Online Event: Combating the Opioid Crisis in West Virginia

Please join the Center for Strategic and International Studies for a Smart Women, Smart Power conversation with the First Lady of West Virginia, Cathy Justice, Elaine Wynn, Board Chair, Communities In Schools, and Michele Blatt, West Virginia Deputy Superintendent of Education. The group will discuss how West Virginia is dealing with the opioid crisis, the importance of education in combating addiction, and how the state has continued to support its students during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cathy Justice graduated from Marshall University with a degree in Secondary Education She served as President of Comer Electric, Inc., a family owned business, for several years and also sat on the Board of Directors for the First National Bank in Ronceverte, WV. First Lady Justice has overseen the growth of the highly successful national non-profit program, Communities In Schools, throughout West Virginia. The organization has grown significantly since 2018 to serve 24 counties and nearly 45,000 students throughout West Virginia in 2020.

Elaine Wynn co-founded Wynn Resorts in 2000 and helped guide the company’s expansion from the opening of Wynn Las Vegas in April 2005 and Wynn Macau in September 2006 to the unveiling of Encore in December 2008. Previously, Ms. Wynn co-founded and led Mirage Resorts from 1976 to 2000. Since 2013, she has served as President of Nevada’s State Board of Education, a gubernatorially-appointed position she has held under two Governors. And for nearly two decades, Ms. Wynn has been actively engaged with Communities In Schools, the oldest and most successful stay-in-school organization in America, where she currently serves as board chair.

Michele Blatt is the Deputy State Superintendent of Schools for the state of West Virginia. In this role, Ms. Blatt provides organizational leadership to insure implementation of the West Virginia Department of Education’s (WVDE) strategic plan, directs daily operations for all WVDE divisions, and facilitates coordination support for the state’s fifty-five county school districts. Ms. Blatt has enjoyed a distinguished career in education with over twenty-five years’ experience as a teacher and principal before joining WVDE.
 

This event is made possible by support from Citi.

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