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Young Women's Leadership Conference

  • Wardman Park Marriott 2660 Woodley Road Northwest Washington, DC, 20008 United States (map)

Thank you to everyone who made this conference utterly incredible! We hope you'll join us again next year - and every month at our D.C., New York and Denver events in the meantime!

View photos from the event.



Don't miss JWI's fourth annual mentoring conference - a gathering of D.C.'s young Jewish professional women and accomplished role models from cities and industries across the United States!

This half-day conference, which precedes JWI’s annual Women to Watch celebration, is an opportunity for young professional women to interact with and learn from accomplished Jewish women in a variety of fields – technology, science, entertainment, philanthropy, business, spirituality, and more. All of the featured speakers are current or former Women to Watch honorees who have made exceptional contributions in their professional lives and communities. After a series of workshops covering issues and topics important to women today, the conference will conclude with one-on-one sessions with the speakers in a speed networking event, followed by a wine and cheese reception.


Want to join us from out of town? We may be able to help with travel expenses. Learn how.


Confirmed Speakers


Conference Committee:

Ariel Bigio
Jena Belinkie
Michele Freed

Rebecca Kaplan
Danna Korsen
Meredith Schlussel
Kayla Sokoloff

Alyssa Weiner
Maya Weinstein
Lisa Yochelson


Highlights from the 2015 conference:


Conference Schedule

Got your tickets? Now select the workshops you want to attend!

In addition to an inspiring opening plenary - "Find Your Voice. Build Your Community." - a 75-minute speed mentoring session, time for networking, and a wine and cheese reception after the conference ends, the day will include six workshops, from which registered attendees can choose two (one from each session):

Workshops Session 1:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
How do you earn respect, make sure your ideas are heard, and take advantage of opportunities to take on more responsibility?

Speakers:

  • Meryl Frank, Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women
  • Roberta Levy Liss, Regional Managing Principal, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic - ‎Cushman & Wakefield

Building Relationships: Caring for Yourself and Others
How can you build and sustain loving, supportive relationships that feed our souls?

Speakers:

  • Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt, Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.
  • Rabbi Susan Shankman, Washington Hebrew Congregation
  • Rabbi Amy Schwartzman, Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, Va.

Politics of a Woman’s Body
We all care about the challenges impacting advancements in women’s health - but what are we really up against and what tactics and strategies are working?

Speakers:

  • Dana Marlowe, founder of IT consulting firm Accessibility Partners and non-profit Support the Girls
  • Rachel Braun Sherl, co-founder of consulting firm SPARK Solutions for Growth
  • Andrea Wolf, CEO of the Brem Foundation to Defeat Breast Cancer


Workshops Session 2:

Women Lifting Women
We need women as allies, partners, and supporters. How do we create a community where all women are encouraged to help each other grow?

Speakers:

  • Laura Rebel Gross, Director of girls’ education for the Young Women’s Leadership Network
  • Linda Lipsen, CEO of the American Association for Justice

Building a Movement
What does it take to create and nurture a movement that truly effects change? And how do you sustain it when the political winds change?

Speakers:

  • Nicky Goren, president and CEO of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
  • Jane Randel, co-founder of NO MORE; advisor to the NFL and NASCAR on domestic violence & sexual assault policy
  • Erin Schrode, co-founder of environmental non-profit Turning Green

Women Healing the World
Tikkun olam - healing the world - requires action; it is seeing a hole and working to fill it. How do you link your profession to your passion?

Speakers:

  • Dr. Leah Greenspan Hodor, neonatologist at Holy Cross Hospital
  • Jillian Copeland, Founder, the Diener School; Teens Like Us!
  • Dr. Jennifer Verbesey, director of living donor kidney transplantation at MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute

Sondra D. Bender Conference Scholarship Fund

Thanks to a generous grant from the Bender Foundation to JWI's Sondra D. Bender Leadership Institute, scholarship funds are available for a limited number of young professional women who live outside the D.C. area. To apply please fill out this form. 


Earlier Event: December 4
Dance Into December
Later Event: December 12
Women to Watch Gala