Vallejo to discuss lessons in leadership at forum Dec. 2
Dr. Maria Vallejo, provost of the Palm Beach State College Lake Worth campus who has more than 30 years of higher education experience, will be the featured speaker at the Women’s Empowerment Forum on Dec. 2.The forum, hosted every other month by PBSC’s Corporate and Continuing Education division, will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the BioScience Technology Complex, Room SC 127 at the Palm Beach Gardens campus, 3160 PGA Blvd. It is free and open to the public, but reservations are encouraged and can be made online or by calling 561-207-5708. Attendees may bring their lunch; coffee will be provided.
Vallejo’s talk is titled “Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now: Lessons in Leadership.” She was named provost of the PBSC Lake Worth campus in 1999. She previously served as vice president of academic and student services at Nassau Community College, vice president of student affairs at Rockland Community College and dean of academic support services at Bergen Community College. She holds a Ph.D. in Bilingual Curriculum Development/Higher Education from New York University, two master’s degrees from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College.
Vallejo has been instrumental in providing advocacy and support to organizations such as ASPIRA of Florida and of Palm Beach, and she was appointed in 2011 to the ASPIRA of Florida State Board of Directors as the state representative to the National Board. She is active with the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Chamber, which awarded her the 2009 Shining Star Award; the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, which honored her with their Giraffe Award in 2007, and the Executive Women of the Palm Beaches, which honored her with the Women in Leadership Award in 2010. She was one of the 12 women honored in South Florida as a “Hispanic Woman of Distinction,’’ and she was honored at the “Portrait of a Woman” Charity Luncheon in 2012, benefitting Quantum House of Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast. Nationally, Vallejo was honored as one of the “20 Mujeres of Distinction” in the 2004 Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. She is also past president of the National Community College Hispanic Council (NCCHC), where she actively promoted and supported the Council’s annual Leadership Symposium and Fellows Program, bringing together promising Latino leaders for national mentoring, training and networking for the National Community College Hispanic Council. She now sits on the Leadership Fellows Program Advisory Board.
The Women’s Empowerment Forum is sponsored by PNC Bank, HERLIFE Magazine and Oceana Coffee.
