Address from President Walsh: Introducing our 2022 Commencement Day Keynote Speaker

(Tiffany Norwood)

Our annual Bennett College Commencement Day takes place on Friday, 14 May 2022, as we honor 50 of our diligent Belles who have worked tirelessly to find themselves on the steadfast path to graduation. It goes without saying that this day is nothing short of remarkable, and one that fills me with immense pride.

When considering the gravity of this occasion, I would be doing our Belles a disservice by not acknowledging the added layer of challenges we face as women of color. This makes Commencement Day even more noteworthy, as it signifies being one step closer to taking up space and being disruptors in a world that has long convinced us there are spaces in which we don’t belong.

I am delighted to announce that the multi-hyphenate, and one of the first successful black female tech entrepreneurs, Tiffany Norwood, will be joining us to share her words of wisdom and inspiration!

Tiffany is considered one of the top innovators and tech entrepreneurs in the world, pioneering in multiple industries from digital broadcasting, broadband internet, digital music, ed-tech, eSports, and more. She was recently named the 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year for Cornell University, the first black woman to receive this lifetime achievement award in its nearly forty-year history.

In her career spanning 35 years, Tiffany has an outstandingly impressive resume. To mention just a few of her achievements:

•  She became a CEO while a junior at Cornell University, and by the age of 24, she licensed her first software code for a multibillion-dollar bank merger.
• She raised over $670 million dollars to fund a start-up called Worldpace, which accomplished incredible things such as launching three satellites into space.
• In 2020, she published her first book, Vote Like a Boss: An Entrepreneur’s Perspective on Innovation, Leadership, Creativity, Storytelling, and Voting.
• When it comes to talks, Bennett is far from her first rodeo. She has spoken around the world, including venues like the US Patent and Trademark Office, the Newseum, the European Parliament, the Italian Parliament, Platform Summit, the United Nations, ABC News, and many others.

Tiffany Norwood, a self-made worldwide changemaker, is the embodiment of so many of the values and aspirations we share at Bennett College. She believes that, “Your best role model is your own imagination”, and those are some words I will leave you with as we approach Commencement Day. This is just the very beginning of the journey for our Belles, and I look forward to seeing just how far their imagination takes them and the spaces they disrupt.

On behalf of the Bennett community — we are truly humbled and grateful that Tiffany will be joining us on this special day, to celebrate the excellence, courage, empathy, and drive that is embedded throughout our student body!

Yours Faithfully,

Suzanne Elise Walsh, JD
President
Bennett College

More details on Commencement Day:

Date: 14 May 2022
Time: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Venue: The Quad at the center of campus
Commencement Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q5HnZ_MonU

Discover more on Tiffany via her social media pages here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanyanorwood/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TiffanyNorwood
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffanynorwood/

Vote Like a Boss: An Entrepreneur’s Perspective on Innovation, Leadership,
Creativity, Storytelling, and Voting: https://www.amazon.com/Vote-Like-Boss-Entrepreneurs-Storytelling/dp/0578758377/ref=nodl_