The Inspiring Women Leaders Conference (IWL) is designed to inform and transform the way we think and respond to women in leadership positions, as well as opportunities to discuss and examine the critical issues of the day, in order to give future generations of women in the workforce the tools and skills necessary to conquer barriers and challenges and fulfill their dreams.
The inspiration for IWL was a result of the huge popularity and demand from a series of leadership workshops for women, offered through the University of Florida Office of Professional and Workforce Development in 2016. After conducting some research, we noticed there was not a women’s leadership conference in the surrounding area offering the type of professional development event we envisioned, so we decided to create a conference that would offer interactive professional development with a larger scale event. After forming a committee of dynamic and intelligent women and a year of planning, the UF Office of Professional and Workforce Development launched the first annual Inspiring Women Leaders Conference on International Women’s Day for a 2-day conference on March 8-9, 2018.
Every year of the conference focuses on including March 8, International Women’s Day, with the third annual event to start on Sunday, March 8th, 2020 with three Pre-Conference Workshops, followed by a Networking Reception to kick-off the conference. The attendance for the 2018 event was 150 participants, ranging from eight states and two countries and representing a wide array of industries, professions, ages and roles.
In 2019, the event saw an increase in attendance by 100, with eight states and four countries represented. This year’s conference brought together over 300 participants from the local, state, national, and international communities to participate in interactive learning platforms with pre-conference workshops, keynote speakers, concurrent breakout sessions, and panel discussions related to leadership, diversity and inclusion, and wellness and work-life design.
The IWL Conference is unique from other leadership conferences as it is an action-oriented event, with many opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from the knowledge and expertise of highly talented speakers. Participants are challenged and inspired to become authentic leaders, sharpen their skills, interact with others, and leave this event energized and eager to share their new learnings, so they can make a positive impact on their community, career, and home.
