Attendance swells at second women’s forum

The second annual Women on the Rise Forum and Expo attracted three times as many attendees to the Valley Stream Community Center on Oct. 4 as the first event did last year, according to organizer Marsha Guerrier.

More than 50 women showed up for the event, which featured 18 vendors, several speakers and two workshops.

Tammie Williams, an Elmont Memorial Public Library trustee and Hempstead Town Council candidate, was the keynote speaker. She told the crowd about the obstacles she overcame to earn her master’s degree in social work and found GIRLS Pride, a group that works to empower young women.

The program featured two main workshops: a goal-mapping session led by motivational coach Carline Dumerlin-Folkes, and a presentation about changing careers by businesswoman Raquel Saint-Joy. Marthe Desdunes, managing attorney at the Desdunes Law Firm in Westbury and former executive director to Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, delivered the closing remarks. Solages was on hand to present citations to some of the speakers.

Guerrier attributed the event’s growth to increased community outreach by Solages’s office in the last year, including holding workshops for small business owners. She said the forum would continue next year, although she would have to find a larger space to accommodate it.