GREENE COUNTY, Miss. (WKRG) – Greene County native and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Ruthie Bolton will headline the upcoming Women’s Leadership Conference at Auburn University.

The event is hosted by the Office of Inclusion and Diversity during a series of events for Women’s History Month. It is designed to inspire and empower students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members on their paths to success, the office says. Attendees learn personal and practical application skills to use on their leadership journey.

Bolton will be the keynote speaker of the conference with the theme “Believe and Lead”. In four seasons at Auburn, she led her team to a combined record of 199-13, which included three Southeastern Conference Championships (1987-1989), four NCAA Tournament appearances and two runner-up finishes in 1988 and 1989.

She scored over 2,000 career points playing for the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs from 1997 to 2004. Bolton is fourth on the WNBA’s all-time 3-pointer list, a WNBA All-Star in 1999 and 2001 and is the only player in the history of the Monarchs to have her number retired.

The 1991 USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year, achievements on the U.S. Women’s National Team include a perfect 60-0 record during the 1995-96 season and Olympic Gold medals in 1996 and 2000. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Bolton is one of 19 siblings from McLain, Miss. She now travels the country teaching students and adults what it means to aim higher through her speaking engagements and basketball camps. Bolton says her message encourages everyone to be bold, be mighty, be your best you and continue to dream big.

She’s written two books, is an advocate for domestic violence survivors and a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Conference participants will also hear from Capt. Kathleen Anderson, an assistant professor of Military Science in the Army ROTC program and Soledad Peresin, an associate professor of Forest Biomaterials and the founder of the Sustainable Bio-Based Materials Lab at Auburn.

A student panel discussion about what women leadership means and what resources are available to Auburn women along their path to success is also scheduled.

The free conference will be Friday, March 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Melton Student Center Ballroom. Registration closes March 17.