The 2022 NKY Chamber Women’s Initiative Regional Summit sponsored by PNC, returns on Thursday, Nov. 3, at MegaCorp Pavilion in Newport. This unique event, now in its 7th year, supports professional women of all career stages working toward business and professional success.
Themed, Rocking Your Role: Amplify Your Power, Purpose & Goals, the Women’s Initiative Regional Summit will bring together businesswomen from across the Tri-State to share and discuss real-life leadership experiences and address how attendees can care for themselves, their professional teams and simultaneously drive business results.
Angel Beets, General Session speaker
“Each year, the Regional Summit aims to inspire and empower women not only in their professional careers but in their personal lives,” said Gina Bath, Vice President of the Women’s Initiative at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce (NKY Chamber). “We’re bringing together a group of dynamic speakers to support and celebrate women in business whether they are just starting out in their careers or are already established in their field. I’m looking forward to seeing businesswomen from all over our region come together to connect, network and listen to these engaging growth-oriented presentations.”
Professional women in all stages of their careers including young professionals, mid-career and senior-level professionals and entrepreneurs are invited to attend the Regional Summit on Nov. 3.
“We have an impressive line-up of speakers who will share their success stories and effective habits with attendees in November,” said Women’s Initiative Regional Summit Chair Melissa Lutz, FSMPS, CPSM, principal at Champlin Architecture. “The Regional Summit will also feature an insightful group of panelists that will lead an impactful discussion centered around creating and supporting successful DEI initiatives that reflect employees’ lived experiences. Our hope is that all those in attendance leave the event knowing that they are valuable, they should live their purpose and are empowered to truly rock their role.”
While the schedule will include a variety of presentations covering topics such as compassion, leadership strategies, diversity in the workplace and workforce development, the day will kick off with Angel Beets, co-managing partner of Gilman Partners. Catherine Salzman, Director of Heartwood Strategies and Lutz will be the emcees for the event.
The session speakers for the Women’s Initiative Regional Summit, sponsored by PNC, include:
• Morning General Session Speaker:
The Executive Presence Formula
Angel Beets, Co-Managing Partner, Gilman Partners
Beets will offer tangible strategies to help leaders at any stage of their career boost their executive presence. Attendees will walk away knowing what factors make up executive presence, how to balance verbal and nonverbal cues, and when to use powerful and attractive strategies with various audiences.
Session Speakers:
• How Personal Brand Holds Back Aspiring Female Leaders, April Martini, Co-Founder, Forthright People
Martini will discuss the importance of personal branding and the questions to ask that inform your brand’s identity. Attendees will learn how to define their personal brand characteristic, how to show up through their unique appearance, and how to manage their behaviors and actions to build their personal brand with intention.
• Become a Confident, Dynamic Speaker, Christy Demetrakis, President, The Empowered Speaker
About: 75% of people have a fear of public speaking. In this presentation, attendees will learn how to be like the other 25%. Effective presentation skills are vital to professional and personal success. Attendees will walk away with the skills to become a confident and dynamic speaker.
• The Path to Your Best Mental Health Life, Laurie Sharp-Page, Author & CEO, Flourish Psychotherapy
This presentation will inspire attendees to think differently about their mental health and how they care for it. Attendees will reflect on their vision for their best mental health life based on their unique strengths and challenges. It also introduces participants to Conscious Coping, an innovative framework for coping more effectively with life’s varied challenges.
• Driving YOUR Eureka! How to Find, Filter, & Fast Track BIG IDEAS for your Career, Company, or Community. Maggie Nichols, CEO & President, Eureka! Ranch International
This dynamic presentation will ignite attendees to think faster, smarter and more innovatively. Nichols will focus on practical tips that attendees can incorporate into their lives and reinvent the future. Attendees will walk away with the ability to create and find big ideas, the ways to filter out the great ideas from the bad ones and an understanding of how to fast track the big ideas into a reality.
• Make Networking Easier, Nanette Polito, Success Coach & Coaching Consultant, Success Coach
Polito’s mission is to encourage individuals to clarify their vision, define their goals, and create the success and life they only thought was a dream. She works extensively in helping businesspeople set smart goals, understand their ‘why’ and network more effectively. This interactive presentation will leave attendees with ideas on how to network with ease and grow meaningful relationships faster.
• Observe More, React Less, Rachel Roberts, Owner & Yoga Director, The Yoga Bar
Roberts’ greatest talent is her ability to offer ancient philosophies in a way that is approachable and applicable to modern-day trials. At the Regional Summit, she will lead a meditation and mindfulness break and will share her path from strife to calm-centered, successful leadership. During her presentation, she will offer applicable small steps and tools that are easy to apply in hectic daily lives.
Panel discussions
In addition to session speakers, an engaging group of lunch panelists will focus on allyship and how it manifests in the workplace, the evolution of DEI and how to be an advocate in the workplace during The Bridge to Belonging panel discussion. The panel features:
Panelist: Sharon Fusco, Moderator, CEO, Redwood. Fusco is known as a strategic and innovative leader with a proven track record of organizational growth and expansion. She joined Redwood as CEO in December 2020 and led the agency through the pandemic, ensuring client and employee safety while addressing labor shortages, reduced revenues and increased costs. Prior to Redwood, at the Council on Aging, Fusco implemented major initiatives, boosted infrastructure, managed key business functions and was instrumental in securing contracts and grants for new programs. When it became evident that organic growth was difficult due to a lack of capacity, Fusco initiated conversations with Easterseals Serving Greater Cincinnati and helped steer Redwood into a new combined nonprofit now known as Easterseals Redwood.
Panelist: Christopher Johnson, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Frost Brown Todd. As Chief Diversity Officer, Johnson supports the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and goals. His roles include assisting in the development and implementation of diversity action plans as well as communication and engagement strategies. He also works with leaders, supporters and champions across the firm to conceptualize and develop policies and practices that leverage DEI analytics to advance inclusivity and diverse representation at Frost Brown Todd. Johnson has an extensive background in diversity education, community engagement, recruitment and retention, as well as strategic planning and outreach initiatives.
Panelist: Bonnie Meyer, PhD, Owner, BlueJay Collective. Meyer is an educator by trade who pairs that with her passion for inclusion and equity. Until recently, she served for eight and a half years as the founding director of the Office of LGBTQ Programs and Services at Northern Kentucky University, where under her leadership, NKU received national recognition in LGBTQA+ inclusion, earned a five-star rating on the Campus Pride Index, and was a recipient of Campus Pride’s 2020 and 2021 “Best of the Best LGBTQ-Friendly Campus,” as one of the top 40 institutions in the country for LGBTQA+ inclusion.
Panelist: Alicia Miller, Executive Director, The Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. As the Executive Director of the Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Miller manages the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the organization including a team of six. She oversees all operational and administrative functions of an organization with a budget of close to one million dollars. Previously, she served as the Second Chance Director for the Ohio Justice & Policy Center where she led the agency’s work to provide direct legal assistance and policy advocacy to expand the ability of people with criminal records to advance employment, education, safe and affordable housing and community reintegration.
The cost to attend the Women’s Initiative Regional Summit is $160 for YPs, $170 for NKY Chamber members, and $180 for future NKY Chamber members. Registration is required in advance of the event. To register or for more information, visit www.NKYChamber.com/WISummit22.
