Advisory Council Member Betty Manetta as Honored Speaker for Integrity and Professionalism Convocation 2014

Backgroud

Distinguished Leadership Advisory Council member, Beatriz (Betty) Manetta was handpicked to be the guest speaker of the Stillman School’s Integrity and Professionalism Convocation on Wednesday, October 8th. Recently featured in Cosmopolitan for Latinas, she is the President & CEO of  certified minority- and female-owned Argent Associates, a supply-chain management and IT service provider focused on government, enterprise and telecommunications markets. Ms. Manetta prides herself on her intrinsically rich and prosperous journey as a businesswoman. Coupled with an influential and lively personality, the speaker of honor was able to inspire and enthuse her audience filled to the brim with students and faculty alike.

Receptions

Before her 6:30 PM call time, Ms. Manetta was joined by family, friends, business partners, and Leadership Development Honors Program students at the pre-reception of the night’s convocation. Chatting over light snacks and refreshments, the attendees were able to network and celebrate this event with great company. Leadership students Danielle Andreani,  Elizabeth Burke, Caitlyn Conroy, Gabrielle DePalma, Noel Girgenti, Zane Keller, Deniz Yalcin, and Kathleen Yeckley were among those invited. Later on in the evening another set of Leadership students including, Alec Alvino, Thomas Guglielmo, Sophia Joseph, and Kristine Mamanta closed out the wondrous ceremony at the post-reception.

Students at the pre-reception [Top from L to R] Zane Keller, Elizabeth Burke, Caitlyn Conroy, Deniz Yalcin, Kathleen Yeckley, Gabrielle DePalma, Danielle Andreani, and Noel Girgenti
Students at the post-reception [Bottom from L to R] Alec Alvino, Kristine Mamanta, Sophia Joseph, Thomas Guglielmo, and Betty Manetta

The Start of the Convocation

Hundreds of students and faculty members flooded the Jubilee Auditorium, filling both the upper and lower sections to hear Ms. Manetta’s speech. Dean Joyce Strawser then welcomed the audience  followed by another introduction before Stillman’s guest of honor began. The room grew darker and the Always #LikeAGirl video starting playing. As a top female business executive, Ms. Manetta wanted to start her speech with a feminist message, portraying how even though our society suffers from gender inequality it is possible to achieve your highest ambitions.

Ms. Manetta delivering her speech

Her speech was broken down into 4 distinct parts:

I. History

II. Statistics

III. Business and Marketing

IV. Question and Answer

Betty Manetta’s Speech

Ms. Manetta discussed much about her Latino heritage and the growing number of workers. Latinos make up 16% or 23.3 million people in the United States labor force and 4.3 million Latino owned businesses. Although she is one of many, she shared not only her insights of her own personal entrepreneurial journey, but also represented the Latino community as  a true inspiration for all aspiring business people regardless of culture.

The largest portion of her presentation was dedicated to business and the core values of the Stillman School of Business: integrity and professionalism. She emphasized her key to success: work in an environment that values ethics, expects professionalism, and gives every employee ownership and confidence. Reflecting on her own journey, Ms. Manetta attests to never taking shortcuts and earning everything she has today by understanding others before being understood and continuously innovating her company. Through the fruits of her labor, she also won the respect and trust of those around her. To keep a reputation as highly esteemed as her own, a person needs to remember to keep his or her integrity in tact while being the face of not only a company but also all those under its umbrella.

Another topic Ms. Manetta touched upon was the transformation of Work Force 2020. Technology is continuously and rapidly changing. She even brought out an IB10 robot which carried an iPad on a roller, that demonstrated the future of doing business virtually anywhere face to face. Ms. Manetta’s main message on this was to urge the future generation of business leaders to pivot and grow with technology and to take it to the next level.

Lastly, Ms. Manetta spoke about creating your own destiny or your own “Blue Ocean.” Anyone can achieve this by taking a normal idea and revolutionizing it into a new concept that is the next big thing. If your passion carries you as far as creating something for the betterment of others, then you must attend to your goals always without deterrence.

Thanks

At the Leadership Development Honors Program, the team would love to congratulate Ms. Manetta on a successful and inspiring speech. She embodies what it means to be a true leader and we will always value her support and commitment to the Gerald P. Buccino ’63 Center for Leadership Development.

• ← Leadership Junior Belle Plateroti in London, England! – Monthly Update Part 1
• Three Minute Leadership: Thoughts from a Mountain Top →