Five prominent North Carolina women who have held or currently hold public office will participate in a panel discussion during Rising to the Challenge: Women in Public Office on Thursday, Oct. 21, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. This free program is presented with the N.C. Bar Association. To register, call 919-659-1445.

Focusing on the importance of women holding public office, the discussion will highlight what has changed for women during the past few decades and what will be keys to future success.

Panel participants include:

● N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall;

● Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina;

● Judge Donna S. Stroud, Court of Appeals of North Carolina;

● Judge Elizabeth G. “Betsy” McCrodden; and

● Rep. Sarah Stevens, N.C. House of Representatives.

The discussion will be moderated by Melissa A. Essary, Dean of the Norman A. Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. The program will begin with “The Changing Face of Justice,” a 15-minute video in which female chief justices from our nation’s top state courts talk about their experiences.

Don’t miss this engaging panel discussion and video on Oct. 21 at the N.C. Museum of History.

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The N.C. Museum of History’s hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 919-807-7900 or go to ncmuseumofhistory.org or Facebook®. Located at 5 E. Edenton St., the museum is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, www.ncculture.com.