Program Agenda

Sophie Wade, Founder
Flexcel Network

Joanna Gordon Martin, Founder & CEO
Theia Senior Solutions

Karyn Twaronite
Partner, Global Diversity & Inclusiveness Officer
Ernst & Young

In today’s world there is more than one definition of “work”. Traditional work structures are changing rapidly, giving women many ways to make work fit life. This is critical not only to balance caregiving job #1 (children), but also the often more demanding and unpredictable caregiving job #2 (up to four aging parents). In this session women will learn how technology and millennial expectations are driving the future of work, the professional implications of the emerging freelance “gig” economy, and why 80% of employers are embracing telecommuting and many other flexible options that give women the opportunity to nurture multi-generational families and career.

Charlotte Bergmans, CFP, Financial Consultant
Fidelity Investments

Georgette Geller, Executive Vice President
AXA Advisors, LLC

Rosanna Durruthy, Chief Diversity Officer
Cigna

Busy women are overwhelmed by current “To Do” lists—and, fueled by guilt, stress and fatigue—they often make shortsighted professional choices that seem to ease their lives at the present time. To care for family or aging parents high potential women forego a career advancement opportunity or leave the workforce entirely—decisions that ultimately have a big financial security price. Panelists will discuss the long-term benefits of investing in both work and life at every age and stage—to fund a retirement that could last 30 years or more and all of life’s you never knows.

Katie Donovan, Founder
Equal Pay Negotiations

Allison O’Kelly, CEO & Founder
Corps Team/Mom Corps

At some point—usually after the birth of child #1 or #2—many working mothers reach a professional impasse. That’s the moment when they feel they can’t give their best to both work and motherhood jobs. The logical first step is to ask a boss for a flexible schedule—but a simple “ask” is easily declined. In this session women will learn how to develop a professional proposal for flexibility—in a current role, during the interview process for a career change or for that first job after time at home—addressing all logistical, communication and management issues, and a fair arrangement for employer and employee.

Jamie Cheney, Managing Director
Prokanga

Manon DeFelice, CEO & Founder
Inkwell

Jenny Galluzzo, Co-Founder
The Second Shift

Catherine Sharick, Executive Editor
PowerToFly

Many women have the choice of opting out the workforce for a few years while children are young. Those “few years” become an average of 12—and after a long stretch of mega-volunteering or an unexpected financial downturn they want to return to work that blends with family. Other women never leave the workforce, but reach a burnout point when they can’t keep up a relentless more than full-time schedule. All these women want flexible work, but don’t know how or where it can be found. Panelists from innovative companies focused on finding women flexible work will give insights to the industries, job functions and work cultures that accommodate flexible work for all.

Andrea Beyer
Senior Vice President – Business Leader
Wells Fargo Advisors

Tim Hicks, Vice President of Franchising
The Bar Method

Christina Rae, President
Buzz Creators, Inc.

Maisha Walker, President, Message Medium
President-Elect, NAWBO NYC
(National Association of Women Business Owners)
The Internet Strategist, Inc. Magazine

When women consider a career reinvention, an entrepreneurial venture often tops the list. Though this can seem like the logical choice for women seeking work flexibility, not everyone has the wear-every-hat, 24/7  entrepreneurial gene. This session will profile women who are “Type E”, exploring personal and professional skills and attributes that are found in successful entrepreneurs who launch small solo companies, build businesses under corporate umbrellas or ventures they aim to scale and sell.

Speaker:
Laura Vanderkam, Author

I Know How She Does It

In the movie, “I Don’t Know How She Does It”, Sarah Jessica Parker played a frantic working mother who baked cookies for class picnics at 3am and ran for planes around the globe. The clear message was that women can’t sanely integrate work and family—a conclusion author Laura Vanderkam challenges in her book, I Know How She Does It. In this capstone session, women will learn how to find and claim all the time they need for work, family and self-preservation, too.