2019 List of Roundtables
Theme 1: Skills to Lead at Every Level
Being a Mobile Mom: How Field Assignments and Family Can Successfully Coexist
Speakers: Noelle Veltze, Director, Chemonics’ Asia Region, and Mina Day, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Chemonics
Description: Experience in the field is often critical for professional growth in the global development sector. However, it can be daunting to take on field assignments with families in tow. In this session we discuss the experiences of two senior women who have successfully made the field and family work for them. During this Q&A discussion speakers will share their insights on the challenges and opportunities presented by international assignments with children, how organizations can best support female talent in thriving abroad and their advice on how to plan for your own career if both the field and family are in your future.
Attracting Champions by Communicating Your Mission
Speaker: Whitney Moret, Technical Director, FHI 360
Description: This session will encourage you to identify your strengths and communicate your goals as a strategy to develop relationships with leaders who will champion you for career opportunities. A step beyond an elevator pitch, a mission statement highlights your skills, positions you for future roles, and helps you win opportunities from leaders looking to delegate tasks to qualified staff. Takeaways for participants include: a chance to think concretely about how their goals and skills align, a concise mission statement useful for networking and self-branding, and greater comfort using a mission statement after practicing with colleagues.
The Power of Emotion: How to Harness Constructive Emotions in Achieving Lasting Consensus and Success
Speaker: Olya Catto, Managing Director, ACDI/VOCA
Description: Group decision making is tough, especially in our multi-cultural work environment. For years we were told that emotions have no place in the boardroom. However, recent studies show that compassion, inspiration, and fun (!) play a key role in achieving sustained commitment, buy-in, and ultimately, results. Positive emotional culture is associated with lower costs, better performance, and higher employee retention. As women, how do we harness the power of emotion while keeping a razor-sharp focus on the end goal? How is the expression of emotions perceived in different cultures? How do we apply emotional intelligence during negotiations and complex decision-making? Let’s discuss!
Leading Under Pressure: How to Navigate Times of Crisis as a Woman
Speakers: Tamara Ljubinkovic, Senior Director, ACDI/VOCA and Johana De la Cruz, Project Coordinator, ACDI/VOCA
Description: Whether you are just starting your career or have twenty years of experience, how do you react when things start to quickly go south or there is a pressing ‘crisis’, everyone’s emotions are heightened, and getting a consensus is a challenge. These times require assertive leadership. How, especially as a woman, do you establish yourself as an authority in these situations? How can you influence others for positive results? What is necessary to manage your own emotions? Join others as we share experiences, lessons learned, dos and some don’ts!
Women Driving Digital and Innovation – Real Life Stories of Challenges and Successes
Speaker: Krista Baptista, Senior Director, DAI’s Center for Digital Acceleration (CDA), Priya Kathpal, Business Development Lead, Every1Mobile, and Jamila White, Senior Representative, Mercy Corps
Description: What impact are women leaders having in digital, technology and innovation for development? What are the specific challenges and opportunities for women? Join a powerful group of women leading in this space to explore a topic that may be intimidating, but which is one of the most exciting areas for effectiveness and impact. It is also increasingly a critical skill for leadership success in our industry. How do women take leadership in technology and innovation? How do women who are not fluent in technology competently lead highly skilled teams in this new environment? Join us to share real life stories and emerge better prepared for the new challenges on the horizon – and those already here.
Taking Control of Your Professional Development
Speakers: Julia Quintana, Communications Specialist, RTI International, and Jill Tenace, Senior Director of Finance, RTI International
Description: Successful organizations must attract and retain staff who display the skills, knowledge and behaviors necessary to influence, adapt, manage and lead, at all levels regardless of title. In this session, participants will learn practical strategies for taking control of their own professional development, including goal setting, seeking and giving feedback, and identifying learning opportunities outside of the traditional “classroom.” The techniques that will be shared are part of RTI's "Dynamic Development" program, can be used to supplement your company’s formal development program, and are applicable to both employees and supervisors.
Becoming a Communications Ninja Warrior
Speaker: Ellen Yount, Vice President, MSI
Description:A key leadership skill is the ability to communicate effectively – internally to and with employees, and externally with audiences of all ages, backgrounds and interests. Many leaders may take these skills for granted within their own organization (assuming that people are more informed than they are) or may be uncomfortable with external events (media relations, public speaking), which require a unique set of skills. Yet, today’s successful organizations require a unique combination of hard and soft skills. In this session, we will explore what today’s communications needs are, how best to assess your own abilities, and how to acquire them to become a communications guru.
Alignment between Who You Are and Who You Want to Be
Speaker: Hortense Le Gentil, Founder, Jay Consulting
Description: Make sure you are aligned with your company and your teams. Leadership with purpose. Are you aligned? Find your "why". Re or Connect with yourself.
Managing Yourself Through the Challenges Of Today's World
Speaker: Julie Rosenberg, MD, CEO, Enlightened Leadership, LLC
Description: Participants will learn to recognize the important intersection of leadership and wellbeing. Participants will learn to prioritize and practice self-care without guilt, be given strategies and practices to keep calm, focused, and productive in times of change and uncertainty, and understand how to better manage the constant demands of social media. Participants will receive a copy of her best selling book, Beyond the Mat: Achieve Focus, Presence and Enlightened Leadership Through the Principles and Practice of Yoga.
Bloom Where You Are Planted: Redefining Growth and Success for Mid-Career Professionals
Speaker: Nyuma Harrison, Founder, The Association of Zambian American Nurses (AZAN)
Description: Too often women debase the value of being at the mid-point of their careers. We are socialized early on to believe that power and influence only sits with those with in formally named leadership positions, and that success can only be defined by the number of rungs one climbs. But the research shows that these things are not so linear or neatly packages. Opportunities to grow, to succeed, to be a person of great influence exist at all levels. But, in order to fully appreciate the value of where we are, and in order to realize new opportunities for growth, we have to first shift our thinking. During this session, audience members will be challenged to examine: How they define success, leadership, power and influence, who they consider as inspirational (mid-career) role models, what they can do to maximize maximize time at the mid-career level, and how they can strategically prepare for the next level.
Working with Goliath: A Female Leader Resilience in the Face of a 2000-year Patriarchal Institution
Speaker: Nermien Riad, Executive Director, Coptic Orphans Support Association
Description: Practice Resilience: Bouncing back from Defeat as a Female Leader; Tactics for Countering Gender Assumptions and Stereotypes: Listen, Destabilize and Confound; Don't Take it Personal: Keep Calm and Carry on your Mission.
Leverage Your Listening Power
Speaker: Anne Steen, Executive Director, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Graduate Career Center
Description: We all strive to be effective listeners. Listening is a hallmark trait of a strong leader. That being said, some days we are more effective listeners than others. Work, family and daily stressors can get in the way of good listening. This session will introduce you the "Listening Continuum", a tool to help you assess your listening effectiveness. The continuum holds a range of listening responses ranging from speaker-centered to listener-centered responses. The session will review the responses on the continuum to help participants become more self-aware of their own responses that negatively impact listening skills, relationships and leadership effectiveness.
The ABC’s on Practical Science for Women’s Leadership in Everyday Situations
Speaker: Gabriela Garcia Deputy Coordinator, Trade and Investment, USAID Creating Economic Opportunities, Palladium, and Scarlett Balz, CEO, Clinica de Psicologia SB
Description: Four basic pillars for an everyday fulfilling, meaningful life and their interaction in our everyday decisions: body, mind, emotions and spirituality, and managing gender issues in everyday personal and working situations. We will describe the abc’s on transformative leadership from both a Guatemalan development professional and a psychologist's perspective and experience. Also, how to access your unconscious bias for a better role play and some tips for keeping the day in the here and now, without having a negative impact on your emotions, your physical health and your career choices.
Upsetting the Table - Finding Your Voice and Taking Your Rightful Seat at the Table
Speaker: Robbie Hardy, Founder, Lessons Earned
Description: Tips and tricks to have your ideas heard and not stolen, the art of visualizing success before you begin, sticks and stones will break my bones, but I won’t let names hurt me.
Me, Myself and I: Self-Reflection to Develop Your Leadership Style
Speaker: Palena Neale, Adjunct Professor, American Business School of Paris
Description: Reflections on who you are, how you (can) get in your own way, and what kind of leader you want to be moving forward. Leadership of others, begins with leadership of self. Here we will review self-reflection in leadership development - what you want your leadership to look like; who you are now and who you want to be to lead; how your strengths, values, and passions support this vision, and how you get in, and out of, your own way to advance and lead.
Women as Transformational Leaders: How To Start, How to Keep from Being Stuck
Speaker: Marian Wentworth, President and CEO, MSH
As women leaders, we bring bold ideas and big visions for change to our workplaces... and then next thing we know we are stuck in the muck of organizational cultures that resist change. We find ourselves fighting the distractions of everyday emergencies, navigating pressure to say "yes" to every opportunity, and responding to comparisons with leadership styles of the past. All of this can sap our energy, distract us, and ultimately cause us to abandon our lofty goals. How can we cut through the noise and make real progress? Join me in this roundtable discussion where we will explore this question using practical examples from real world experience. Be ready to bring your own experiences and share in a dynamic collaborative exchange that reflects our natural leadership styles.
Are You a Helpaholic?
Speaker: Margery Miller, President and Owner, PeopleBiz Inc
Description: 1)self-awareness; 2) tools for change; 3) clarity of purpose engendering substantial growth. This session enables us to face ourselves, look at our ingrained patterns and find ways to understand and then change them. Helps us regain power in our lives by breaking habits that result in self-sabotage. It also enables us to look at how the choices we make affect both our work and personal relationships, and our ability to succeed. My book: Great Girls Network Series: Confessions of a Recovering Helpaholic, will be available at the conference.
Make Yourself Heard: Public Speaking Tips & Tools
Speaker: Nell Callahan, Founder, Frontwood Strategies
Description: Body language and vocal tools, strategies for message development, and meaningful feedback.
Secret Signals: Uncover Body Language Cues in Business
Speaker: Shelly O'Donovan, CEO, Authentic Influence Group
Description: Learn scientific backed secrets to create a strong first impression, increase influence and amplify your communication. Learn to present confident body language and other hacks to use body language to become a communication superstar! (1) Command your Confidence even when you aren't feeling like it, (2) Create “killer” first impressions and master rapport with colleagues and clients, (3) Increase your confidence by gaining powerful insight into using body language. I will share a research backed presentation packed with actionable tips and a customized handout to match your customized presentation for attendees.
Bridging the Gap: What You Don't Know That's Not Getting You To The Next Level
Speakers: Lynne Gilliland, Founder, Lynne Gilliland Consulting
Description: This interactive discussion considers key findings from interviews, research and observation from hundreds of Lynne's clients. You'll get actionable tips and guidelines for rising women to be able to utilize immediately towards moving more quickly up their leadership path.
Dealing With an Overly Demanding Boss
Speaker: Megan Gilgan, Deputy Director of the Public Partnerships Division, UNICEF
Description: Setting clear boundaries, asking for what you need, and other strategies to empower yourself in dealing with a demanding boss.
Everyday Coaching Techniques
Speaker: Laine Joelson Cohen, Director, Citi Learning
Description: Coaching can, and should be, an everyday practice for every leader at every stage of their career. This session offers you a simple and effective coaching method and tool - along with some fast and practical training. You’ll leave with coaching skills you can starting using tomorrow.
Theme 2: Organizational Development for Greater Inclusion
Recognizing Talent, Building Leaders: How the Creative Women’s Leadership Program Fosters Women’s Leadership from Within
Speakers: Sharon Cooley, Senior Vice President and Senior Director of Development, and Jessica Kruvant, Vice President of External Relations, Creative Associates International
Description: Now in its second year, the Creative Women’s Leadership Program has accelerated the growth and development of more than 25 promising mid- and senior-level women. Based on the latest research on authentic leadership and using the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment, the program applies best practices and top-tier coaching to build the leadership of participants. In this session, program leaders Jessica Kruvant and Sharon Cooley will tell the story of the program’s founding and success. They will explain the value behind it, its intensive methodology, and how your organization can deliver on a commitment to empower and support women’s leadership.
Working, Leading, and Thriving across Cultures as a Woman in International Development
Speaker: Dr. Tessie San Martin, CEO, Plan International
Description: International development requires an ability to work across many cultures. How do you work in an office with multi-cultural colleagues? How do you fit in to new cultures while still remaining true to yourself? How do you, as a woman, lead in contexts that are not always receptive to female leadership? Learn more about ways to collaborate and allow diversity to bring new ideas to the table. This roundtable will focus on not just working, but also leading and thriving in settings that bring together a multitude of cultures.
Growing Professional Women Leaders in the Most Conservative of Places: Vitas Group in the Arab World
Speakers: Elissa McCarter-LaBorde, CEO, Vitas Group, and Janet Abzakh, Human Resources Manager, Vitas Group
Description: In late 2018, Vitas Group embarked on a new journey in advancing the professional growth and gender equality of our workforce in the Arab World. We will share the positives and also the immense challenges in launching this initiative across 6 countries of operations with a focus on both serving our clientele (small business owners) and promoting greater diversity and equity in our workplaces. We will share more of the lessons learned on our journey to engage our audience for feedback, advice, and learning. Three tools we can share are: A set of gender segregated indicators that track regularly how we are advancing gender equality in the workplace, from professional growth and certification programs for local managers (men and women), promotion, pay scale, family benefit/flex time and others, the results of a gender gap assessment that will be completed in March 2019 in Iraq, the largest retail lender in the country serving over 35,000 customers and 500+ staff, he lessons to date in creating "Vitas Academy" in Jordan based on how to engage employees for greater performance with a specific eye on advancing women in our companies.
Resetting Norms – lessons learned from implementing an innovative approach globally – what worked, what didn’t and what’s next
Speaker: Alamelu Dev, Co-Founder and Principal Consultant, RISE, and Lisa Simutami, COO and EVP, Ipas
Description: Discrimination & harassment are some of the biggest barriers for women globally to 'stay in the game' and progress in their careers. It’s clearly a sensitive topic and the difficulty in preventing it is further compounded in the development sector by cultural differences, power disparities, and de-centralized office locations in difficult places. Given these challenges, sexual harassment complaints are generally significantly under-reported. However, organizations can play a big role in eliminating this barrier. Learn about an innovative approach and lessons learned from implementing it globally - what worked, what didn't and what's next.
Making Representation Matter: When Diversity Means Business Unusual
Speaker: Nana Apenem Dagadu, Partner, Africa Experts Incorporated
Description: Descriptions of working in Africa alternate between idyllic nostalgia and a minefield of myriad tribulations. However, whether you are new to your field or an experienced hand in business, cultivating a brand of integrity, flexibility, and partnership is not for the faint of heart and requires willingness to transcend dichotomous platitudes. It also means leveraging your current networks and balancing employee and organizational well-being. If you are interested in shifting the way we think about Africa and African expertise in the workplace, join this conversation on developing partnerships that catalyze, connect, and foster local expertise.
What’s Structure Got To Do with It? How Understanding Network Structures Can Promote Leadership Development and Inclusion
Speakers: Samantha Levine-Finley, Technical Assistance Manager, USAID/LEARN/Dexis Consulting, and Eva Schiffer, Senior Learning Specialist, USAID/LEARN/Dexis Consulting
Description: Do the formal and informal relationships in your organization perpetuate existing power structures? Do you want to develop strategies for understanding, discussing, and developing structures that foster inclusion and positive change? Network Pattern Cards are a simple, hands-on tool that will empower participants by (1) Exploring risks and benefits of different network patterns, (2) Generating insights about how network patterns influence what is possible in their organizations (3) Learning how to use Network Pattern Cards to have more fruitful conversations about how to intentionally create or support structures that foster leadership growth and inclusion (4) Participants will each receive a Network Pattern Card deck.
ChangemakHERS: How Women Social Entrepreneurs Are Making Everyone Powerful
Speakers: Jeanine Buzali, Global Partnerships, Ashoka
Description: Women' social entrepreneurs tend to focus on changing relationships and shifting cultural values and beliefs (vs. growing the size and reach of their organizations) to create a long-term impact.) Leading women social entrepreneurs overcome gender-related challenges by asserting their lived experienced as an asset, building a distributed leadership culture, including men in the conversation about women, and building networks of shared narratives. By incorporating the above in investment and partnership strategies, field-building organizations can help more women social entrepreneurs thrive. We'll distribute a qualitative research on women's leadership in social innovation (to be published by February 2019) as well as an invitation to join Women's Initiative for Social Entrepreneurship in various ways.
Shattering the Glass Box: Challenging Personal Leadership and Management Styles to Build Equality in Development
Speaker: Indira Kaur-Ahluwalia, Founder and President, KAUR Strategies
Description: An employee with many gradients of differences (gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, ethnicity and/or disability) faces even greater constraints for both vertical and lateral shifts. This employee is seemingly in a “glass box” with barriers on all sides curtailing their potential and growth. The “glass box” is created in part by the employer as much as by society. By unknowingly keeping staff contained and constrained, organizations lose opportunities for problem solving and building synergy and innovation. Given there will be no racial or ethnic majority in the US by 2050, it is imperative for leaders, particularly in development, to proactively address diversity and inclusion to positively impact organizational morale, productivity, and profitability. The purpose of this workshop is for decision makers to consciously recognize and utilize the abundant and available asset of diverse styles of thinking, skills and backgrounds to augment their organizations’ culture, efficiencies and impact. This workshop with raise the consideration of equality in working at both the home office and in the field.
Theme 3: Sector Transformation
Institutionalizing Inclusion: Expanding and Enhancing the Presence of Underrepresented Women in the Global Development Sector *
Speakers: Kat Zagorin, Compliance Manger, Chemonics, and Roya Zahed, Outreach and Internship Program Manager, Chemonics
Description: While women are well represented in the global development sector, women from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and those who identify as women of color often face challenges getting their feet through the door. This session focuses on how to increase the representation of underrepresented women by creating better pathways to overcoming barriers of entry. We will be presenting a variety of approaches to increase access and bridge the representation gap by sharing both personal narratives related to mentoring and legacy building as well as specific steps organizations can take to promote increased inclusion through their outreach and recruitment activities by sharing the Chemonics experience.
Navigating the Rapids: Women Leaders in Multicultural Environments
Speaker: Lisa Tarantino, Principal Associate, Abt Associates
Description: Richly multicultural environments are a feature of--and an asset to--global development work. Leading an organization or program in multicultural environments can be challenging, and these challenges are often compounded for women. Are we most effective working against - or with - the current of the societies and cultures of the countries in which we work? In this roundtable, you will learn common pitfalls for leaders in multicultural environments (and how to avoid them), six leadership techniques for women in multicultural environments, how to adapt your leadership style to different cultural contexts with integrity."
Are You Listening?: Promoting Leadership of Women with Disabilities
Speaker: Maegan Shanks, Program Assistant an Adjunct Faculty member, Gallaudet University
In this era of awareness raising about many development issues, especially those issues highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals (ie: quality education, sustainable cities, clean water and sanitation), Women with Disabilities are often not included. Where they are included, they are often thought of resource recipients, not as leaders in their own right. In this session, we will discuss, and share experiences and good practices from our work as practitioners and advocates, to focus on how we can continue the work of dismantling silos in development work and structure (separation of information regarding specialization areas and identities such as education, women, disabilities, health and more). Discussion will center on the key question: how might we best support the active participation and leadership of Women with Disabilities in International Development?