The 2023 Women|Future Conference will take place virtually on August 1-2, 2023.
This year our agenda will be comprised of sessions that focus on small business and entrepreneurship.
Should I Enter The Stevie Awards? Learn How Leaders Leverage Awards To Boost Their Business And Build Credibility
9:00am – 9:45am EDT
Thinking of entering the Stevie Awards but not sure if you’ve done enough, or if you have what it takes to win? And doesn’t it take an awful lot of time and effort to enter anyway? Is it really worth it? This is your chance to meet women who have entered and won the Oscars Of Business, The Stevies, who will share with you what it has done for them and their businesses. Learn what they did to leverage the awards and find out for yourself, what it takes to become an award-winning leader.
SPEAKERS
Co-Hosts: Annette Densham and Lauren Clemett of The Audacious Agency
Panellists:
Randa Habelrih
Stacey Ashley
Belinda Dolan
Sonia Gibson
Raquel Manning
Turning Passion Into Profit as an Entrepreneur
10:00am – 10:45am EDT
SPEAKERS
Valerie Jennings
Safiya Johnson
Rochel Marie Lawson
Viola Palescandolo
Jennifer Harris-Kroll
From Wages to Wealth: Making the Shift from Employee to Entrepreneur
11:00am – 11:45am EDT
Making the shift from employee to entrepreneur isn’t as simple as launching your business. In this session we’ll be exploring the mindset, time management and strategy shifts needed to ensure you become an unlimited creator of wealth in your entrepreneurial venture.
SPEAKER
Bri Seeley
Taking the Leap: How to Transfer Your Skills from One Role to the Next
12:00pm – 12:45pm EDT
There is no one path to a successful career. Career journeys of all types provide valuable skills and experience that can set you apart. Staying curious, open and determined will help you shape your career journey. Join a conversation with Microsoft’s Kathleen Mitford and SAP’s Etosha Thurman as they discuss how they’ve taken learnings across disciplines and industries to create careers they’re passionate about.
SPEAKERS
Etosha Thurman
Kathleen Mitford
Storytelling | Your Engine for Business Success
1:00pm – 1:45pm EDT
Storytelling plays a role in every aspect of building and growing a business. Whether it’s making strategic decisions about offerings and positioning, defining a mission upon which to build a team and culture, or creating a connection with an audience to invite people into a future vision they can be part of, storytelling is a tool for business success. This panel of leading storytellers explores key areas of storytelling for business, from foundational business strategy to leadership development and from narrative building to outward promotion. Participants will learn from insightful dialogue around the psychology of storytelling, strategies for developing a sound story, and approaches to connecting with partners, employees, and customers in meaningful ways.
SPEAKERS
Jennifer Cloer
Christina Helena
April White
Crafting Your Competitive Edge: Unleashing Your Brand’s Unique Positioning
2:00pm – 2:45pm EDT
You have a game-changing, truly unique, powerful business idea that has the potential to shift a market, category, or possibly the world! The only problem? No one can understand the value of your idea. In today’s world of seemingly endless ideas for products and services, it is more important than ever to communicate the clear value proposition that your idea and business bring to the table and one that resonates with your audience in a compelling way. In this seminar, I’ll show you the tools and techniques to define your brand’s unique positioning using the brand-building framework, with a focus on how to identify what sets you apart from your competitors, so you resonate with your audience and ultimately, compel them to act. By the end of this seminar, participants will be able to apply the brand-building framework and components to their own business, identify their points of difference and benefits to stand out from competitors and develop a clear and concise positioning statement that articulates their value proposition.
WORKSHOP LED BY:
Shilpa Gadhok
How to Write a Winning Stevie Award Nomination
9:00am – 9:45am EDT
Denise O’Leary MBE is a 21x Stevie Award winner and will share her experience to guide you on how to construct a winning Stevie Award entry. From telling your personal and business story through to data that should be included with your entry, this workshop will break down the content in easy-to-follow stages, so you can compose your own effective entry. Denise will share insights from her Stevie application journey and provide hints on what judges really want to see.
WORKSHOP LED BY:
Denise O’Leary MBE
Funding Female Futures: Navigating the Investment Landscape and Bootstrapping Success
10:00am – 10:45am EDT
Join us for an empowering fireside chat as two female entrepreneur and funding experts delve into the realities of the investment landscape for women and share valuable insights on identifying the right investors and business opportunities. Discover various funding pathways, learn effective bootstrapping strategies, and explore idea validation techniques to maximize your chances of securing the resources you need for your startup’s success.
SPEAKERS
Marnie LeFevre
Mez Gallifuoco
The Must-Have Money-Making Marketing Tool … That Few Businesses Have But That Every Single One of Them Needs
11:00am-11:45am EDT
As an entrepreneur or a business owner, you always want and need more attention, and writing a book gets you that attention. Simply put, writing a book leads to attention, and attention leads to sales. Attend this high-energy session to find out how adding “published author” to your list of accomplishments is one of the best marketing tools you can ever have, learn some of the biggest mistakes to avoid when working to get published, and the many avenues for how to make money from being a published author without selling one single copy of your book.
SPEAKER
Bridgett McGowen
Make Your Mark: How to Build a Network with Trusted Mentors
12:00pm – 12:45pm EDT
How do you build social capital and a network you can count on? Brenda Jimenez, CEO of MENTOR New York, shares the answer as she leads a panel featuring a group of dynamic women who span the industry and country: Alana Beard, four-time WNBA Champion and President of the 318 Foundation and Founder of Transition Play; Dr. Elizabeth Santiago, author, educator, designer and leader; and Cicy George, Senior, Organizational Capability at Macy’s. The panel will discuss how to build a network that works for your career trajectory by building connections outside your immediate circle, finding mentors, and being a mentor to other professionals. These panelists have made their marks in different industries with an interesting story of how they’ve each become supporters of each other in ways that led to career successes.
SPEAKERS
Brenda Jimenez
Alana Beard
Dr. Elizabeth Santiago
Cicy George
From Idea to Empire – Lessons in Branding
1:00pm – 1:45pm EDT
In this session, the panelists will discuss how the power of authenticity will keep you and your brand relevant and connected. They will share tips on creating a strong brand and how to stay consistent as the brand grows and trends change.
SPEAKERS
Selina Meere
Lisa Thee
Neena Newberry
Julie Ockerby
Unveiling the Unspoken: Candid Conversation on Workplace Inclusivity Issues for Women in Business
2:00pm – 2:45pm EDT
Join us for a dynamic panel discussion that tackles the often-taboo workplace issues affecting women’s inclusivity. We’ll move beyond surface-level talk and dig deeper into the real challenges and strategies used by successful women to foster a more inclusive work culture. By engaging in this honest dialogue, we look to inspire change and promote a more inclusive environment for everyone.
SPEAKERS
Alycia Huston
Farah Harris, MA, LCPC
Chelsea C. Williams
What The Pitch: Storytelling that Sticks
3:00pm – 3:45pm EDT
Bringing your business into the world is exciting as a business leader. The idea of being able to share our world with the world is thrilling, and being able to tell others about the potential impact of your business is what gets you out of bed in the morning.
The problem? Humans are attracted to stories, not numbers. When pitching their idea to partners and investors, leaders make the mistake of focusing on the numbers too much. The result? Less memorable marketing, pitch decks, websites, and more. The most prominent technology and businesses in our lives became unicorns, not just because of their good products, but because of their great storytelling and ability to connect a vision to audiences.
This session explores an impactful approach to developing your brand story and pitch and uncovers a framework with action items to begin building your brand story that sticks. The most successful businesses in the world over-index on storytelling and it’s time to learn the art so you can experience greater success in your journey. You’ll walk away with:
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The why;
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Common pitfalls; and
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The approach.
SPEAKER
Ciara Ungar