Women Impact Virginia connects professional women across the commonwealth and gives them the resources they need to succeed.
“Sometimes the difference between a success and a failure is simply asking someone for help,” said Dr. Winifred Bragg, the opening keynote speaker at Women Impact Virginia Summit on Oct. 4 at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center.
Bragg, an author, physician, and motivational speaker, said gratitude is essential to a healthier, happier, and more successful life. She said we can even be grateful for our failures. “Failures help us to understand our strengths and what we are capable of. They give us feedback so we know what we need to do to move forward. And failures also help us to understand when we need to ask for help.”
Women Impact Virginia connects professional women across the commonwealth and gives them the resources they need to succeed. “It is an amazing opportunity to provide women the space to connect, learn from one another, and build a community of supportive leaders sharing their struggles and successes as inspiration for others,” said Sarah Wray of Virginia Tech’s Reynolds Homestead, which is part of Virginia Tech’s division of Outreach and International Affairs.
This year’s event is expected to draw over 100 participants from a wide variety of backgrounds and fields to hear from leaders promoting the empowerment of women and actively impacting their communities. Registration is required.
Inspired by this year’s theme – “Amplifying Voices: Her Story, Our Story” – a series of breakout sessions will highlight work that helps elevate the voices of disadvantaged communities. Other sessions will discuss the importance of supporting and celebrating female leadership throughout Virginia.
Jennifer Huffman, vice president and solutions banking relationship manager at Atlantic Union Bank and member of the HumanKind board of directors, said, “I want to show that with hard work and determination, anything is possible!”
Andrea Lynn White, executive vice president and chief of staff at Genworth, will close the summit with her tips on leveraging talents and skills to give back to the community. With unique perspectives from their work with refugees, rural education, the military, LBGTQ+ rights, and social justice, other breakout session speakers will include:
- Latoya Asia, vice president of employee engagement and talent strategy at Dominion Energy.
- Amy Azano, director of the Center for Rural Education and a professor in the School of Education at Virginia Tech.
- Ashleigh “Bing” Bingham, director of the LGBTQ+ Resource Center at Virginia Tech.
- Shiree Carr, vice president of LeisureMedia360.
- Bethany Lackey, executive director of the Roanoke Refugee Partnership.
- Katy Powell, director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies.
In addition to finding inspiration from the full day of speakers, professional portraits by photographer Regina Lograsso will be offered free to summit participants. In addition, a preconference networking event will also be held from 5-7 p.m. Oct. 3 at Twisted Track Brewpub with food, fun, and special giveaways from local businesses.
To register, learn more about the speakers, or view the summit schedule, go to cpe.vt.edu/impact.
