Our Team

The UWEI is fortunate to have the involvement of many passionate and dedicated women. Their time and talents working on this issue is what enables us to do what we do.

STAFF

Holly Richardson, Initiative Coordinator

Holly Richardson is the enthusiastic coordinator of the projects, activities, and strategic communications for UWEI. Her fifteen-plus years of experience creating and building online communities now serves UWEI’s mission to grow the impact of our organization by developing a strong network of support for women pursuing higher education. Holly is also pursuing her Masters degree at Southern Utah University in Professional Communication. Holly is an outspoken advocate for Utah women, in politics, in business, in education and with their families. She loves the way the digital age facilitates connecting communities of women with common goals. Holly can be contacted at [email protected] or on her cell phone (801) 369-2836.

Susan R. Madsen, Director

Dr. Susan R. Madsen is the Orin R. Woodbury Professor of Leadership and Ethics in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University. Susan has been heavily involved for over a decade in researching the lifetime development of prominent women leaders and has two books and a host of articles published on this work. Just this year, Dr. Madsen released four briefs through the Utah Women Leadership Project, which she founded, on the status of Utah women in politics, non-profit, education, and business. Overall, Susan has authored or edited four books and published nearly 100 articles, chapters, and reports, and she presents often in local, national, and international settings. In 2012 she presented in NGO sessions at the United Nations in New York and Geneva on women, leadership, and education and was also an invited panelist at the New York Times. Susan was recently recognized as one of the 2013 “30 Women to Watch” in Utah Business Magazine, one of the 2014 Fabulous Forty in Utah Valley Magazine, and a 2012 Salt Lake Chamber PathFinder Awardee. She recently finished a four year project for the state of Utah to figure out how to get more Utah women to graduate from college. Dr. Madsen received her doctorate from the University of Minnesota in human resource development. View video of Dr. Madsen discussing her work on the Utah Women and Education Project. Can be contacted at [email protected] or (801) 863-6176

ADVISORS

Dr. Cheryl Hanewicz

Dr. Cheryl Hanewicz is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Technology Management program at Utah Valley University (UVU). She started working at UVU in 2005. Since then, she has also served as an Assistant Dean in the College of Technology and Computing as well as Senior Director of Student Success and Retention. She has been involved in the Utah Women and Education Project as researcher, writer, and presenter. Previously, she taught technology-related courses both on-campus and online at Eastern Michigan University in the School of Technology Studies for ten years. She received her Bachelor of Science, Master of Liberal Studies in Technology, and Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership. Cheryl has over 25 years of computer and managerial experience in both the business and academic environments. Before teaching she worked in two software development companies in administrative positions and was a consultant for several companies, which included training administrators in computer skills, editing security manuals, and updating maintenance policies for ISO 9000 compliance. In addition to teaching, she has published technology-related books and articles, participated in national conferences, and consulted with Macmillan Computer Publishing USA and Prentice Hall as a technical editor. She can be contacted at [email protected] or (801) 863-6539

Dr. Anne Wairepo

Dr. Anne Rumsey Wairepo is the Senior Director of Women’s Success at Utah Valley University. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Foundations from Brigham Young University where she was the Director of Student Leadership. She has been involved in higher education and leadership for the last 20 years and now specializes in helping women commit to and achieve their educational goals including exploration in STEM fields and degrees that open doors. Currently Anne teaches Women in Business in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University. Her research interests include leveraging social network structures among higher education scholars; mentoring for women’s leadership development; and most recently, institutional climates and supports that enable career growth for female leaders in higher education. Her work has been published in the Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics as well as Advancing Women in Leadership Journal. Between working for BYU and UVU, Anne married a New Zealander and lived abroad for several years. Two children later, she’s thrilled to be back in Utah working with fantastic women who want to make a difference in the world! [email protected] or (801) 863-3020

Susan Thackeray

Susan L. Thackeray serves as the Director of Career and Technical Education at Utah Valley University. She has over twenty years of demonstrated leadership in industry and education that includes international and domestic higher education instructional design, distance learning development, usability testing, workforce development and team organization/training. Ms. Thackeray is noted nationally for the UVU Business Engagement Strategy Career Pathways model to efficiently prepare students for the workforce. She is currently the state lead for the National Alliance for Partnership in Equity STEM Equity Pipeline Project. She has received multiple awards and is honored to be the 2012 recipient of the Women Tech Council innovation award for Educational Excellence. Ms. Thackeray holds a bachelor of science in the field of digital media and a master degree in instructional technology from Utah State University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate degree with a research focus of underrepresented populations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). She can be contacted at [email protected] or (801) 863-8906

Utah Campus Contacts

These campus contacts may also be helpful:

  • Brigham Young University: Women’s Services and Resources
  • Dixie State University: Women’s Resource Center
  • Southern Utah University: Non Traditional Students
  • Utah State University: Center for Women and Gender
  • University of Utah: Women’s Resource Center
  • Utah Valley University: Women’s Success Center
  • Weber State University: Women’s Center
  • Westminster College: Admissions Center