Ladies America is hosting its fourth annual “Women Leading the Future” women’s conference on June 14, 2014.

“This conference brings together some of the most powerful women (and some men, too!) in America to discuss major issues and topics that are important to women today,” says Lindsay Mask, founder and executive director of Ladies America.

“Focusing on women making a difference in the world, the conference discussions will deal with where women are today and how they can become stronger, more effective leaders, and why their leadership is critical as we head into the future,” Mask concludes.

Click here to register.

The Agenda

9 a.m.-11 a.m.: Morning Sessions

• 9 a.m.-10 a.m.: Registration and Networking
• 10:00-10:15 a.m.: Welcome by founder Lindsey Mask, and music by Capital Harmonia, a community women’s chorus that is dedicated to bringing the music written for women’s voices to local organizations and events, particularly those that support and promote the concerns of women.
• 10:15-10:45 a.m.: Morning Keynote by Susan McPherson on “Leading with Impact.” This high-energy presentation, laced with personal stories, will illustrate how the philanthropy world has been turned upside down and how all of us can be philanthropists.
• 10:45-11:00 a.m.: Break: Yoga/Music/Move partitions with Georgia Gerstein

11:00 a.m.-Noon: Breakout Sessions

Pitching and Advocacy: Combining business and nonprofit interests to illustrate the need for and skills necessary to pitch your business or advocate for your cause. Learn how similar the two are, why an “elevator pitch” is important in all areas, and steps you can follow to boost your confidence in engaging stakeholders in your efforts.

• Nancy Bocskor, advocacy professor
• Cleve Mesidor, Haiti nonprofit
• Christina Sochacki, health care advocate
• Pending: Caroline Cunningham, president, National Mall Trust

Financial Planning: In this breakout, Kim Fisher, a national representative from New York Life Insurance and a NYC resident, will walk attendees through:

1. Preparing financially for transition, i.e. how much should you save before launching a new business or switching careers;
2. How to recover financially after hurting your credit; and
3. Planning for retirement and the future.

Women and Politics: With a focus on the excitement of seeing more women in politics, particularly with the possibility of a female president even in the next election, we will hear from some of the young women leading the charge to enlist more women to run for office.

• Brittany Thune, founder, RightNowWomen; daughter of US Sen. John Thune
• Kate Farrar, president, Women Under Forty PAC
• Rachel Schneider, Ready for Hillary [Clinton]

Noon-12:15 p.m.: Break/Pick up lunch

12:15 p.m.-1:15 p.m.: All-Conference Panel — Bumps Along the Way Managing Life’s Transitions Like a Champ! Sometimes you don’t want to hear, “You’ll be fine,” when it feels like everything is falling apart. Hear directly from women who faced personal and professional challenges, learn what they were thinking through the process, and how they turned “failures” into success.

• Joanna Hoffschneider; vice president, Business Development, Grimm & Parker
• Tabatha Turman, president & CEO, IFAS, and veteran
• Moderator: Sonya Gavankar, on-air personality, ABC7, and The Newseum

1:20 p.m.-2:20 p.m.: All-Conference Panel — Mentorship vs. Sponsorship
Discover the differences between sponsorship and mentorship, plus why and when both are important. We will delve into the Ladies DC Mentorship pilot program developed by Yanire Brana and her team in Madrid, Spain, and learn of their success scaling the program to women across Latin America.

• Shelley Reese, sponsorship rxpert
• Yanire Brana, mentorship expert, founder of MET, and consultant to The World Bank
• Possible special guest from India: Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya, BizDivasIndia
• Moderator: Megan Caldwell, Ladies America board of directors and ABC News Personality

2:20 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Break: Yoga/Music/Move partitions

2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.: Breakout Session B

Women & Media: In this panel, we will hear from leading media and branding experts discussing the larger picture of how women are portrayed in the media, the lack of representation of women in the media on major issues, and how to align yourself for media placement and interviews.

• Simon Dixon, CEO, IdeaEngineering (Santa Barbara and DC)
• Kristina Krawchuk, president, Women in Media

Fundraising/Negotiation: Moving again to combine the elements of business and nonprofits to focus on the core values of raising money and confidently and effectively negotiating for the investment funds, corporate sponsorships, or salary you need for success and deserve based on the entities or career you have diligently developed.

• Rachel Braun Scherl, serial entrepreneur (NYC)
• David Goldsmith, CEO, speaker and author, Paid to Think (CA)
• Pending: Gina Odell

Style/Fashion:

• Alison Beshai, stylist
• Arti Anand, Numari co-founder, custom suits

3:30 p.m.-3:40 p.m.: Yoga/Music/Networking

3:40 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: Pre-keynote address by David Goldsmith, Paid to Think

4:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.: Afternoon Keynote Major General Marcia Anderson, deputy chief of the Army Reserve; first African American woman to hold the position

4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: Reception and Networking

For more information visit www.womenleadingthefuture.org
and www.ladiesamerica.org.
Email: info@ladiesamerica.com