Women’s Leadership Summit

Connect with the industry’s largest network of women in Chicago October 8-10, 2024!

You’ll meet, network with, and learn from an extraordinary lineup of renowned speakers, trailblazing leaders, and industry experts who will share pathbreaking ideas to tackle challenges and lead change.

Get ready for three days of high-impact programming, networking, education, community, and inspiration designed to change the workplace experience and help create gender equity for women in AEC. Event highlights include:

• An unrivaled keynote lineup including Kimberlé Crenshaw, Sumayya Vally, Natasha Engan, Gia Biagi, Ciere Boatright, RaMona Westbrook, AIA, Danielle Tillman, AIA, NOMA, Jen Johnson, Kimberly Dowdell, AIA, NOMAC, & Evelyn Lee, FAIA, NOMA
• Executive workshops with Karen Robichaud & Amanda Garner 
• Mindfulness activities with Dr. Akua K. Boateng
• Open Houses with Studio Gang & Chicago Architecture Center
• Lunches at leading Chicago firms—including Perkins+Will, CannonDesign, & Epstein

This event sells out every year—register today to secure your spot! AIA members save hundreds on registration with special rates.

Join the WLS movement

Women are one of the most influential segments in the AEC industry, yet when looking at leadership roles in these industries we still ask: Where are they?  

AIA created Women’s Leadership Summit to deliver essential leadership training designed to help women unlock their full potential, make a lasting impact on their careers, and lead change in architecture and the allied professions.  

What happens at WLS is unique.  

• It connects you with a diverse community that wants to support you and help you achieve your goals.  
• It shares pathbreaking ideas that challenge traditional thinking and lead change.  
• It celebrates women leaders at every career stage, empowering all of us to change the future.  

It’s all powered by the AIA community, the largest, most influential network of architecture professionals and allies designing a better world.

Sponsor WLS 2024

Our profession is changing, and it’s about time. Signal your support for women in AEC and turn barriers into opportunities by sponsoring WLS. Up to five sponsorship tiers are available, plus custom options. 

Email us to get started.  
 

Firm Prospectus                                                               Corporate Prospectus

2024 Theme: Building Resilience

What does relevant leadership look like in 2024? 

Questions like this can be hard to ask and even harder to answer authentically when there’s so much instability in our workplaces and the world around us. In an environment like this, it’s hard not to be chronically stressed or feel safe. 

That’s why we’re designing this year’s Women’s Leadership Summit around the theme of building resilience—the ability to adapt to an ever-changing landscape, recover from setbacks, and persevere through difficult times.  

This theme asks: How do we protect the health, safety, and welfare of our society when we’re struggling individually? Where does our power reside? Are we challenging ourselves to find our own blind spots and biases in an all-female room? How do we create equity using our personal social capital? Is the concept of safe space a myth? How does the lens of intersectionality help us uncover the skills needed for impactful change?  

Women’s Leadership Summit has always been a conference that pushes boundaries, challenges traditional thinking, and explores new ways of thinking and doing to create change. Join us and lean in.

Questions? Please reach out for inquiries and questions.