The Global Institute of Sustainable Development Global Women Development Forum

The Global Institute of Sustainable Development, GISD, an International Studies research and service institute at Chicago State University is very active in the global community. Recently, in Scottsdale, Arizona, during the Akwa Ibom State Association of Nigeria, USA’s 27th Annual Convention, the institute had an opportunity to organize a forum for international women. As an oversight of conference organizers, this last minutes necessity came as a result of an urgent need for an education event for women attendees. So, the need arose and GISD was ready to answer the call.

Identifying and working with women leaders, GISD was able to forge this unscheduled women forum, which was well attended and appreciated by all attendees and even those who heard about it afterward. Utilizing sustainable principles, the high quality program tapped from the global resources and skills-set of participants to educate attendees on various issues of interest to women and girls of various backgrounds and affiliations.

The forum, originally scheduled for a limited time period and space went on and on with great enthusiasm and excitement. It got relocated twice for time and space, yet still bubbling with rigor and hunger for more. There was hardly enough time to cover all the topics in leadership devotional and spiritual awakening, women's health, health and family history, stress management, women leadership, entrepreneurship and management, women literacy and education, beauty and self-maintenance, building relationships and family matters, civil rights and civic participation, as well as legal issues with recap remarks.

The sessions were very informative that participants asked Dr. Margaret King, GISD Founder and International Studies Coordinator at Chicago State University, to organize a similar event in Chicago. “We have been bombarded with requests to host a similar conference in Chicago sometime soon. The intensity of the emails and phone calls in support of this conference for Akwa Ibom women, makes it hard to resist planning one soon,” remarked Dr. King.

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