Women in the Workforce - The New Normal

The challenges of the pandemic have affected everyone — particularly women. For working women and their families, coordinating work, education, family activities and personal health has always been a necessary balancing act, one that became particularly challenging during the pandemic. We will share how women’s lives are changing and what the “new normal” really means and looks like moving forward.
Keynote Speakers: 
Terry Hernandez, Executive Director, Chrysalis Foundation 
Catherine Huggins, Executive Vice President, Huggins Consulting Group 
Terry Hernandez was born and raised in Iowa and spent most of her life in Des Moines. A graduate of Iowa State University, she has led the Chrysalis Foundation since 1997, when she became the first and founding executive director. Hernandez and her staff of four lead the public charity’s work to improve the lives of girls and women in Greater Des Moines (DSM) through grant-making, community engagement and education and philanthropy.  
Catherine Huggins is a strategic counselor to top executives, rising stars and newbies in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She served as Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Chief Advisor from 2017-19. Catherine also was Chief Advisor to Reynolds from 2013-15 when she was Lieutenant Governor. 
As Executive Vice President at Huggins Consulting Group, she spearheads the firm’s strategic planning, government relations, issues management, scenario planning, crisis communications and executive communication efforts.
Huggins is a part-time lecturer and teaches upper-level advertising and public relations courses at Iowa State University. She is actively involved in Iowa’s EPIC Corporate Challenge and served on the Executive Council of Million Women Mentors – Iowa. Currently, she is on the Advisory Board for The American Legacy Project and an Advisor for Jewels Academy (a nonprofit offering STEM and self-enrichment programs/camps for underrepresented young women).