College is a rich time of personal, academic and professional growth, but the years that follow can also be full of such development. That’s something Sara Hannah sees daily in the working world.

Sara Hannah, who speaks at UMSL at 5:30 p.m. March 17, serves as the academic director for Barry-Wehmiller University, the organization’s internal learning institute. It was developed to enable team members to grow, develop, learn, advance and share their gifts with others. (Photo courtesy of Sara Hannah)

Relying on insights she has developed as managing partner of Barry Wehmiller’s Leadership Institute, she will give a talk at the University of Missouri–St. Louis this week as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series. The speaking event, titled “Accepting the Awesome Responsibility of Leadership: Lessons Learned After Graduation” and presented by the Executive Leadership Consortium, is free and open to the public. It kicks off at 5:30 p.m. March 17, with a reception to follow.

At BWLI, Hannah oversees efforts to help client organizations understand the intersection between people, culture and a thriving business model. In addition to setting long-term goals, she plays a hands-on role working with clients to create a vision for their culture, implementing programs to ensure their vision becomes reality and facilitating leadership-training experiences that result in personal transformation.

Prior to the launch of BWLI, she led an internal team to create Barry-Wehmiller University. Using curriculum design and implementation across Barry-Wehmiller’s 9,000 associates, she created a pathway for leaders from a variety of fields to grow and develop within the enterprise. She is also a member of Barry-Wehmiller’s People Leadership Team that stewards cultural programming throughout the company’s global business units.

The College of Business Administration‘s Executive Leadership Consortium, which coordinates the speaker series, prepares students and a cross section of career professionals to become effective leaders. Aiming to meet current and future employer demands in response to regional needs and beyond,the consortium is a campus-wide leadership program at UMSL.

Co-sponsors of the series include E. Desmond Lee Professor in Developing Women & Entrepreneurs in International Business Janet Y. Murray and Gender Studies. Linda Goldstein, executive fellow of the Executive Leadership Consortium, businesswoman and former mayor of Clayton, Mo., will serve as moderator during the event.