Pres. Cantwell's New Podcast Episode With Susan Madsen Addresses Utah Women in Leadership

In the third episode of “Future Casting with Utah State,” USU President Elizabeth Cantwell collaborates with founding director of the Utah Women and Leadership Project Susan Madsen.

Madsen is also the Karen Haight Endowed Professor of Leadership in USU’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business.

Together, Cantwell and Madsen discuss societal changes for women in Utah and how the topic women in leadership has progressed in the past years.

Madsen started the movement “A Bolder Way Forward,” where the overall mission is to make Utah a place where more girls and women can thrive in any setting, whether it be their home, workplace, congregation or community.

In the episode, Madsen shares when the movement started and how much effort is needed to continue.

“We started in 2023, and 2030 is where we're going and we want to shift what would take four decades and seven years, but we can't do that alone,” Madsen said. “It's bringing state government, nonprofits, stay-at-home moms, families and local government businesses together to say this is the time where Utah is the place for a bolder way forward.”

This episode also brings awareness to the importance for women to attend post-secondary education.

“All the data says that even if you remain a stay-at-home mom or a woman who raises your own family, if you have some form of degree, those children and grandchildren will be economically better off even if you never go into the workplace yourself,” Cantwell said.

For more information, listen to “Future Casting with Utah State” on UPR.org or visit the president’s communications webpage.