Three Haas Events to Showcase Women in Business

The district attorney of San Francisco, CFO of Hewlett-Packard, and CEO of Bare Escentuals will headline the 14th annual Women in Leadership Conference on March 13, one of three events for women in business this spring.

The festivities will continue on April 1 when Haas alumnae meet in cities around the world for the second annual Women in Leadership Dinners. Then, from April 19 to 21, the UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education will sponsor its third annual Women in Leadership Retreat.

Women in Leadership Conference

With the theme “Trailblazers: Defining Your Own Path,” the Women in Leadership Conference will bring together about 400 women for a day of learning and networking at the Haas School.

The event is the business school's longest-running student-organized conferences. This year, Bare Escentuals CEO Leslie Blodgett (top) will give the morning keynote, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris (center) will speak at midday, and HP CFO Cathie Lesjak (bottom), MBA 96, will be the afternoon keynote speaker.

“The conference is a great networking opportunity,” says conference co-chair Aliza Gutman, MBA 10. “Many interesting people come, and everyone is really enthusiastic and wants to meet other women and learn how they can work together.”

Stephanie Roy, MBA 10, is the other conference co-chair.

Nine morning panels will focus on industries ranging from health care and nonprofits to retail and financial services. Afternoon panels and workshops will cover such practical tactics as finding real estate opportunities, developing strategies to propel oneself to the top, and navigating organizational politics.

This year, a new panel format will incorporate small breakout groups so that women can network with the speakers and other attendees. There also will be industry roundtable discussions at lunch.

Sponsors include Abbott, Chevron, Clorox, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and Walmart.com. Organizers are seeking more sponsors; those interested should contact the organizing team at [email protected].

An early-bird discount on tickets is available until Feb. 23. For more information and to register, visit wilconference.org.

Women in Leadership Dinners

The second set of Haas events for women, Women in Leadership Dinners on April 1, are primarily for alumnae, though some chapters may invite others to join. This year’s locations have yet to be confirmed, but dinners last year took place in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Shanghai, Chicago, Seattle, and Tokyo.

For more information, contact Leslie Kanberg in the Alumni Relations Office at 510-642-7757 or [email protected].

Women in Leadership Retreat

Later in April, the three-day Women in Leadership Retreat will feature a highly interactive, experiential program with presentations and workshops primarily by UC Berkeley faculty.

“The purpose is to help rising stars within organizations understand the primary obstacles that women meet in their career progressions, to acquire tools and skills to deal with them and to navigate influence and change in organizations,” says Haas Associate Professor Laura Kray, a retreat organizer.

Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley professor in psychology and faculty director of the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, will speak on emotional intelligence. Haas Professor Jennifer Chatman will talk on gender differences and leadership styles, and Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management Professor Adam Galinsky will talk on social networks. Last year 45 women attended the event, which is open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.executive.berkeley.edu/programs/women-leadership/.