How to make changes that matter.

Iacta alea est" ("Let the die be cast"), Julius Caesar supposedly said in 49 BC when he led his army across the Rubicon, changing the course of Roman history.

Nationally recognized strategic planning consultant Pat Alea didn't know alea meant risk-taking when she and her sister adopted the name in 1977, choosing the most pronounceable arrangement of their daughters' first initials.

Keynoting the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership (WWHEL) conference at the HoChunk Hotel and Casino in Baraboo WI in October, she said the venue carried a subliminal message for women: take chances, take risks, play the game, step up to the table.

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Change matters when it has a permanent positive effect. Making such change is strategic and informed by a big vision. She once hired a contractor whose business card said, "It's going to cost a lot and it's going to take a long time." He was honest; construction regularly fits that description. So does making changes that matter.

"Change that matters does not happen unless there is a big vision," she said. Big visions of women's collective power inspired her to launch two major projects that are permanently changing how the University of Wisconsin relates to women.

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