Linkage’s First-Ever Virtual Women in Leadership Institute Is Just Days Away | Celebrating Our Trailblazing Presenting Partners & Impact Award Recipients

Next week, Linkage will kick off the 100% virtual Women in Leadership Institute^™—the first fully virtual Institute in its 21-year history!

As I prepare to welcome more than 1,400 women leaders to this four-day, transformative leadership development experience, I am filled with emotions: Excitement, for the incredible week of inspiration that lays ahead of us. Anticipation, as we innovate in this brand-new virtual conference format. And, above all, I feel overwhelming gratitude, for the women leaders who have recommitted to their leadership development at this critical time—and for the organizations who support them on this journey.

To be clear, this truly is a critical time. Research from LeanIn finds that the pressures of living and leading in a world dominated by an unprecedented health and economic crisis is putting an immense, and highly disproportionate, strain on women. In fact, one in four women may turn down advancement opportunities or opt out of the workforce entirely because of the stress and demands of this year. The grim reality is that 2020 threatens to erase any modest progress we have made in gender equity across the last two decades.

All of this can feel highly discouraging, as the hurdles to advancement for women become even harder to scale during this extraordinary time.

At Linkage, we understand that women need this investment in themselves, along with support from their organizations and a community of women leaders.

I am deeply and personally inspired by the organizations and individual leaders who are steadfast in their commitment to advance women leaders.

They include:

OUR PRESENTING PARTNERS

Our partnering clients deeply understand and value the mission of advancing women in support of gender parity. This year, the Women in Leadership Institute is presented by 10 companies that are leading the way to engage and empower their women leaders to new heights. These organizations rely on the Institute, and I am honored to partner with them to make this premier experience possible.

Premier Partners

• American Family Insurance
• FedEx Ground
• First American
• Kaiser Permanente
• McKesson
• TEKsystems

Institute Partners

• Lowe’s
• LPL Financial
• Synchrony
• Oracle

University Sponsor

• MIT Executive MBA program

Media Partner

• Professional WOMAN’s Magazine | DiversityComm, Inc.

THE 2020 WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP IMPACT AWARD RECIPIENTS

Each year, Linkage selects trailblazing leaders who are fully committed to the advancement of women leaders within their organizations and communities.

At this year’s Institute, I am thrilled to recognize four exceptional leaders with Linkage’s Women in Leadership Executive Impact Award:

• Ekpedeme (Pamay) M. Bassey, Chief Learning Officer, The Kraft Heinz Company
• Paige Olson, Deputy Chief Counsel, The Walt Disney Studios
• Sherlaender (Lani) Phillips, Vice President of Channel Sales, US One Commercial Partner, Microsoft
• Courtney Gentleman Schill, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Payment Solutions, Synchrony

Pamay, Paige, Lani and Courtney represent the best of the best. They are innovators and change-makers who are committed to developing and implementing new approaches to achieving gender parity within their organizations, and beyond. They work to advance and support women leaders at all levels in meaningful ways. And, their personal stories are case studies of what it takes to achieve results and make an impact.

Whether you will be joining us virtually for the Institute next week or following along on social media or here on the Linkage Leadership Insights Blog, I hope you will follow the example of these exceptional organizations and leaders and personally commit to advancing and supporting women leaders at your organization. When we come together, women leaders thrive.