Herstory at Poole: Celebrating Achievements of Women Alumni

Noor Bokhari, who grew up in Cary, N.C., said she had selected the NC State Poole College of Management because she had “heard about all the great extracurricular activities they have,” including career-focused organizations and guest speakers.

For the past two years, Bokhari has been part of a team of students – working with Tayah Butler, director of diversity and inclusion at Poole College – helping to create and market some of those events,  first as a member of a diversity and inclusion steering committee and now as an intern.

This month, Bokhari led a team of student volunteers in creating a display showcasing the careers of five Poole College women alumni. She also helped to organize the college’s March 28 Inclusive by Design Women’s Herstory Reception, where students had a chance to meet and talk with the alumni featured in the display, and attend a performance by Aisha Fukushima. This was one of several Herstory activities at NC State this month.

Inclusive by Design

“I got involved with diversity and inclusion by going to the Inclusive By Design events that Tayah organized, seeing how much of an impact she was having, and wanting to help with that,” Bokhari said.

“Tayah and I connected, and I started helping her with small tasks at the events and gradually started helping more,” she said. These were opportunities for her to apply her design and marketing skills.

Assisting with the Herstory display were Emma Coggins, junior, Poole College and College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Ugonna Ezuma-Igwe, freshman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and Rani Madhiwala and Luis Gonzalez, both Poole College juniors. They gathered interview responses from the women alumni featured in this month’s display.

Bokhari’s goal for the Herstory display and reception, she said, “is to celebrate women’s contribution to society, and show female students that they can thrive while staying true to themselves. By hosting Poole women alumni who are sharing their incredible journeys, I hope that students are inspired to follow their own dreams and achieve lifelong success.”

Showcasing Career Options

“Another reason this display is important is because it shows that Poole College is a safe environment for anyone to discuss the challenges they face. We are being open about the difficulties a woman can face in the working world and how we can overcome them. Hopefully this informs students and boosts their self-confidence while they are in the process of choosing a career,” she said.

Bokhari, who graduates this December with a bachelor’s in business administration and concentration in marketing, said she would like to combine her passions and “work as a product/brand strategist, someone who analyzes the market and comes up with a marketing plan.” She chose marketing, she said, “because it allows me to explore my creative side as well as my more analytical side.”

She also personally has gained insight from her involvement with the event.

“Throughout this experience, I have been researching where our women alumni have gone after graduation and realized how many different paths there really are. I have also seen the importance of having positive female role models to inspire me to accomplish my goals. Lastly, I realize that although this is a celebration of female accomplishments, it is also a reminder of the work that still needs to be done to have equality,” she said.

Featured Alumni

The following Poole College women alumni are featured in the college’s 2019 Herstory display.

Sabrina Ahmed

SABRINA AHMED | Class of 2015, bachelor’s in business administration, human resources and psychology minor
Digital Nomad, Entrepreneur

Ahmed recently left Cisco to carve a new path with her husband, Wesley. Now digital nomads – people who use technology to earn a living while on the road – they share their experiences on their website, You, Me and the Parks. She has gained confidence by doing something she loves – being a traveling explorer. That builds on what she learned in the corporate world: How to be more assertive, and to change how she talks to different people to get her point across. And as a woman of color – Bengali and Navajo – she continues to explain her ethnicity.

Favorite Quote: Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.’ – Rumi

SARAH ENDAYA | Class of 2014, bachelor’s in business administration, marketing concentration with a minor in non-profit studies. She also has a master’s in marketing from the University of Southern California, 2018
Marketing Project Manager, Brand & Creative Services at Healthgrade

Finding the right job took a while, but each starter position provided new challenges and confidence-building experiences that helped Sarah tame her timid nature and gain confidence as a woman and team member. Endaya learned that she likes the creative side of marketing and earned an MBA in marketing that led to her current role. She credits both the support of male colleagues – as a student at Poole and at work – and women leadership at her company for her successful transitions. “If you make it clear that you are working hard and trying your best, then people will respect that and you can hold your own,” she said.

Quote: “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”  – Mother Teresa

DEBORAH HAZZARD | Class of 1991, bachelor’s in business administration
She also has an Executive MBA from Winthrop University and a doctorate in business administration from the Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
Clinical assistant professor, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina

When beginning her career in the financial services industry, Hazzard was usually the only woman in a male-dominated environment. As an African American, a woman, a wife, and a single parent with a career, she faced biases and worked tirelessly to find balance. That changed on 9/11/2001, when reflection led her to bow out on her own terms. She transitioned into consulting and higher education, teaching first as an adjunct and then full time shortly after completing her doctoral studies.

LEE ANNE B. NANCE | Bachelor of economics, 1983; masters, 1985
Chief strategic officer, Stewart

Nance’s primary responsibilities at the engineering and designer firm Stewart include brand and market development through new business and strategic partnerships, strengthening relationships with new and existing clients, building positive awareness of the firm, as well as strategic planning and implementation of initiatives. She is the first and only woman on Stewart’s executive team, and strives to ensure assure women in the company are represented well. She understands the challenges of being a wife, mom, and career-driven women in a male-driven world.

Favorite Quote: We need women who are so strong they can be gentle, so educated they can be humble, so fierce they can be compassionate, so passionate they can be rational, and so disciplined they can be free.” – Kavita Ramdas

SOBIA SHEIKH | Class of 2011, bachelors’ in accounting
Finance manager, AKQA

As a student, Sheikh would avoid going to office hours. Now, she leads a team focused on revenue recognition at the AKQA marketing company. And as a mother of two young children, Sheikh has learned to strike a balance between being in the workplace and being a mom at home, and not let them overcome each other. (She was not able to attend the Herstory event at Poole College this year.)

Favorite Quote: Treat others the way you want to be treated.