The University of Maine at Presque Isle will present Hilary Corna—screenwriter, author, and founder of the #DareYourself Movement—as the next speaker in its 2017-2018 Distinguished Lecturer Series on Tuesday, April 10, at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. Her talk serves as the keynote address for UMPI’s 17th Annual University Day—the theme of this year’s University Day and the 2017-2018 Distinguished Lecturer Series is This I Believe. This event is free and open to the public.
Corna is a former senior executive with Toyota in Asia and has published a memoir, One White Face, about her time abroad. Since its release, it has been featured in such media as The New York Times and NBC, and is now being adapted into a screenplay.
During her talk, titled #DareYourself: The Art of Global Leadership, Corna will discuss how audience members can develop a mindset of daring themselves so they can be the leaders they’re meant to be. Her mission is to cultivate a daring community of leaders prepared for the 21st century.
Corna spent time in Asia as the Senior Executive Officer for Toyota, where she managed a team of people across 14 different countries as a Change Leader for all of the dealerships there. When she returned home, she wrote and published her memoir, One White Face, which has also been featured by ForbesWoman and was reviewed as the “GenY version of Eat, Pray, Love.”
She has spoken at TED, her organization is partnered with Holstee Manifesto, and her book tour is sponsored in part by Toyota Motor USA. She has also been featured in Pearson’s Business Communication college textbook, speaks conversational Japanese, and currently resides in Austin, Texas.
Corna graduated from Elon University in North Carolina and has also studied at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. To learn more about her, visit www.hilarycorna.com or follow her on Twitter at @HilaryCorna.
“I’m passionate about empowerment and have spoken to high schools, colleges, corporations and more from crowds of 5 to 5,000,” Corna stated on her website.
Corna’s talk serves as the kick-off for University Day, with a full day of events following on Wednesday, April 11. From about 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., about 130 students are expected to offer talks and presentations on their research and community service. A complete schedule of University Day activities can be found at www.umpi.edu/uday.
The University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series was established in 1999. Each year, the UDLS Committee sponsors four to six speakers who come from Maine and beyond, representing a range of disciplines and viewpoints. While the emphasis tends to be on featuring visiting academics, it is not exclusively so. The speakers typically spend two days at the University meeting with classes and presenting a community lecture.
All are invited to attend Corna’s April 10 talk and a book signing immediately following her talk. Copies of her book will be available for sale at that time. A portion of all book sales go to the Coca Cola Scholars Foundation for underprivileged high school student college scholarships. For more information about this Distinguished Lecture or the 17th Annual University Day, please contact the University’s Community and Media Relations Office at 768-9452 or email umpi@maine.edu.
