Program Overview

The Let’s Talk about Speaking Up program, produced by the Walton College Business Integrity Leadership Initiative, consists of: 

• A recorded speaker series 
• A book 

This program teaches students and community leaders how to voice their values and how to create a culture where people are empowered to speak up. It provides real-life examples of what taking action looks like from high-profile whistleblowers. The program shares what the speakers learned from their experiences to help prepare you to do the right thing when facing future ethical dilemmas.

About the Badge

About the Speakers

Mary C. Gentile, Ph.D., is a prominent values-driven leadership expert. Mary is a celebrated author and creator of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum. She is a retired Professor of Practice at the University of Virginia, a Senior Advisor to the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program, and an independent consultant. She was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2021.  

Watch Mary Gentile's recording.

Sherron Watkins, is a leadership and ethics advocate widely known for being the whistleblower on Enron Corporation’s accounting irregularities. She has testified before Congressional Committees from both the House and Senate investigating Enron’s demise. Watkins was selected by TIME magazine in 2002 as one of their Persons of the Year. Today, she is a Professor of Practice at the University of North Carolina and co-author of the book Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron.  

Watch Sherron Watkins's recording.

Erika Cheung is one of the key whistleblowers who reported Theranos’ false medical tests to health regulators. Since then, Cheung co-founded and is the Executive Director of Ethics in Entrepreneurship. The non-profit develops resources and ethical training for future tech leaders to learn how to recognize and act on ethical problems. She is also the Program Director of Betatron, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Hong Kong.  

Watch Erika Cheung's recording.

About the Book

The program’s required reading is Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What's Right  book Mary Gentile. Giving Voice to Values helps you learn how to effectively act on your ethical values and principles in the context of your professional responsibilities.  

This means knowing what to say, who to say it to, and how to say it when you know what is right in a particular situation. It provides actionable tools and frameworks, and helps you practice building the skills, confidence, and habit of voicing your values. 

How to Earn the Badge

Undergraduate students

Achieve the Let’s Talk about Speaking Up badge by completing the following activities:

• Watch the recording of Mary Gentile’s speaker presentation on her book, Giving Voice to Values, and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences). 
• Watch the recording of Sherron Watkins’s speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences). 
• Watch the recording of Erika Cheung’s speaker presentatio and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences).

Graduate students

Achieve a graduate-level Let’s Talk about Speaking Up badge by completing the following activities:

• Watch the recording of Mary Gentile’s speaker presentation on her book, Giving Voice to Values, and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences). 
• Watch the recording of Sherron Watkins’s speaker presentation and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences). 
• Watch the recording of Erika Cheung’s speaker presentatio and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences).
• Read Giving Voice to Values by Mary Gentile and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences).

Community members

Achieve the basic badge by completing these activities:

• Watch the recording of all guest speaker talks and write a reflection on main takeaways (a minimum of 5 sentences).
• Submit key takeaways from each of the guest speaker talks to wcobili@uark.edu .
• Read the book and submit key takeaways to wcobili@uark.edu (a minimum of 5 sentences).