Women in Leadership Institute^™

Linkage’s Women in Leadership Institute brings together 3,000+ women leaders for an exceptional and results-driven leadership development experience. With a 24-year history, WIL is a leading women’s leadership conference, and has empowered thousands of women to scale the common hurdles to advancement in the workplace. Premier organizations like Kaiser Permanente, Lowe’s Companies, Oracle, and FedEx Ground rely on WIL to engage and inspire their women leaders, and many individual women leaders choose to join us as independent learners and participants.

Get ready to dive in! The Women in Leadership Institute is not a passive listening environment—whether you have an All-Access pass or a Virtual Keynotes or Virtual Keynotes PLUS pass, we encourage active participation to create a completely immersive learning experience.

Your voice as a woman leader is important—and it should be heard, which is why we recommend that you plan to be completely removed from work while participating in the Institute. This is your opportunity to focus solely on your personal and professional growth as a leader, so make the most of your time with us.

The Women in Leadership Institute is more accessible than ever before, empowering women leaders to choose from two convenient formats—in-person in Orlando, Florida, or through our 100% virtual learning platform.

Both experiences equip women leaders with the actionable strategies needed to overcome the hurdles to advancement in the workplace—through engaging keynotes, an Advancing Women Leaders Assessment, networking and a special panel.

Participants can choose from four pass types and two packages to tailor the experience to their individual needs and goals:

All-Access (In-Person) or All-Access (Virtual) Pass: Get access to the entire conference—four days of immersive learning, including Keynotes, the full schedule of Breakout Sessions, and most importantly, your own Learning Team, led by a leadership consultant and executive coach who is an expert in the advancement of women leaders, giving you direct access to applicable advice and insights. Perfect for women leaders looking for a more robust program.

Virtual Keynotes or Virtual Keynotes PLUS Pass: Tailored for the woman leader with an exceptionally busy schedule or who is unable to travel, the abbreviated virtual tickets allow women leaders to experience a shorter conference schedule. Add hands-on learning through Breakout Sessions by choosing the Virtual Keynotes PLUS package and maximize your experience.

Accelerator and Accelerator Pro Packages: Combine a virtual pass with additional learning experiences, including independent learning, facilitated community sessions, and an optional coaching upgrade. The Accelerator packages are designed for women leaders looking for additional community, learning experiences, and instructor-led support for a full year.

Learn more about each of these passes and packages.

If you have questions or need help deciding which experience is best for you, connect with us at learnmore@linkageinc.com.

The Women in Leadership Institute is hosted and broadcast live from Orlando, Florida, November 13–16, 2023, which is in the Eastern Standard Time zone. We have made considerations in scheduling our programming to serve the needs of our virtual audience, who will be tuning in from various time zones. Please see the full agenda for timing.

The All-Access pass is designed to be experienced on a set schedule during the week of the live conference, November 13–16, 2023. Whether you attend the All-Access pass in person in Orlando, Florida, or through the Virtual platform, you will be required to tune into small-group learning and in-the-moment sessions, making your live participation critically important.

The abbreviated virtual program, available through a Keynotes or Keynotes PLUS pass, accommodates busy schedules by serving up a shorter conference experience.

It is highly recommended to tune in live, giving you the opportunity to engage live. However, every conference attendee—across all pass types and packages—will be given extended access to the recorded content, which includes Keynotes, Breakout Sessions, and other special sessions, for 90 days after the event on November 13–16, 2023. This allows participants to experience the content again!

The dress code for WIL in Orlando is business casual. We recommend that attendees wear comfortable shoes and dress in layers, as the day’s program will move between rooms and the temperature can vary.

The dress code for the Virtual WIL experience is up to you! However, please note that you will have the opportunity to join video chat with your peers, so we recommend dressing as you would for any other virtual business meeting.

If you would like to enhance your Institute experience by upgrading your seat, you can contact us at learnmore@linkageinc.com and we will connect you with a representative. Please note that there is limited availability of in-person passes.

Both in-person and virtual attendees will have access to recorded WIL Keynotes for 90 days from the start of the Institute, or January 30, 2024.

While you may rewatch Keynote sessions (or watch them for the first time) on-demand and view the question-and-answer chats, you will not be able to submit new questions. You can also watch select Breakout Sessions on-demand for 90 days, as well.

The Women in Leadership Institute is built on 20+ years of qualitative and quantitative market research. In fact, we have worked with more than one million leaders worldwide, and our solutions are 100% research based, which means they are optimized to deliver measurable and lasting leadership impact. This translates to a truly invaluable Institute experience, where women leaders can be assured that the skills and knowledge they will gain are tried and tested—and have real-world applications.

Yes! We encourage all attendees to complete one of Linkage’s assessments, which are specifically designed for women leaders. Here’s why: As you begin the challenging work of evaluating your leadership abilities and defining goals for yourself, nothing is more valuable than real data.

That’s where the Advancing Women Leaders Assessment comes in. You will be measured on your proficiency in the six competencies associated with success for women leaders.

Advancing Women Leaders 360° Assessment

Leaders with an All-Access pass will gain access to Linkage’s Advancing Women Leaders 360° Assessment, allowing you to reflect on your own skills, and give members of your organization—including those you manage, work alongside, and work for—the ability to assess you in key areas. This means that you gain some truly invaluable insights into how you rate yourself as a leader and how others perceive you as a leader. Combined, the results will lay the foundation of your time with us at WIL—they will even influence your placement on a learning team.

Understanding the data in a 360° assessment can be a big undertaking, which is why we support you every step of the way. Leaders with an All-Access pass will experience a special pre-conference session to help you unpack your results, as well as a special conference session titled: “Assessment Review: Unlocking Your Best Insights.” And, you will have access to your Learning Team Leader, who is an expert at debriefing assessment results for individual leaders.

Please note: To accommodate the appropriate amount of time to complete and analyze leaders through a 360° assessment, any participant who purchases a ticket or is added to a group less than thirty (30) days before the opening date of the Institute will receive the Self-Assessment rather than the 360° Assessment, where applicable. In addition, to customize each attendee’s experience, we must receive your completed online assessment by the date provided in your confirmation email.

Advancing Women Leaders Self-Assessment

Leaders with a Virtual Keynotes or Virtual Keynotes PLUS pass will gain access to the Advancing Women Leaders Self-Assessment. This self-assessment is designed to empower women leaders to guide their own leadership journey and self-identify their own strengths and areas of opportunity. Looking for guidance to help unpack your results? Leaders with a Virtual Keynotes or Virtual Keynotes PLUS pass will gain access to an on-demand webinar with tips on how to understand your results.

Leaders with an All-Access pass will be assigned to a Learning Team, led by a leadership consultant and executive coach who is an expert in the advancement of women leaders, giving you direct access to applicable advice and insights. Learning Teams are small groups that meet every day throughout the Institute to discuss the content from the sessions. With your Learning Team, you will begin to apply key concepts shared from the Keynotes and Breakout Sessions to your own role and personal experience as a leader.

These Learning Teams are assigned based on several criteria. Prior to the event, leaders will complete the Advancing Women Leaders 360° Assessment, providing us with key insights into your strengths, weaknesses, areas of opportunity, and leadership style. Your assessment data, as well as your biographical information (title, function and years of experience), is used to build Learning Teams, which are designed to promote the highest level of collaboration and interaction.

It depends. Some organizations request to keep their team of women leaders together for the duration of the experience, while other organizations elect to have attendees experience the Institute as individual leaders. There are benefits to both options. Intact teams can experience the Institute through the lens of their individual organization and team, while organizations that choose to have team members dispersed across many Learning Teams benefit by exposing their leaders to a diverse group of women from different industries, with a variety of experiences and viewpoints.

If you are attending the event on your own, separate from an organization, you will be assigned to a Learning Team that best matches your leadership style, goals and background.

Please see our Enrollment Policy here.

Read more about our accessibility policy and standard conference accommodations here. If you have additional accommodation requests or have questions, please reach out to us using this accommodation form. Please allow for appropriate lead time for any accommodation request.

The Women in Leadership Accelerator and Accelerator Pro packages combine virtual passes to WIL with an extraordinary yearlong learning experience designed to empower women leaders to thrive. The program includes independent learning through the Advancing Women Leaders Essentials platform, expert guidance and discussion through instructor-led live sessions, and access to a community of women leaders. Leaders in the Accelerator Pro program will gain access to private coaching sessions.

“Yes! We invite you to watch a recording of the first session in the live program for free! This will give you a special taste of this transformative learning experience. In the session, you will hear the latest data on women in the workplace from Linkage experts and experience a guided conversation focused on advancement and goal setting. If you are enrolled in the program and miss any session, you will be provided with a link to the recording within the Advancing Women Leaders Essentials platform. Note that Accelerator Live sessions are highly interactive, typically involving breakout groups where you will have a chance to connect with women leaders from other organizations, which we are not be able to record. We encourage participants to attend the sessions live to get the most out of the experience.

Leaders will start their experience at the Women In Leadership Institute (WIL) on November 13-16, 2023.

Your self-assessment will be launched as part of your WIL communications in September. You’ll receive your credentials to access the Advancing Women Leaders Essentials program post-WIL and start your first WIL Accelerator Live Session on December 13, 2023 at noon ET. You will be included in the next year of WIL Accelerator Live sessions (through October, 2024).

Accelerator Live sessions are live, instructor-led webinars designed to equip women leaders with the insights and skills they need to scale the common hurdles to advancement in the workplace. Hosted via Zoom, these sessions are led by an expert consultant; include interactive activities, lessons and case studies; and include video breakout rooms where women leaders will network with other women leaders and access a community of support.

Both the Accelerator and Accelerator Pro package include access to 11 monthly Accelerator Live sessions.

Accelerator Live sessions take place on the second Wednesday of each month at 12 noon ET. During the month of November, participants come together at the Virtual Women in Leadership Institute in place of the live session.

All WIL Accelerator Live sessions will take place on the Zoom platform. All participants will be required to be on Zoom client version 5.2 or higher. Participants will be required to update to join the meeting or join through the Zoom web client. Click here to upgrade Zoom to the latest version.

We recommend the following technical tips to optimize your experience:

• Use Google Chrome as your internet browser—and please make sure you have the most up-to-date version.
• Use a strong internet connection with a speed of at least 3 Mbps. If your connection is slower, you may still participate but load times may be longer than normal. You can execute this speed test to check your connection.
• Disconnect from VPN or corporate networks.
• Disable any firewalls.
• Finally, we suggest using a laptop or desktop computer to participate in the event for optimal experience.

All sessions will be recorded and posted within one week on the Advancing Women Leaders Essentials platform. Note that Accelerator Live sessions will be highly interactive, typically involving breakout groups, which we will not be able to record. We encourage participants to attend the sessions live to get the most out of the experience.

Advancing Women Leaders Essentials is a virtual, self-paced program, designed to equip women with the skills needed to scale the hurdles to advancement in the workplace. Participants work through the content at their own pace—reading articles, watching videos, and assessing knowledge, while taking time for self-reflection and goal setting.

Access to Advancing Women Leaders Essentials is included in both the Accelerator and Accelerator Pro package.

Access to the Women Leaders Essentials will be sent out prior to your first Live session. Participants will receive an email that includes log in information and their individual access code.

Yes, every registrant through the Accelerator and Accelerator Pro package receives access to an assessment designed specifically for women leaders.

• Self-Assessments. Participants will receive a self-assessment in as part of their WIL Virtual Pass, which will be used for both WIL and the Advancing Women Leaders Essentials portions of the program.
• WIL Accelerator Pro – Those who register for the WIL Accelerator Pro will receive access to an Advancing Women Leaders 360° Assessment. The 360˚ Assessment will be provided to ensure you have more recent and deeper 360˚ data to be used for both WIL and the Advancing Women Leaders Essentials portions of the program.

The Women in Leadership Accelerator Pro package gives participants access to two hours of personalized, one-on-one coaching, designed to equip individual women with a focused action plan for success. These coaching sessions will take place with an expert Linkage leadership via Zoom.

Coaching sessions will take place after the 2023 Women in Leadership Institute. This timing allows you to build upon what you learned at the Women in Leadership Institute and the insights gained from the Advancing Women Leaders 360° Assessment.

Many women leaders create a strong and lasting bond with their career coach and choose to extend their coaching engagements beyond the initial program. To learn more about long-term coaching sessions, connect with your coach or reach out to learnmore@linkageinc.com.

The Accelerator package includes a Virtual Keynotes PLUS pass, and the WIL Accelerator Pro package includes a Virtual All-Access pass.

If you would like to attend WIL through an All-Access In-Person pass and experience the Accelerator or Accelerator Pro package, connect with us directly to customize your package: learnmore@linkageinc.com.

If you have already registered for an All-Access In-Person pass and would like to upgrade to the Accelerator experience, connect with CustomerService@Linkageinc.com.

Yes. We partner with many organizations each year as they select or nominate women leaders to participate. Teams vary in size, from 10 to 100+, depending on the goals and needs of your organization. We work closely with organizations to customize the event experience for large cohorts of women leaders from the same organization or division, and the feedback is unanimous—women leaders who attend as a member of a large cohort report feeling better connected to their coworkers and more engaged with their teams when they return to the office.

This year, there are four ways for women leaders to attend WIL as part of a group: In-Person All-Access, Virtual All-Access, Virtual Keynotes, or Virtual Keynotes PLUS passes. Choose the pass that best fits the unique needs and schedule of your women leaders to maximize your impact. In addition, organizations can choose to send their women leaders to WIL through the Accelerator or Accelerator Pro package, giving them access to a full year of continued learning and support through a community of educators and women leaders.

Women leaders need support—now, more than ever. Participants can extend their time at the Women in Leadership Institute to a full-year engagement, unlocking new leadership development experiences, learning opportunities, and a robust community of engaged women leaders. By choosing the Accelerator or Accelerator Pro package, women leaders gain access to a WIL Virtual pass with additional learning experiences, including independent learning, facilitated community sessions, and an optional coaching upgrade, all available at a reduced, bundled price. The Accelerator packages are available to individual registrants and to organizations sending cohorts of women leaders to WIL.

Consistent, differential investment in the development of women leaders is a journey, which is why we offer comprehensive solutions designed to accelerate women leaders. Our variety of solutions for organizations include the Advancing Women Leaders Academy, which allows for on-site or online learning for an additional cohort of women leaders at your organization, or coaching sessions for individual women leaders. Our coaching options add rigor and focus to the development process and give your leaders an objective counsel to help them successfully navigate the day-to-day challenges of leading.

Additionally, Linkage has developed specially designed for your on-the-go and geographically dispersed workforce—allowing learning to take place from the comfort of each leader’s desk. These include the Advancing Women Leaders Digital Academy, as well as Advancing Women Leaders Virtual Sessions, and Advancing Women Leaders Essentials—among other programs.