- This event has passed.
Virtual: Cultivating A Global Mindset at Carolina: A Conversation With Barbara Stephenson
June 16, 2021 at 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
What can strengthen the future of democracy around the globe? How do we train and develop the leaders our world needs?
Barbara Stephenson, UNC’s vice provost of global affairs and chief global officer, will discuss her experience as a U.S. ambassador and her strategy to cultivate A Global Mindset at Carolina in this exclusive interview led by business executive and Carolina alumna Susan Gravely ’73, ’79 (M.S.R.A.).
Susan Gravely ’73, ’79 (M.S.R.A.) is the Co-Founder & CEO of VIETRI, a lifestyle brand offering artisanal, handcrafted Italian tabletop and home and garden accessories.
Founded in 1983, VIETRI began with a trip to Italy where Susan and her mother Lee and sister Frances fell in love with the handpainted Italian dinnerware on the Amalfi Coast. Today, VIETRI is America’s largest Italian ceramics importing company, partnering with many artisans in various regions throughout Italy and Europe. VIETRI’s mission is to bring friends and family around the table to enjoy life, whatever that “table” in life happens to be.
Susan is proud to be on the UNC Global Education Board, on the NC Beta Foundation Board, and on the original foundation committee of the Executive Committee of the Women’s Leadership Council at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Susan attended Salem College and holds a BA in Education and an MS in Recreational Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Barbara Stephenson, a former U.S. ambassador, is the inaugural vice provost for global affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Stephenson leads UNC Global and advances a pan-university strategy to enhance Carolina’s global reach, impact and reputation. She is a fierce advocate for the role of higher education in constructively addressing complex global challenges, and she has extensive experience in collaborating across borders and societies. She was previously the dean of the Leadership and Management School at the Foreign Service Institute and served as U.S. Ambassador to Panama from 2008-2010. She was the first woman to hold the position of chargé d’affaires and deputy ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in London. Originally from Florida, she earned her PhD, MA, and BA from the University of Florida—majoring in English literature, with minors in Latin American studies and political science. Stephenson speaks Spanish and Dutch and reads French and Hebrew.