Pioneering mountain climber Shailee Basnet to deliver Pamela Lavin Bernstein Women of Influence Lecture

The Pamela Lavin Bernstein Women of Influence Lecture Series, presented by Alfred University's Judson Leadership Center, will be offered on Thursday, November 6, at 7 p.m. in Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center. Shailee Basnet, leader of Seven Summits Women Team, the first female team to climb the highest mountain peak on every continent, will be the keynote speaker.

The lecture series, which was introduced in the spring of 2015, is endowed and supported by Alfred University alumna Pamela Lavin Bernstein ''71.

Born and raised in Nepal, Basnet dreamed of living a physically active life, but attended a school where girls' participation in sports was almost a taboo. After completing a degree in business management, she discovered a group attempting to form an all-female Nepali expedition to Mt. Everest. Eager for adventure, she completed a rigorous training program and in 2008, she was one of 10 Nepali women representing six different ethnic backgrounds to climb Mt. Everest. Most, like Shailee, were first-time mountaineers.

Following the Everest expedition, Basnet went on to lead the Seven Summits Women Team-the world's first female group to scale the highest peak in each continent: Mt. Everest, on the border of Nepal in 2008; Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia and Mt. Elbrus in Russia in 2010; Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, in March of 2013 (where the team honored International Women's Day); and then the final three summits-Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, Mt. Denali in Alaska, and Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica-all in 2014.

In her talk, Basnet will share lessons learned from her epic missions on leadership, teamwork and dealing with conflict together. She will also discuss key takeaways on what makes a team "a force," why mountain leadership translates so well to business, why the ego always has to take a back seat to the goal, and why diversity in a team's makeup is critical to its success.

Basnet has been a guest lecturer for multiple business programs, including the NYU Business program and the Entrepreneurial Master's Program, and she is a frequent keynote for business and leadership audiences. She is also in demand as a speaker for international aid organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations and to NGOs, non-profits, government and university audiences across the world.

Her leadership, teamwork and goal-setting insights and lessons are profiled in The Leader Within Us: Mindset, Principles, and Tools for a Life by Design by entrepreneur Warren Rustand, which was published by Forbes Books in 2021. Shailee and her team's journey are featured in two books: Les Népalaises de l'Everest by Anne Benoit-Janin, published in 2020 by Glénat Editions and 50 Women from Nepal Who Will Change the Way You See the World, written and published by Bec Ordish in 2021.

Basnet and her team have been featured on news, sports and entertainment media platforms around the world, including the BBC, PBS and ESPN. The 2019 French documentary "Les belles envolées" tells the story of the team's journey to "break the glass ceiling" that has kept women from climbing the highest peaks.

Today, Basnet leads executive leadership treks in the Himalayas and runs a program to empower young Nepalese survivors of sex trafficking. She is also a standup comic in three languages, and she brings her warmth, high energy and sense of humor to deliver inspiring and unforgettable keynotes on teamwork, leadership and motivation.