A group of UF students gave women in the community the keys to the workforce through workshops and seminars Monday.
Students in Free Enterprise hosted the Women’s Career Expo in hopes of creating an atmosphere for women to gain access to local resources. Twelve people attended the event, which was held at the Santa Fe Center for Innovation and Economic Development from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Sarah Hudson, one of the project managers for the expo, said local women can often be disconnected from the opportunities around them. She said the group is trying to help women succeed and find jobs.
Hudson said this program is helpful because not many people have the abundant career resources students do. She said the community and the group’s partners have embraced the project since it was founded three years ago.
“We are trying to highlight women’s strengths they may not realize they have,” she said.
FloridaWorks, The Displaced Homemaker Program: Focus on the Future, TempForce, City College, Navigate Your Life, Wells Fargo and Gainesville Area Women’s Network had booths.
There were also résumé workshops and mock interviews organized by the Warrington Diplomats, an organization in UF’s Warrington College of Business Administration.
Mallory Hodas, one of the project managers for the expo, said she hopes to pass along the skills she learned and help pass them along to locals like her mother. Her mother stayed at home while she and her siblings were growing up. She said her mother is looking for a job now that her kids are getting older.
“Even if we help 10 people or 100 people, it doesn’t matter the number, it matters how we impact them,” she said.
