PBWC Shines in Sacramento

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Nov. 9, 2006 - Thousands of corporate women, entrepreneurs and young women converged on the Sacramento Convention Center this month for a power-packed day full of career advice and life lessons from women thought leaders. The event, which marks the third-annual Sacramento-area conference for Professional BusinessWomen of California, complements the popular conferences that have been serving women in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 18 years.

The day of inspiration began with an opening session featuring Yasmin Davidds, CEO and Founder of Empowering Latinas, Inc., who shared wisdom from her new book Take Back Your Power: How to Reclaim It, Keep It and Use It to Get What You Deserve. Arianna Huffington (pictured left), founder of www.huffingtonpost.com and author of On Becoming Fearless…In Love, Work, and Life, then challenged the crowd to become more fearless in their careers and lives in an entertaining morning keynote.

Morning breakout sessions featured popular speakers such as Cindy Solomon, known as the 'Courage Advisor to CEOs' who addressed a standing room crowd of 800+ attendees. Many attendees are planning to continue their dialogue with Cindy after the conference when she appears in the first PBWC eSeminar on November 16th focused on practical tips for gaining the courage to ask for a promotion (RSVP for eseminars here).

The luncheon, hosted by CW31 News Anchor Marianne McClary, opened with a welcome address from PBWC's new President Patricia Williams (pictured left), Director of the Silicon Valley Complex at Merrill Lynch. Williams underscored PBWC's ongoing commitment to supporting the growth and success of professional women. She outlined new initiatives and member benefits for year-round career education, including the new PBWC Connections member magazine, an eSeminar series to help members fast track their careers, and a February 2007 Entrepreneurial Skills Conference to help corporate women and aspiring business owners embrace an entrepreneurial mindset.

The luncheon featured keynote speaker Carly Fiorina, former Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard and author of the new book, Tough Choices, A Memoir. She shared a glimpse into the numerous leadership lessons from her career. Among them, she said, is the notion that leadership is about "Seizing new things and trying new things. Leadership is all about change." Fiorina also commented on the immense contributions that women are making throughout the world, saying "Women have a great multiplier effect in every community."

The crowd gave a warm welcome to PBWC Founder Jackie Speier, California State Senator, 8th District. Speier delighted guests with her reflections on PBWC's growth and celebrated the role women of women at a local, state and federal level by introducing a surprise guest, California Secretary of State-elect and current State Senator, Debra Bowen.

The event was made possible by sponsors such as The Golden1 Credit Union, BMW, HP, The Sacramento Metropolitan Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Kaiser Permanente, State Farm, American Airlines, Genentech, Sutter Health, Intel Corporation, Oracle Corporation and many others.

PBWC will bring its next major conference to San Francisco on May 1, 2007. Learn more about this event and PBWC.

- Joanna Rustin

photos courtesy Linda Sue Scott