Strategic planning and corporate communications consulting expert Eileen Padberg visited the Nixon Library on September 8, 2016 for an evening lecture recounting her vivid experiences working with Iraqi women and living in a war zone.

When Padberg had the opportunity to go to Iraq in June 2004, she didn’t hesitate. She put her successful consulting business of 35 years on hold and embarked on a journey to Iraq with the single focus of helping the Iraqi women participate in the nation’s economic recovery.

During her 22 month stay in Iraq, Padberg established 500 American contracts with Iraqi women-owned businesses and provided training in leadership, management and budget and finance. By the end of her tour in March 2006, she had helped train more than 1,900 mid- and senior-level women in the Iraqi government.

Eileen Padberg is a consultant to an international organization that works with emerging democracies, traveling worldwide to provide political training in countries such as the former Soviet Union, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Guatemala.