2017 Women, Leadership, and Innovation Conference, presented by WELD and Otterbein University

In its seventh year, WELD’s annual leadership conference is expanding!  Otterbein and WELD have partnered to present the 2017 Women, Leadership, and Innovation Conference offering an amazing agenda for career-minded individuals of all ages and backgrounds at this one-day national event. Leadership and innovation, the theme for this year’s conference ties two key elements necessary for career growth.

After a light breakfast, the day will kick-off with a Keynote Panel of speakers moderated by Dr. Kathy Krendl, Otterbein University’s first female president and will feature: Tara Abraham, Chairman & Co-CEO of Accel Inc., Dr. Lillian Lowery, President & CEO of Future Ready Columbus, Natasha Pongonis, Co-Owner of Nativa, Elaine Roberts, President/CEO of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, and Brooke Yoakum, winner of the Young Entrepreneur Academy.
A variety of breakout sessions will be offered throughout the day with topics ranging from presentation skills to career acceleration; emotional intelligence to generational disparities in the workplace; and social enterprise to personal stories shared by those who followed an unexpected path to achieve career success.

Lunch will be provided after the morning breakout sessions and after the two offerings of the afternoon sessions.  The day will close with a networking reception to be hosted at The Point, Otterbein's new STEAM Innovation Center.  

For the first time this year, the conference will feature “Full STEAM Ahead,” a girls’ track for young women grades 6-12. The young attendees will join the women in the morning for the keynote panel before breaking off to engage in an interactive STEAM-based leadership program. During the day, the girls will collaborate in teams on social innovation projects through hands-on, creative experiences in Otterbein’s robotics, engineering, 3D printing, art, and computer studios.  At the end of a day’s work, they will have the opportunity to present their projects to conference participants at the inaugural Full Steam Ahead Showcase and Reception.

The event will be hosted on the campus of Otterbein University on Wednesday, June 7^th, 2017 with registration opening at 8:30am, the Keynote at 9:00am and breakout sessions starting at 10:30am until 4:30pm. The early bird registration cost to attend starts at $150 for members and $175 for non-members, students (with pre-approval) will be admitted for $75, there is no cost for the Girl Track. Registration can be found on www.weldoh.org is open through May 26^th, is required in advance and there is a maximum capacity, so register today!