The 2nd Annual Women in Leadership Symposium is set for Nov. 13, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at MSU Meridian. The deadline to register is Friday, Nov. 6.

Admission to the symposium is a donation to the Women in Leadership Scholarship.

Officials say the purpose of the symposium is to provide a forum for "discussion on issues, concepts and the practical skills necessary to challenge and inspire women to become leaders." The focus this year is diversity and women’s health issues.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Cora Norman, former director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, will speak on the theme, “Women as agents of change in Mississippi during the 20th Century."

A panel discussion will be held during the morning session featuring newly elected Meridian Mayor Cheri Barry; Veldore F. Young, circuit court judge of the 10th judicial district drug court; Linda Farmer, a co-founder and facilitator of the breast cancer support group CAREousel; Doris Ann Thompson, the Bogue Chitto tribal council representative to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, who serves as chairperson for the Community and Family Services Committee; and Evadna Lyons, a nursing instructor and director of the National League for Nursing Accreditation Committee at East Central Community College.

Honorary Steel Magnolia Award:
Beth Clay, an attorney and founder of The Clay Firm, was selected as Honorary Steel Magnolia because of her service to the state, community and MSU through her life-long interest in Mississippi’s governmental and political landscape. Consistently named “Mississippi’s top Lobbyist” by The Clarion Ledger and the Mississippi Business Journal, Clay is the only attorney in Mississippi recognized in the prestigious Martindale-Hubbell Bar Registrar of Preeminent Lawyers in the area of government relations.