her nurses in WW1 France was released in 2021, and in trade paperback in 2022. Both novels are published by Sourcebooks.
Coming in 2023 is The President’s Wife, a novel centered on Edith Bolling Wilson, second wife of Woodrow Wilson and sometimes thought of as our first woman U.S. president.
Tracey has always had a writing bug. While working as a Registered Nurse, starting her own Interior Design company, raising two children, and bouncing around the world as a military wife, she indulged in her passion as a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She has authored magazine columns and other non-fiction, written and directed plays of all lengths, including Grits, Fleas and Carrots, Rocks and Other Hard Places, Alone, and Fog. Her screenplays include Strike Three and Roebling’s Bridge.
Other passions include food and cooking, and honoring military heroes.
Her co-authored anthology/cookbook Homefront Cooking, American Veterans share Recipes, Wit, and Wisdom, was released by Skyhorse Publishing and all authors’ profits are donated to organizations that support veterans. Life Hacks for Military Spouses is her latest non-fiction release, also an anthology from Skyhorse.
A New Jersey native, she now lives with her family in Florida.
Pamela Castillo Barahona
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, 12:30-1:45 p.m. EDT
Watch Pamela Barahona on Vimeo (English)
Watch Pamela Barahona on Vimeo (Spanish)
Pamela Castillo Barahona currently serves as Head of the Technical Secretariat of the Gender Parity Initiative of Costa Rica and previously served as the Vice Minister of Environment for Costa Rica. She specializes in linking gender and environmental agendas, and is an expert in women’s economic empowerment.
While serving as Vice Minister of Environment from 2018-20, she established the first ministerial directive for closing the gender gaps in the forest, water and biodiversity sectors in the country. She also created the +Women +Nature Program, a public-private initiative that mobilizes resources for rural women to support their sustainable business endeavors. She also designed the ecosystem restoration campaign Footprint for the Future, which is led by women’s associations in northern Costa Rica. She has served in several other international environmental roles.
Maria Rita Nahum
Thursday, Sept. 30, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Maria Rita Nahum is a noted Argentinian journalist, executive coach, political advisor and nonprofit leader. A former journalism professor, she produces and hosts popular television and radio programs. Nahum’s work on the board of Casa de la Mujer — a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating gender violence — has helped thousands of women and garnered national acclaim.
In 2016, Nahum was awarded the prestigious Woman Leader for the Building of Values and Peace for her contributions to gender equity. She also serves as a consultant for Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Census and the National Secretariat of Communications Professionals. Nahum’s presentation as International GOLD Speaker will focus on emotional and mental wellness for women, particularly during the global health crisis.
Phillippa Lewis Moss
Watch Phillippa Moss on YouTube
Phillippa Lewis Moss is the director of the Gainesville-Hall County Community Services Center, which provides programs and support to uplift and strengthen the lives of area residents.
Moss began her career with the California state regents office as special assistant to the vice chancellor of faculty and staff relations. She also taught political science and government at local colleges in the Long Beach area for several years. In 1996, Moss relocated to Atlanta, working in state government before moving to her current role in 2001. In 2020, Moss co-founded the ThoMoss Group, which leads racial equity conversations across the Southeast.
Moss, a registered mediator and Kiwanian, has served on several boards including the Gainesville-Hall County Community Council on Aging, Salvation Army, United Way Hall County, Georgia Transit Association and the Greater Hall County Chamber of Commerce, among others.
She holds a B.S. in political science from the University of California Irvine, a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California and an M.S. in conflict management from Kennesaw State University.
Justice Leah Ward Sears
Watch Justice Sears on YouTube
Leah Ward Sears is a partner in the Business Litigation and Appellate Practice at Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP. Before returning to private practice, she enjoyed 17 years of distinguished service on the Georgia Supreme Court, including four years as chief justice.
Sears was the first woman and youngest justice to serve on the state’s Supreme Court, the first woman to serve as a superior court judge in Fulton County and the first woman to win a contested statewide election in Georgia. In 2005, she became the first African American woman to serve as chief justice of any state supreme court in the country.
Sears holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, a Juris Doctor from Emory University Law School, and an LLM from the University of Virginia. She also holds honorary degrees from Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Piedmont College, LaGrange College, Savannah State University and Morehouse College, as well as from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School.
In addition, Sears is a recipient of the Emory Medal, the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award and the Daily Report’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and she’s been named a Best Lawyer in Georgia and a Georgia Super Lawyer numerous times. Sears was also bestowed the honor of being named Best Lawyers in America’s 2019 Lawyer of the Year (Appellate Practice) in Atlanta. A biography of Sears, “Seizing Serendipity” by Rebecca Davis, was published by University of Georgia Press in 2017.
Sears contributes her talents in the legal, academic and nonprofit sectors, as well as the community at large. She serves on the boards of trustees of Emory University, the Carter Center, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the Georgia Historical Society. In addition, she continues to be involved with the Atlanta chapter of the Links Inc. as an alumni member, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
Sears is married to Haskell Sears Ward, and has two children, Addison and Brennan Sears-Collins, as well as a beloved dog, Suave.
Norma Hernandez
Watch Norma Hernandez on YouTube
For decades, Norma Hernandez has worked as an advocate for the Latino community, serving as a bridge between the different cultures, teaching understanding and teamwork.
A native of Honduras, Hernandez came to Gainesville, Georgia, in 1987 and became a United States citizen in 1989. She has a bachelor’s in accounting from the Institute Debe Y Haber of Accountants in Honduras.
Hernandez is the president of the Northeast Georgia Latino Chamber of Commerce, a position that she has held since June 2017. In that role, she manages the strategic, fiscal and programmatic goals for the chamber. She is also chair of the Hall County COVID Task Force.
Before becoming chamber president, Hernandez formed and served as president of the Northeast Georgia Hispanic Alliance, the first Latino advocacy organization in Gainesville. During her time at the NGHA, she hosted several citizenship drives — assisting more than 350 people to become United States citizens — and encouraged citizens to vote.
Hernandez previously served for more than seven years as the first Latino community service officer for the City of Gainesville Police Department before becoming court clerk for the Gainesville Municipal Court. She went on to become the assistant director for the Victim Assistance Program of the District Attorney’s Office, serving Hall and Dawson counties.
In 1993, Hernandez received the prestigious Liberty Bell Award in recognition of her outstanding community service and promotion of better understanding and respect for the law. She has served on many boards and with civic organizations in Gainesville, including the United Way, March of Dimes, Salvation Army and Gateway House, and started the first all Latino Boys Scouts Troop that came out of the old Atlanta Street apartments.
Hernandez became an entrepreneur in 1999 and opened Norma Hernandez Business Services, through which she served the Latino business community with services like business and financial consulting and accounting while also serving nine counties as a court interpreter. She started her second business, Capital Title Pawn, in 2016.
Hernandez is a happy mother of two young men, Raul and Josue.
From the Academy to the Emmy: Janie Bryant’s Design for Success
Brenau Academy alumna and Hollywood costume designer Janie Bryant shared her story of success in the competitive field of costume design during a virtual Zoom talk Tuesday, July 14.
Since her time at Brenau, Bryant has traveled the world including Paris, Toronto, New York City and Bucharest, Romania. Her most notable credits include the 2017 remake of Stephen King’s It, HBO’s Deadwood, for which she won an Emmy, and AMC’s Mad Men, which earned her four Emmy nominations.
Bryant has designed Mad Men collections in collaboration with AMC and Banana Republic and has worked with many brands including Brooks Brothers, Sony, Nike, eBay, Airbnb and Hearts on Fire Diamonds. In 2011, she released her first book, The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men, which offers style tips and inspiration as well as a peek into the design process for various Mad Men characters.
Her most recent projects are FX’s The Old Man starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow and CBS All Access’ season two of Why Women Kill. She also recently launched her own clothing line for curvy women called JXB.
Leatrice Eckber Gochberg
Leatrice Eckber Gochberg spoke about her struggles trying to break into the real estate world as a woman in the 1960s on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in front of a full Hosch Theatre.
Gochberg had to fight her way through the male-dominated world of real estate. While she found incredible success in real estate, Gochberg originally started out wanting to become an opera singer after studying music for most of her life. To help with her career goals, Gochberg earned her bachelor’s degrees in music and vocal performance from The Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and was awarded a master’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music.
She was offered a contract with the Metropolitan Opera, but was unable to continue with her career due to asthma. With her husband, Thomas, finishing his education at Columbia University, the couple decided Leatrice would have to find a new job.
