Anaiya Moore
  • Business Management/HRTM
  • Class of 2021
  • Columbia, SC

CCU's Anaiya Moore volunteers at women's leadership conference in Myrtle Beach

2018 Feb 21

Anaiya Moore, a hospitality, resort, and tourism management major from Columbia, SC, was among the more than 40 Coastal Carolina University students who volunteered during the eighth annual Women's Leadership Conference and Celebration of Inspiring Women Feb. 5-6 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Nearly 800 women attended the conference to hear keynote speakers Jenna Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush, author Cara Brookins, Boeing's Joan Robinson-Berry and NASCAR driver Julia Landauer. The conference is presented by Women in Philanthropy and Leadership (WIPL) at Coastal Carolina University.

"This conference has grown each year, and we hear over and over again that people look forward to it," said Hatton Gravely, director of WIPL. "I believe it has grown organically as women share with other women that it is a not-to-miss event."

The Bush sisters, daughters of former President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush, opened the conference in a casual format, sitting in chairs onstage with CCU First Lady Terri DeCenzo and conference emcee Meghan Miller from WBTW News 13. They talked about their new book, "Sisters First," and offered insights into serving others, balancing life and work, and the importance of sisterhood.

"Sisterhood is the reason we wrote the book," Hager said. "To have women friends who support me, who understand, who listen it's this unbelievable empowerment. It's a broader term for mentorship."

"Peer mentorship is tremendous," Bush echoed. "There are days you go to work and think you can't do this, but there are thousands of us, so we can do this. It makes me dream bigger and work really, really hard."

WIPL has raised more than $37,000 in scholarships for students during the 2017-18 academic year, and DeCenzo emphasized that "students are the reason we are here" during her remarks, speaking to the students present directly.

For more information about WIPL, visit coastal.edu/wipl or contact Gravely at agravely@coastal.edu.