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.