Poughkeepsie women's conference explores overcoming doubt, trauma

Even after seven years and eight events, the annual Women's Networking Conference hosted by Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino and other community leaders is still attracting new guests.

After Serino asked the group for a show of hands from first-time attendees Wednesday, arms raised at every table. It was clear the majority in attendance were new to the event.

The Locust Grove Estate was bustling with 150 local women, there to make new connections, find support and listen to the stories of three guest speakers: Malia K. Du Mont, chief of staff and vice president of Bard College, and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, Samantha Brittain of Green Teen Program at the Cornell Cooperative Extension and CaraMia Bacchiochi, executive director of Hope on a Mission, Inc.

The atmosphere was charged with positivity, and the theme for the night: "Vision Beyond Challenges."

The beginning of the event

This annual event started when Serino was a state senator and heard about a group called Unshattered. The group works to provide women in recovery with economic independence and pathways toward sustained sobriety, through training and the opportunity to have a career making premium handbags and accessories.

Even after being involved with the community for so long, Serino said she didn't know about Unshattered and their mission, which prompted her to create a local networking event for women.

After an opening period of mingling, Serino went to the podium to formally address the women in attendance. She briefly shared her own story, emphasizing the notion that even if we might not always share the same values, we can and should still empower one another.

She recalled how intimidating her first day on the job was as a state senator in Albany. Only five women were attending the same conference she was. But on the way there, one of those women gave Serino a high-five.

"She was a pretty prominent member from the other side of the aisle," she said. "It didn't matter about politics, because when women come together, we get things done, and we work together."

Overview of the guest speakers

"I'm going to be up there speaking as an individual," Du Mont said when she addressed the crowd, "but we're all here to be part of a community."

Du Mont said it's important to explore wariness and unhappiness when it arises. She recalled when she was in a position that was supposed to be the pinnacle of her career — working in a Think Tank in Washington, D.C., as an analyst specializing in Chinese military doctrine — but it didn't truly bring her joy.

More about the guest speakers: These leaders will speak at Women's Networking Event in Poughkeepsie

"Sometimes the uncertainty or the doubts you might feel will lead you in a completely different direction that's actually going to be really fruitful," she said.

Brittain, in turn, centered her speech on overcoming challenges and making her vision, which started at age 15, a reality, when she first applied to be a part of the Green Teen youth development program in Beacon part-time after hearing about it from friends. Her path toward eventually running the program and being the one full-time employee was not direct, with bumps along the way, including becoming a single mom and getting her bachelor's degree over the course of eight years.

Nonetheless, with the help of Halina Bradman, who hired Brittain, she persevered, making her vision of running the program — even if it was a bit different than she originally imagined — come to fruition.

"I constantly remind myself, 'You've come really far, and you've got so much more to go, but you're going to be OK,'" Brittain said.

Bacchiochi shared her experience with substance abuse as well as homelessness, trying to make her way through life when she felt like she was the one standing in her own way of success and didn't like the person she saw in the mirror.

"I had nothing left to do but face myself and come to the reality that I was my own worst enemy," Bacchiochi said.

Finding her faith and using that as guidance, she achieved sobriety and became the founder of Hope on a Mission, a nonprofit that serves 500 meals a week in the City of Poughkeepsie and allows Bacchiochi to be for others the person she needed most in her own time of need.

What other women at the event had to say

Kayelne Hart, a representative from Unshattered, said she went to the event to meet new people, spread the word about what Unshattered does and see what other resources are out there in the community.

Regarding the theme for the night, Hart said she thinks it's important to always continue to grow, embracing whatever is going on in your life, and that "you've always got to have a vision."

"You've always got to be striving to move forward," she said.

Julia Liu works as the development associate of the Bard College Prison Initiative, which brings the full extent of the Bard College curriculum to seven New York State prisons. Liu said since she works in development, this was a great opportunity to meet women and make further connections.

Kerri Bishop, a single mom who works as a teacher as well as a women's life coach and financial coach, said the theme for tonight resonates with her as when you're "in the midst of trauma," it can be difficult to see beyond that and look toward the future.

She said it's crucial to "figure out what your long-term goals" are, and in her experience, it helped to make short-term goals as steps to reach that vision. As well, she said it helped her to find others who have gone through harder things than she has.

"In the face of adversity, women don't run and hide," Serino said. "We pull ourselves up, and we get through another day, and we empower others along the way."

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: This Poughkeepsie women's event fosters connection through challenges