Binghamton University’s Powerful United Ladies Striving to Elevate (P.U.L.S.E.) organization taught young women how to shatter the glass ceiling at the second annual Women’s Educating, Elevating and Empowering Conference (WE3) on Saturday.

The conference included a keynote speaker, a networking intermission and a panel of successful women from various career fields to give professional advice to those who attended.

“The event is mainly catering to women of color on campus and within the community to provide an atmosphere for networking, professionalism and education,” P.U.L.S.E. vice president Shaneira DaSilva said.

DaSilva said they wanted to help the women in attendance to learn skills that could help them achieve their goals.

“The goal we want to leave the conference with is they can be a leader even if they’re just a student and leave them with tips to better their progress in and after college,” DaSilva said.

The event began with an hour-long brunch at noon, which served as an opportunity for the 30 attendees to mingle and speak to the panel of successful women as well as the keynote speaker, Diane Lange.

Lange, a leadership coach and consultant for her own Binghamton-based company, Proclivity, spoke about having visions for the future, personal values, developing one’s skills and knowledge, building relationships and being inspirational and influential in order to be a successful leader.

Lange ended her presentation by quoting Carl Bard when she said, “No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

She said she believes that the ability to inspire and consistently live up to one’s values is a key component to having a successful career and being a successful leader.

As a leadership coach, Lange said she enjoys working with young women to develop to their leadership skills.

“People need to understand what needs to be done to be a good leader,” Lange said. “I started gathering the concepts that were consistent in all leadership material, which were having a vision, values and the ability to inspire. I basically cleaned it down to those key skills.”

Professor Juanita Díaz-Cotto, one of the panelists and director of the Latin American and Caribbean Area Studies program at BU, said she appreciated Lange’s presentation.

“I gained more self knowledge about how I need to change my behavior to be supportive of others while achieving common goals,” Díaz-Cotto said.

During the panel, participants spoke about their career choices and career development process and gave advice on developing leadership qualities.

Tamarra Strawn, another panelist and an attorney specializing in family and public law, said it is important to incorporate one’s passion into one’s future career.

“It’s important to keep balance with things that you like instead of going with the flow,” Strawn said.

BU alumnus Shornda Cadore, class of 2001, a panelist and procurement manager at Pratt and Whitney Corporation, said people need to work hard to be successful.

“It’s not just about getting a job that makes a lot of money,” Cadore said. “Sometimes it’s also about making it work and taking action to pursue a career.”