“Dare to Lead,” a program in commemoration of the famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is scheduled for Wednesday at the Laboratory.
The featured speaker is Eleanor S. Towns. She is scheduled to speak at 10:30 a.m., in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3. The talk is sponsored by the African American Diversity Working Group, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (HR-OEOD) and the Diversity Affirmative Action Board and is open to the work force.
The Laboratory is closed on Jan. 16 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. King was assassinated outside a Memphis hotel room on April 4, 1968. He was 39 at the time of his death.
Now a leadership development and motivational speaker, Towns’ reputation as an extraordinary motivator, manager of chaos, mediator, and her ability to consistently perform under challenging circumstances earned her Meritorious Presidential Rank from President Clinton.
Towns is the only black female to be a regional forester in the 100-year history of the U.S. Forest Service. During her assignment as regional forester, Towns served as the top Forest Service official for the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000. During that time, she oversaw the mobilization of internal and external resources, contacted cabinet-level and White House officials, managed the worldwide press, the startup of restoration efforts and the procurement of significant funding for treating forest areas.
Towns remains highly respected for her relationships with members of Congress, her collaborative efforts with cattlemen, environmental groups, industry representatives, as well as her relationships and work with local, state, and tribal and pueblo governments.
For more information about Towns, go to http://www.eleanortowns.com/ online.
