2023 CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN TO FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP, CONNECTION, AND BEING A FORCE FOR CHANGE

Speakers include Constance Wu, Gail Devers, Ginni Rometty, Kelly Corrigan, Misty Copeland, Naomi Osaka, and Shawn Achor

SANTA CLARA, Feb. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaders from corporate America, the media, sports, arts, and Hollywood will come together this Women's History Month to discuss women leading together to be a force for positive change in 2023. 

They include the former CEO of IBM Ginny Rometty; tennis and mental health icon Naomi Osaka; Olympian and health advocate Gail Devers; barrier-breaking ballerina and girls advocate Misty Copeland; author and journalist Kelly Corrigan; actress and author Constance Wu; author, broadcaster and former Arsenal Soccer team captain Alex Scott; and happiness expert Shawn Achor. 

Achor's research published in the Harvard Business Review showed that women who attended a Conference for Women event were twice as likely to receive a promotion and three times as likely to receive a pay raise within a year. 

His research also found that 78 percent of women who attended a Conference for Women event reported feeling "more optimistic about the future," and 71 percent said they felt "more connected to others." As Achor notes, this is important because "the greatest predictor of success and happiness is social connection."

The California Conference for Women is dedicated to advancing women at work. It is part of the nationwide network, The Conferences for Women, which attracts more than 50,000 people annually.

This year's offerings include both an in-person gathering and a virtual event to provide the greatest possible access and connection. Its in-person gathering will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Wednesday, March 1. The virtual event will be held on Thursday, March 2. A free virtual career fair will also be held on Tuesday, Feb. 28^.

"We are proud and excited to provide these opportunities for social connection, inspiration, and insights from some of the most fascinating leaders in many of today's most important industries," said Hillary Weingast vice president, deputy general counsel and head of corporate social responsibility, at Juniper Networks, Inc.

Speakers at the March 1 in-person gathering include: 

• Constance Wu, Actress & Author, Making a Scene
• Gail Devers, Olympic Gold Medalist and Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) Patient Advocate
• Kelly Corrigan, bestselling Author & Host, PBS's Tell Me More With Kelly Corrigan
• Shawn Achor, New York Times bestselling author, The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential

Charlene Li, bestselling author, transformational leadership and strategy expert, and Gabby Rivera, the first Latina to write for Marvel comics, LGBTQ+ advocate & creator, Joy Uprising Podcast, will also join the live conference as breakout speakers.

Speakers at the March 2 virtual event include: 

• Ginni Rometty, former Chairman, President, and CEO of IBM, and author, Good Power
• Misty Copeland, First African American Female Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre, and Author, The Wind at My Back
• Naomi Osaka, Tennis Icon, Founder & Serial Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Breakout speakers will appear at the virtual event to discuss career advancement, leadership, well-being, and other topics. Among them: Farnoosh Torabi, one of America's leading personal finance authorities; Stephanie Mehta, the CEO of Mansueto Ventures and former editor-in-chief of Fast Company; and Dr. Swati Mohan, an aerospace engineer who led NASA's mission to Mars. 

The California Conference for Women is generously underwritten by presenting sponsor Google; champions for women sponsors Bristol Myers Squibb; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Hologic; Indeed and Juniper Networks; official lifestyle sponsor Target; official networking sponsor Cisco; along with the following sponsors: United Airlines; Dell Technologies; Horizon Therapeutics; Johnson & Johnson; Alaska Airlines; Amazon; Cohesity; Fidelity Investments; Intuit; Activision Blizzard; IBM; Liberty Mutual Insurance; Oracle; Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.; State Street Corporation; Takeda Pharmaceuticals; Teradyne and community and media sponsors CareerContessa; iRelaunch; Luminary; PowerToFly; reacHIRE; CalMatters; Harvard Business Review's Women at Work; iHeart Media; NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48.

The California Conference for Women is part of the Conferences for Women, the largest network of women's conferences in the nation. Its conferences in Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts, and Texas attract more than 50,000 people annually. 

Learn more and register at www.caconferenceforwomen.org.

The California Conference for Women (#CalWomen) is on social at:

www.Instagram.com/californiacfw
www.Twitter.com/californiaCFW
www.Facebook.com/CAConferenceforWomen

SOURCE California Conference for Women