Event Details
Young Women LEAD is a leadership, education and development conference for high school and college women in the Gibson, Henderson, Perry, Pike, Posey, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. Admission is free to all who attend!
This day gives girls the opportunity to learn and develop their leadership skills in a fun and comfortable atmosphere. Below and is more information about our sessions and speakers for the day. When registering, each attendee will have the option to choose which breakout track to attend. See the Conference Agenda to the right for more information about the schedule for the day.
Click here to register
Breakout Session Tracks
Track A: Armed for Success
You Can’t Wish Your Way to Wealth – Melissa Small, Old National Bank
D.I.A.M.O.N.D.S. (Determined, Intelligent, Active, Mature, Outstanding, Noble, Dedicated Sisters) Are Forever - Diane Braun and Sherri Montgomery, YMCA of Southwestern Indiana
CJ Divas – Women’s Empowerment and Self-Defense – Nancy Cutrell, Evansville ChunJiDo Academy
Track B: Centered for Success
Body-Mind-Spirit Connection – Helen Emge Shymanski, St. Mary’s Women’s Wellness Center
Lipstick Paradise – Business Entrepreneur – Tracy Zeller, Tracy Zeller Jewelry
You Can’t Wish Your Way to Wealth - Melissa Small, Old National Bank
Speaker Information
Melissa Small
Old National Bank
Melissa Small joined Old National Bank in 2001, and currently holds the position of Assistant Vice President, Private Banking Officer. Melissa has 20 years of banking experience; her financial background includes positions as Banking Center Sales Manager, Mortgage Operations Supervisor and Consumer Lending Officer. Small attended the University of Southern Indiana, received certifications from The Dale Carnegie Effective Communications Course and Franklin Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Melissa is a graduate of Old National’s Emerging Leaders Mentoring Program and a member of Old National’s Emerging Leaders Alumni focus group. Outside of the bank, Melissa is the Board President for Little Lambs of Evansville; a member of A Network of Evansville Women and the Women’s Fund of Vanderburgh County. Melissa also volunteers her time with the United Way, YMCA, and the American Red Cross. Melissa resides in Evansville with her husband Brian and their daughter Morgan
Diane Braun
YMCA of Southwestern Indiana
Sherri Montgomery
YMCA of Southwestern Indiana
Diane Braun is the Senior Youth Development Program Director in Community Outreach at the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana. With over 25 years experience as an educator and administrator in local Early Childhood programs.
Sherri Montgomery is the Program Coordinator for the YMCA DIAMONDS program. Sherri has made a commitment to bettering the lives of youth in our community by keeping the young ladies in the Diamonds program from dropping out of school and teen pregnancy; through volunteering in the community and by setting goals for their education and future careers.
Sensei Nancy Cutrell
Evansville ChunJiDo Academy
In 2006, Sensei Nancy Cutrell was inducted into the World Martial Arts League Hall of Fame as the “Female Self-Defense Expert of the Year.” Sensei Cutrell has also won national championships, and in 2007 competed for the USA at the Open Black Belt World Championship, finishing 3rd in the world in women’s fighting. In January of 2011 Sensei Cutrell was inducted into the martial arts industry’s largest and most prominent Hall of Honors, Action Martial Arts Magazine Hall of Honors held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for her “Outstanding Dedication to the Martial Arts.”
Sensei Cutrell has retired from competition and now dedicates herself to the administration of the North American ChunJiDo Association and teaching Women’s Self-Defense. She and her husband, Grandmaster Robert Cutrell, own and operate Evansville ChunJiDo Academy locally. They teach traditional martial arts with reality-based self-defense. Sensei Cutrell has also developed charitable events through the Kentucky Hemophilia Foundation that provide college scholarships to young people and financial support to families suffering from hemophilia.
Helen Emge Shymanski
St. Mary’s Women’s Wellness Center
Helen Emge Shymanski, Certified Yoga Instructor and Integrative Health Coach, serves as Wellness Coordinator for St. Mary’s Women’s Wellness Center. Helen received her B.A. in Economics and Psychology at Duke University. Through her career, she has worked in the for-profit business areas of marketing and banking, the not-for-profit sector with The United Way of America, and for the last 11 years as a Body, Mind, Spirit Health & Wellness Instructor and Facilitator.
Having taught yoga, pilates and mindfulness to 350-600 classes each year for the last ten years, Helen holds certifications and has been trained in a wide variety of Body, Mind, Spirit modalities. Her most recently completed professional training, Integrative Health Coaching, was completed at Duke University’s Integrative Medicine Complex in North Carolina in 2010. Sharing gifts of Body, Mind, Spirit practices is a joy, a passion and vocation of Helen’s.
Tracy Zeller
Tracy Zeller Jewelry
Tracy Zeller is a lifelong Evansville resident. She graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a Bachelor’s Degree in accounting and is also a Gemological Institute of America’s Diamond Graduate. In 2004, with nearly two decades of jewelry industry experience and a true entrepreneurial spirit, Tracy opened the first female owned and operated fine jewelry showroom in the tri-state.
Along with many educational events and speaking engagements throughout the year, Tracy is a regular guest on WFIE’s Ask the Expert segment with Mike Blake. She is also a featured spokesperson on Local 7’s Tri-State Professional. She has humbly accepted many awards and nominations over the years from various organizations throughout the community including ANEW, the Chamber of Commerce and the University of Southern Indiana.