7th Women and Leadership Conference

Embrace and Elevate Systems of Change: Transformative Thinking on Women and Leadership

What an amazing conference! From the fireside chat with Dr. Susan Madsen, founder of ILA’s Women and Leadership member community to the inspirational plenary talks and everything in between – this conference delivered mutual learnings, discussion, and networking.

Explore the conference by scrolling below, downloading the program guide, and clicking through the gallery.

Description

Women lead in many ways and in many contexts around the world. Scholars have established myriad challenges and barriers that women face as research on women and leadership grew rapidly over the last 50 years. Even with more women having achieved success as leaders, many of the same challenges and barriers that were identified decades ago still persist. Furthermore, we must expand leadership research and practice to include individuals who are gender-minoritized (e.g., non-binary, femmes, and trans-women) to fully move toward leadership equity. How can we look beyond individual women to consider holistic and systemic perspectives of change to advance equity?

The 7th ILA Women and Leadership Conference theme, Embrace and Elevate Systems of Change: Transformative Thinking on Women and Leadership, provides a critical platform to convene top scholars, thought leaders, change-makers, practitioners, and students to engage in insightful discussions, share best practices, and co-create solutions that drive meaningful progress toward leadership equity. The conference is dedicated to embracing and elevating systems of change that will transform leadership and expand opportunities for women and individuals who are gender-minoritized.

Review the original Call for Proposals.

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Conference Goals

Spark Innovation

To stimulate innovative thinking and creative solutions for establishing new systems and structures that address the persistent challenges and barriers to women’s leadership that can drive transformative change.

Transform Thinking

To share and create novel perspectives and cutting-edge research on women and leadership that highlight new approaches and successful interventions that reset current directions.

Inspire Action

To inspire collaboration and research that reshapes the narrative around women and leadership to catalyze systemic shifts that foster gender equity and inclusion.

Featured Speakers

Speaker Bios

Danya Bacchus, CBS News Correspondent

Danya Bacchus is a national correspondent for CBS News and Stations. Known for her sharp storytelling, compelling writing, and calm under pressure, Danya has covered a wide range of stories—from breaking news to red carpet events and in-depth feature reporting.

She has reported on some of the most significant events in recent history, including the devastating Los Angeles wildfires; mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas; the death of Queen Elizabeth II; and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre—an especially personal story, as her own family was directly affected. Her storytelling has taken her behind the scenes of some of the world’s biggest sports and entertainment events, including the Super Bowl, the Grammy Awards, and the Golden Globes.

Danya’s work appears not only on CBS affiliates nationwide, but also on the “CBS Weekend News,” “CBS Mornings,” “CBS Evening News,” and BET. Before joining CBS News, Danya built her career in local newsrooms across the country.

She is a proud graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and a former Knight Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. She’s a member the National Association of Black Journalists, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and on the advisory council for National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Danya currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two children.

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Madeline Di Nonno, President & CEO, Geena Davis Institute

Madeline Di Nonno is the President and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute, the only global research driven advocacy organization working within the entertainment and media industry to foster inclusive storytelling and impede bias and stereotyping in global entertainment media. The Institute was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award Emmy from the TV Academy for its profound, transformational and long-lasting contribution to the arts and science of television. Di Nonno leads the Institute’s strategic direction, research, financial, and programing initiatives. Di Nonno is an Executive Producer on the Emmy nominated, television series Mission Unstoppable on CBS and the award-winning feature film This Changes Everything. Di Nonno has served in Executive leadership positions for Hallmark Channel, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Nielsen Entertainment. Di Nonno is a U.S. State Department Specialist Speaker, and has spoken at The White House, and the United Nations. Di Nonno has been featured in Ad Age, Fast Company, Good Morning America, The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair and Variety. Di Nonno holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. Di Nonno serves on the Board of Directors for the Venice Chamber of Commerce.

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Darcy J. Totten, Executive Director, California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls

Darcy Totten serves as the Executive Director at the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. She has over 20 years of experience in crisis communications, journalism, public policy, and external affairs.

Darcy has built nationally recognized efforts while at the Commission including authoring the Commission’s award-winning original research report, the California Women’s Economic Blueprint for Pandemic Recovery and the award-winning #womenareessential campaign highlighting the role of women as essential workers in California’s economy. She is an expert in social impact strategies, issue advocacy, crisis communications and gender focused public policy. She is passionate about coalition building and working with intersectional and inclusive teams that prioritize historically marginalized communities.

Darcy holds a bachelor’s degree from Mills College in studio art and visual communication and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Sacramento with her wife Jasper and too many cats.

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Renee Washington, Founder CEO of Resilience Wins Executive Coaching & Consulting LLC

Renee Washington is the Founder CEO of Resilience Wins Executive Coaching & Consulting LLC. She helps executives and media professionals at all levels tackle career, leadership, and life challenges she once faced like Imposter Syndrome, a lack of self-confidence, communication struggles, and change management.

With 25 years in the media industry, including senior roles at NBCUniversal and Disney (ABC) television stations, Renee has a strong track record of turning challenges into opportunities. She led large teams in creating and distributing news content across platforms—linear, streaming, digital, and podcasts—during both tragedy and triumph, locally, nationally, and globally.

In Renee’s previous role as Vice President of News at NBC4 Los Angeles, she collaborated with an executive coach. Experiencing the life-changing impact of coaching firsthand is why she chose to become a professional coach.

As an ICF-certified executive coach, Renee combines real-life insights from her professional journey and specialized coaching strategies to help her clients thrive, whether they’re looking to advance in their career or enhance their leadership skills.

Her clients come from diverse industries, including organizations like NBCUniversal, CNN, TEGNA, Nexstar, SoundCloud, the Philadelphia 76ers, and Ohio State University. Renee is passionate about helping professionals from all backgrounds and experience levels achieve their goals.

Renee holds a Bachelor’s in Telecommunications from Ball State University in her home state of Indiana and is based in Los Angeles.

Conference Program Team

About the Program Team

Dr. Lisa DeFrank-Cole is Director and F. Duke Perry Professor in Leadership Studies at West Virginia University.

Dr. Sherylle Tan is Director of Internship and KLI Research at Claremont McKenna College.

Dr. Merike Kolga is Manager of Organizational Learning & Development at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Dr. Natasha T. Turman is the Director for the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program, at the University of Michigan.

Stream Co-Chairs

Transformative Thinking on Women and Leadership — Joanne Barnes, Ed.D.

Elevate Leadership Development and Education — Sakina T.S. Dixon & Martinella Dryburgh, Ph.D.

Elevate Girls and Young Women — Rebecca Burns & Marilyn Pierce

Elevate Women in Leadership — Lori Peters, Ed.D. & Joanna Sztandur, Ed.D.

Systems of Change — Chrys Egan, Ph.D. & Christine Haskell, Ph.D.

Activities Team

Yolanda Caldwell & Dorine Lawrence-Hughes, Ed.D.

7th Women and Leadership Conference

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