UB conference to focus on leadership under pressure

By Kevin Manne

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Leaders from the business, nonprofit and academic worlds will come together on May 2 for a conference hosted by the University at Buffalo School of Management’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE) and Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL).

The daylong event, “Leadership Under Pressure: Rising to Today’s Business Challenges,” will give managers the tools to go above and beyond when crises occur.

The conference will begin at 8 a.m. at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, 153 Franklin St., Buffalo.

“Western New York has faced an extraordinary number of crises during the past year, along with the post-pandemic challenges of talent acquisition and retention, supply chain disruptions and a looming recession,” says Ananth Iyer, professor and dean of the UB School of Management. “This conference will bring focus to these types of situations, with leaders who have had to step up in these scenarios, as well as experts who will discuss key leadership topics.”

Conference highlights will include:

• “Conflict Communication for Leaders: Delivering an Ideal Message in Less-Than-Ideal Circumstances” by Ryan Marshall Dunlap, Founder, Conflictish
  
• “She Persisted: A Journey to Improve Health through a Food System Social Enterprise” by Rita Hubbard-Robinson, Associate Director, CEO, Community Health Equity Research Institute, Neuwater & Associates, Buffalo Center for Health Equity
  
• “Five Core Principles to Create Organizational Change” by Joseph Patrnchak, Former Chief Human Resources Officer, Cleveland Clinic
  
• “Doing Good While Making a Living” by Del Reid, Founder, 26 Shirts and Bills Mafia
  
• “When You’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Managing Successfully Under Disrupted Conditions” by Natalie Simpson, Professor and Chair of Operations Management and strategy, and Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, UB School of Management
  
•  “Leading in a Rapidly Evolving World” by Tom Ulbrich, President and CEO, Goodwill of WNY

Additional breakout sessions will feature insights from business owners and entrepreneurs, the latest leadership research from UB School of Management faculty and lessons from top-level industry experts.

The event will build upon the success of previous leadership conferences, which have offered opportunities to learn about leading ethically, the future of leadership, diversity and inclusion, the power of people-oriented leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship, and emerging research and how to put that research into practice.

Tickets are $199 per person, with a discounted rate for UB students, faculty and staff. For a full schedule and registration information, visit management.buffalo.edu/leadership2023.

Since 2013, CLOE has created more effective leaders and organizations by advancing research, education and outreach in leadership and organizational development. CLOE also supports UB’s goals of accelerating academic excellence, translating scholarship and developing leadership capabilities in UB students and business leaders. For more information, visit management.buffalo.edu/cloe.

Established in 1987, the CEL provides participants with individualized and interactive education in entrepreneurship. More than 1,500 CEL alumni employ more than 23,000 Western New Yorkers, and their businesses are worth more than $2.3 billion to the local economy. For more information, visit management.buffalo.edu/cel.