A full-day summit for inspiring, building and celebrating women leaders. Open to all aspiring and established leaders who want to make their mark.
Just announced! The 2024 Breakout Sessions
New year, new summit
We’re excited to share some enhancements to the Women’s Leadership Summit this year! The first thing you’ll notice… we’re moving! Join us at our new location at the Expo Square Pavilion where we’ll be exploring what it means to be In the Arena: Bold Times. Bold Leadership.
What’s the same? High-quality content, diverse speakers and meaningful connections.
What’s new? We are thrilled to add interactive breakout sessions plus a small-group mentorship session where participants will share valuable insight together with experienced leaders from a variety of sectors. More details on these things soon!
Keynote: We are delighted to present Joy Harjo as our Keynote Speaker for the 2024 Women’s Leadership Summit. Joy is a trailblazer whose words resonate with power, wisdom, and resilience.
May 7, 2024
Expo Square Pavilion
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Registration fee includes light breakfast, lunch, snacks and parking.
This event is SOLD OUT!
Email kendall@leadershiptulsa.org to join the waiting list.
Keynote Speaker
Joy Harjo
In 2019, Joy Harjo was appointed the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold the position and only the second person to serve three terms in the role. Harjo’s ten books of poetry include Weaving Sundown in a Scarlett Light, An American Sunrise, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings, How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, and She Had Some Horses. She is also the author of two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, which invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her “poet-warrior” road. She has edited several anthologies of Native American writing including When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through — A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, and Living Nations, Living Words, the companion anthology to her signature poet laureate project. Her many writing awards include the 2022 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2019 Jackson Prize from Poets & Writers, the Ruth Lilly Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the 2015 Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets, and the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America. She is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Board of Directors Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is artist-in-residence for the Bob Dylan Center. A renowned musician, Harjo performs with her saxophone nationally and internationally; her most recent album is I Pray For My Enemies. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Breakout Session Facilitators
Rena Cook
Rena Cook is a TEDx speaker, author, coach and a Professor Emerita. She specializes in entertaining, interactive and informative presentations on the theme of Empowering the Voice. Through her consultancy Vocal Authority she works with professionals who want to speak and present in more compelling and authentic ways. She is the author of four books on voice, including Empower your Voice: For Women in Business, Politics and Life; and Her Voice in Law. She has an MA in Voice from London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; an MFA in Directing. She provides a practical and tangible process for making lasting changes in communication style to tame performance anxiety, increase vocal power, build presence, gravitas and authentic authority. She is currently teaching at Oklahoma City University, OU and the University of Houston. Her guilty pleasure is voicing video games and animation.
Hannah Jarman
Hannah Jarman is a Program Director with Tulsa Changemakers. She moved from the south suburbs of Chicago to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2017 with Teach for America to teach 6th and 7th grade social studies. After teaching both middle school and 4th grade over the course of five years, Hannah transitioned to her dream job at Tulsa Changemakers. She loves seeing the intersection between civic advocacy and youth voice, choice, and power. In her free time, she loves to read fantasy and science fictions books and go to her favorite boxing gym.
Janey Nemard
Janey serves as the Development Director at KIPP Tulsa. Originally from New York City, Janey received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Janey joined Teach for America as a 5th and 6th grade general educator in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2017. After concluding her time with TFA, Janey worked as an instructional mentor with Tulsa Public Schools, managing and advising novice teachers entering a new career. In addition to her professional experiences, Janey has worked as an entrepreneur, in Corporate America, and the nonprofit sector. Over the years Janey has found success by leveraging her innate ability to foster deep relationships. In her free time, Janey enjoys listening to podcasts and creating new memories through international and domestic travel.
Carlisha Williams Bradley
Carlisha Williams Bradley is an award-winning executive leader, high-performance women’s leadership coach, author, and educator. A passionate advocate for the advancement of women and girls globally, she founded Women Empowering Nations and Amplify for Women which has created leadership and career opportunities for over 9,000 women in 23 countries. Additionally, she served on the Oklahoma State Board of Education from 2019-2023 impacting over 700,000 students as a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the public education system. Carlisha received a BBA in Entrepreneurship and Venture Management and a BA in African and African-American Studies from the University of Oklahoma and earned an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Carlisha and her husband reside in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma raising their three children. Learn more at www.carlisha.com.