Wurtele Center for Leadership
In our work with students, faculty, and staff, the Wurtele Center for Leadership embraces and advocates for a collaborative approach to leadership. We strive to empower members of the Smith community with an understanding that they can lead from any vantage point, whether they hold positional power or not. At the same time, we recognize and seek to dismantle the power structures that produce inequities in leadership. We design workshops, programs, talks, partnerships with other campus units, and other learning experiences that encourage participants to understand themselves (ME) and collaborate productively with others (WE) in order to apply their knowledge and lead change (IMPACT).
The Wurtele Center is also the institutional home of the Collaborative Innovation Concentration (CIX).
Our mission is to equip all members of the Smith community with the creativity, courage, and collaborative capacity to lead positive change at scales both large and small.
Explore the Wurtele Center
A Center for Women’s Leadership
A visionary gift from Margaret Wurtele ’67 and her late husband, Angus Wurtele, has enabled Smith to further distinguish itself as the preeminent college for women’s leadership.
![Margaret Wurtele](/sites/default/files/styles/paragraph_text_with_image_large/public/media/Office%20Images/Leadership/margaret-647.jpg.webp?itok=75avQi66)
Amplify Program
Amplify is an initiative that offers you an opportunity to gain the skills, coaching and platform you need to share your knowledge and perspectives with a public audience. The program culminates with a chance to submit your work to the Amplify Competition.
Our Core Values
Collaborative Innovation
The Collaborative Innovation partners—Conway Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, Design Thinking Initiative, Reflective Practices, and Wurtele Center—share a mission to help students develop agency, take purposeful action, and reflect on their journey. These units work together to sponsor the Collaborative Innovation Concentration (CIX).
![An infographic of a triangle composed of four smaller triangles, labeled Conway Center, Wurtele Center, and Design Thinking Initiative. The fourth triangle is in the center, reading Collaborative Innovation. A circle goes around the whole image, labeled Reflective Practices.](/sites/default/files/styles/paragraph_text_with_image_large/public/2024-03/collaborative_innovation_extended.png.webp?itok=YGvQkgCS)
Meet the Team
Contact Wurtele Center for Leadership
146 Elm Street
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01060
Phone: 413-585-3657 Email: wurtelecenter@smith.edu
Director: Erin Park Cohn