A woman from NASA will be the keynote speaker at the first Women’s Leadership Conference, and it was all made possible with a Facebook message.

Kelby Rogers, president for the Society of Women Engineers, said she met Mallory Johnston, a NASA engineer and 3D SCAN project manager in Huntsville, Ala., for NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge in April and knew Johnston was the perfect speaker because she was a young, successful woman in engineering.

“When I was on the search to contact her, the only place I could find is Facebook,” she said. “So, yes, this professional invitation started with a Facebook message.”

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Johnston will speak at 9 a.m. Friday in the Student Center Ballrooms B and C. Professional development presentations will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday in the Student Center.

“I wanted to bring her to speak because it shows young women that success does not have to happen when you are much older,” Rogers said. “If you work hard, success can be just around the corner.”

She said the focus of the conference is women in professional fields typically dominated by men.

“Both men and women can benefit from this conference, but I think it is important for students to know that there are people throughout this university rooting for them and wanting them to succeed,” she said.

Julie Dunston, associate professor in engineering technologies, said she was a minority in her undergraduate engineering classes.

“I had classes in my undergraduate that had maybe 7 percent female students in it, but as I continued on to do my masters and Ph.D work, then I was really the only female in my research group,” she said.

Dunston said by providing good role models the conference could potentially influence women to pursue a career path they normally would not.

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“It only takes one person,” she said. “One person can influence you to the point where you change what you’re doing in life. The leadership conference could really benefit a lot of students in that way.”

The conference will also include several presentations by faculty, staff and students on topics such as the college transition, time management, public speaking and resume building.

Melinda Yeomans, coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center, said female senior students from surrounding high schools and junior colleges will also attend the conference.

“This is an opportunity for them to taste some really high level college leadership and professional development opportunity,” she said.

Amber Manning-Oullette, director of enrollment management in the College of Business, said she contacted Tarnisha Green, director of Success in Engineering through Excellence in Diversity, this spring about the possibility of this conference.

“I think it shows a really great effort considering we’ve planned this all starting in May or June,” she said. “It’s been a really quick turnaround and we have a lot of supporters.”

The conference is hosted by the Successful Women in Engineering Registered Student Organization in collaboration with the colleges of business and science, the Women’s Resource Center, Success in Engineering through Excellence in Diversity and the University Women’s Professional Advancement.