Keynote Speaker
Dr. Karen Hopkins, Professor

Dr. Karen Hopkins, Professor

School of Social Work, University of Maryland, USA
Speech Title: Impact of Leadership Development on Women’s Individual and Organizational Behaviours

Abstract: Despite the prevalence of women employed within health and human services, women have been especially underrepresented, unprepared, and unsupported in leadership development and roles. Our presentation will focus on our research with a sample of racially diverse women in a leadership development program and highlight the impact of their leadership learning and coaching on changes in individual, collective, and organizational behaviours. As women participants moved from learning to action, they applied a range of new ways of behaving and performing in their organizations that reflect more inclusive leadership styles and practices. We will also describe a Human-Centered Leadership development model focused on the unique leadership experiences and development needs of women that emphasizes meaningfulness, equity, agility and impact.

Keywords: Leadership development, Women, Health and human services


Biography: Dr. Karen Hopkins is Professor and Co-Director of the Human-Centered Leadership in Health and Human Services Certificate at the School of Social Work, University of Maryland. She is the Academic Coordinator for the Graduate MSW/MBA dual degree and teaches courses in human service management and leadership and performance management. Her research with nonprofit and public agencies is related to supervision, management, and leadership practices and outcomes, performance management, workforce development, and organizational learning and capacity building. She is a national peer reviewer for the Standards of Excellence Institute certification for nonprofits. She has served on the Boards of the Network for Social Work Management, Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), and the Association of Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA). She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Human Services Organizations: Management, Leadership, and Governance journal. She received a PhD from the University of Chicago, MSW from the University of Pittsburgh, and a BS from the Pennsylvania State University.