The largest women’s leadership conference in Central Massachusetts, bringing together the most forward thinking female leaders.

Monday, November 16, 2020

7:15 am – 4:30 pm

With the evolving coronavirus situation, the event steering committee is putting the safety of our members and guests above all and moving the conference to November in anticipation that the crises will have been resolved. Thank you for your understanding.

DCU Center Arena and Convention Center
WORCESTER, MA

The Worcester Women’s Leadership Conference

This conference is an opportunity for women to build their careers and share their experiences with other women.

The Worcester Women’s Leadership Conference is all about giving women the tools to discover the possibilities available to them, lift each other up, and create a hub of smart, talented, and forward-thinking women.

Women in the workforce overcome obstacles each and every day and the Worcester Women’s Leadership Conference is a place to share experiences and bring together dynamic, accomplished, and confident female leaders.

The programming of the day-long conference is designed to motivate attendees to overcome traditional barriers, to becoming influencers, change-agents, and leaders in their own fields.

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2020 Keynote Speakers

Shabnam Mogharabi

MORNING SPEAKER | Shabnam Mogharabi has nearly 20 years of experience in media building startups and organizations with an emphasis on entertainment, news media, digital content, and social platforms. She is currently the general manager of SoulPancake, a media company and creative content studio she co-founded with actor Rainn Wilson that creates daily positive, socially conscious videos about human connection for television and online distribution that have raked up nearly 1 billion video views online. She also works with SoulPancake’s parent company, Participant Media, and its board on long-term strategy, acquisition opportunities, and the company’s social impact goals.

Prior to SoulPancake, Shabnam was an award-winning journalist and editor, having served as the youngest Editor-in-Chief at Hanley Wood Business Media. One of the youngest winners of the Jesse H. Neal Award (the Pulitzer Prize of B2B journalism), Shabnam has also worked as a contributing writer, editor, and stringer for a number of publications, including People, Pool & Spa News, Sunset, and HuffPost. She is a New York Times bestselling author with SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions.

Shabnam is a member of the 2016 class of Henry Crown Fellows and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She is a frequent speaker on the importance of joy, how to connect with Millennials, and meaningful online engagement. She resides in Los Angeles, where she is active with a number of interfaith organizations and volunteers with the Crisis Text Line. She is on the board of directors of the national non-profit Tahirih Justice Center and on the advisory boards of Wayfarer Entertainment and Daughters of Rosie. She received her B.A. in journalism and business administration from the University of Southern California and her Master’s in media management from Northwestern University.

Cy Wakeman

LUNCHEON SPEAKER | Cy Wakeman is a drama researcher, global thought-leader, and New York Times best-selling author of Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results who is recognized for cultivating a counter-intuitive, reality-based approach to leadership. Backed by 20 years of unparalleled experience, Wakeman’s philosophy offers a new lens through which employees and executives alike, can shift their attention inward, sharpen their focus on personal accountability, and uncover their natural state of innovation simply by ditching the drama.

Deemed “the secret weapon to restoring sanity to the workplace,” Wakeman has helped companies such as Facebook, Google, NASA, Pfizer, NBC Universal, New York Presbyterian, Johns Hopkins, Eli Lilly, Keurig Green Mountain, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch learn to navigate our rapidly changing world using good mental processes to harness energy wasted in workplace drama and reinvest that effort into achieving profound business results.

As a highly sought-after conference headliner, Cy Wakeman holds a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speaker’s Association, placing her within the top 3% of speakers. She’s a regular contributor on Forbes.com, Success.com, The Huffington Post, and Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global. She’s been featured on the TODAY Show, the AskGaryVee Show with Gary Vaynerchuk, The New York Times, Business Insider, The Daily Muse, SHRM.com and many more. In 2018, she was voted both a Top 100 Leadership Expert to follow on Twitter and #10 on the Global Guru’s list of Top 30 Leadership Professionals.

Wakeman has published three books, the latest of which is No Ego: How to Cut the Cost of Drama, End Entitlement and Drive Big Results (2017). Cy also hosts her own No Ego podcast, a Facebook Watch show, Life’s Messy, Live Happy, and adds weekly video content on YouTube to address leaders’ biggest challenges in the workplace.

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Worcester Women’s Leadership Conference Scholarship

For many years, the Chamber awards conference scholarships to young women enrolled in Worcester public schools to connect them with professional development, potential mentors, and provide connections that may inspire them and influence their path for the future.

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2020 Conference Schedule

Morning

7 :30 am Doors open
7:45 am Registration (Third Floor), Coffee, Networking, Vendor Marketplace
8:15 am Welcome
8:20 am Morning Keynote Speaker | Shabnam Mogharabi
10 am Break, Coffee, Networking, Vendor Marketplace, Book Signing by Speaker

Mid-Day

10:20 am Four Workshops I (A/B, C/D, E, Jr Ballroom) & Vendor Marketplace

Attendees will have a choice of workshops located in rooms A-E

Sponsorship opportunities still available.
11:35 am Break, Coffee, Networking, Vendor Marketplace

Attendees will have a chance to network and shop for services, products, and volunteer opportunities at the marketplace.
12 pm Lunch, Afternoon Keynote | Cy Wakeman
1:30 pm Break, Refreshments, Networking, Vendor Marketplace, Book Signing by Keynote

Afternoon

2 pm 4 Workshops (A/B, C/D, E, Jr Ballroom) & Vendor Marketplace

Sponsorships still available.
3:15 pm Reception and Scholarship Awards
4:15 pm Adjourn