Women's Leadership Conference 2025

This year's theme aims to empower women to take the big fearless leaps in their careers and lives. Join Yale SOM's annual flagship conference!

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The Yale Women’s Leadership Conference, established in 2016 and proudly sponsored by the Women in Management (WIM) Club at Yale School of Management, serves as a dynamic platform to empower, inspire, and connect women across industries. Through thought-provoking panels, interactive discussions, and invaluable networking opportunities, the conference fosters leadership, career advancement, and personal growth. This year’s theme, "She Was Bold," encourages women to take courageous, transformative steps in their professional and personal lives.

Entirely student-run, the conference is organized by a dedicated team of Yale SOM students committed to advancing women in leadership. WIM plays a vital role in this mission, providing mentorship, professional development, and community-building initiatives that create an inclusive space for women to thrive. With the generous support of our sponsors, we are proud to offer an enriching and impactful experience. Join us for a day of learning, inspiration, and empowerment!



Sponsors

The Yale Women’s Leadership Conference is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors. Their commitment to advancing women in leadership allows us to create an event that empowers, and connects leaders across industries.
Interested in Becoming a Sponsor? Please contact megan.grossman@yale.edu for more information.

Opening Keynote: María Teresa Arnal

Join us for an inspiring fireside chat with María Teresa Arnal, trailblazing leader in tech and digital sectors across Latin America. As the former CEO of Google Mexico and leader at Twitter, Stripe and Millicom, she has navigated the complexities of leadership, innovation and industry transformation.

Daring to Lead: The Power of Boldness

Bold leadership requires courage, resilience, and a willingness to embrace uncertainty. In this panel, accomplished leaders from diverse industries will share their experiences of taking bold risks, challenging norms, and leading with confidence.

The Risk Equation: Navigating Uncertainty with Confidence

Taking risks is an essential part of leadership, but how do you balance bold decision-making with strategic thinking? This panel will explore how successful women leaders have learned to navigate uncertainty, take calculated risks, and turn challenges into opportunities.

Fireside Chats at YWLC 2025

This year, the Yale Women’s Leadership Conference will feature a series of intimate fireside chats, offering guests the opportunity to engage directly with speakers in a conversational setting. These sessions will provide candid insights, personal stories, and interactive discussions on leadership, innovation, and impact.

Speakers

María Teresa Arnal

María Teresa Arnal is a seasoned senior executive with nearly 30 years of national and international experience in innovation and technology leadership. She is highly regarded for her expertise in general management, digital transformation, strategy, marketing, technology, digital platforms, entrepreneurship, e-commerce, and fintech. María Teresa has played a pivotal role at leading global tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Stripe.

Joanne Lipman

Joanne Lipman has served as Editor-in-Chief of USA Today, USA Today Network, Conde Nast Portfolio, and The Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Journal, leading them to six Pulitzer Prizes. She is the bestselling author of books including NEXT! The Power of Reinvention in Life and Work and the No. 1 bestseller THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID: What Men and Women Need to Know About Working Together. She is a Yale University journalism lecturer on the Media and Democracy, and an on-air CNBC contributor.

Terri-Nichelle Bradley

Terri-Nichelle Bradley is the Founder and CEO at Brown Toy Box. Bradley believes that Black children should see themselves positively represented in every space the experience regularly, starting with their toybox and the toy aisle. Bradley, an equity in play advocate, is on a mission to disrupt the $27B toy industry by creating a brand that reflects the world we live in today. Bradley serves as the Atlanta chapter chair of Women in Toys, she sits of the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta as well as the K12 InVenture Prize Advisory Council.

Anika Chabra

Anika Chabra co-founded Root & Seed with Jennifer Siripong Mandel, a dynamic startup revolutionizing the culture and preservation landscape. Following two decades in advertising, Anika's personal journey marked by loss, served as the catalyst for Root & Seed's mission. Through their podcast, physical and digital products, workplace and community workshops and various speaking engagements, she helps people and workplaces to honour individual and collective narratives and empower others to know and share their stories fostering connection and understanding.

Tyonne Hinson

Tyonne Hinson, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for Baystate Health, provides leadership to and has accountability for ensuring Baystate Health’s diversity, equity, and inclusion’s (DEI) and social justice impact is unifying and integrative by growing a more diverse and inclusive workforce, reducing health disparities, and improving family prosperity in marginalized communities.

Julie Vargas

Julie Vargas is the Vice President and General Manager of Identification Solutions at Avery Dennison Corporation. In this role, she leads the global strategy and operations for the Identification Solutions Division, driving innovative partnerships and solutions that connect the physical and digital worlds across the Food, Retail, and Logistics industries. Julie oversees the full P&L and all core business functions, including operations, marketing, finance, human resources, communications, legal, and information technology.

Briana Hildt

Briana Hildt serves as the Founder and CEO of Cardinal Capital Group, a prominent female-owned private lending firm operating on a national scale. With a strong background in real estate lending, she has facilitated over $1 Billion in business purpose loans. Under her guidance, CCG has emerged as the top private lender in Massachusetts, Briana's native state. Her pioneering approach and unwavering commitment to excellence have positioned her as a formidable leader in the industry. She emphasizes the core values of Adaptability, Devotion, and Integrity in steering the company towards success.

Amena Ali

Amena Ali has an exceptional track record with over 25 years of experience spearheading technology companies, delivering value for customers through innovative, impactful and high growth SaaS businesses. She is CEO of Optoro, the leading software Returns Management System that is addressing the $890 billion in goods that are returned annually. The company’s software platform makes retail returns simple and efficient, reducing waste and enabling circularity. Customers include enterprise retailers such as Gap and Best Buy.

Helen Lo

Helen Lo’s journey is a testament to resilience, adaptability, and innovation. Born in southern China, she fled civil war with her family before immigrating to the United States. Overcoming financial hardships, she earned a Ph.D. from Brandeis University and dedicated her career to social justice, community health, and higher education. She held leadership positions as Director of the Frances Nelson Community Health Center and Director of Institutional Research at Parkland College, later applying her expertise as a management consultant for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of the world’s leading semiconductor firms.

Anne Oliver

Anne Nguyen Oliver is the Founder and CEO of House of M Beauty, the first Vietnamese-owned skincare brand sold at Nordstrom (and 6 times SOLD OUT since launched!). House of M Beauty’s love story with Saffron can ultimately be traced back to our founder, Anne Oliver’s, personal journey of illumination.

Sara Queen

Sara Queen is a Managing Director and Head of Equity Strategies for MetLife Investment Management’s (MIM) Real Estate group. She is responsible for leading MIM’s direct property investment platform and investing on behalf of the MetLife general account and third-party institutional investors.

Angela Vargo

Angela Vargo serves as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Breeze Airways. Angela has more than two decades of experience in aviation starting in 2002 with Southwest Airlines where she held several positions across communications, marketing, and product development, including spearheading the development of the industry’s first satellite-based WiFi platform and introducing “TV Flies Free”, giving customers access to live streaming sports, news and other television content from their personal devices.

Know Before You Go

  • Location

    Yale School of Management, Evans Hall
    165 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT 06511
    Enter through front of the building (see picture)

  • Parking Options

    Parking will be at attendee's expense, but the following are recommended:
    Grove Street Garage | Audubon Court Garage

  • Public Transit Options

    From NYC: Metro-North Railroad (New Haven Line)
    From Boston: Amtrak (Northeast Regional or Acela Express)
    From Hartford: CTrail Hartford Line, Amtrak, CTransit Bus (950 Express)

  • Air Travel

    Closest airports:
    Tweed Airport (New Haven)
    Bradley International Airport (Hartford/Springfield)
    JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark (NYC Area)

  • Official Lodging

    Located in the heart of downtown New Haven, Graduate New Haven offers a unique blend of collegiate charm and modern comfort, making it the perfect home base for conference attendees. The hotel, housed in a beautifully restored historic building, is designed to reflect Yale’s rich history and vibrant culture, with thoughtfully curated décor and cozy, scholarly touches throughout.
    Reserve a room with the YWLC's discount!

Highlights from the 2024 Conference

Meet the Leadership Team

Megan Grossman

2Y MBA | Conference Co-Lead | LinkedIn

Varthika Tunoori

2Y MBA | Conference Co-Lead | LinkedIn

Shreya Arora

2Y MBA | Lead Marketing Designer | LinkedIn

Aditi Jain

1Y MBA | Programming Committee | LinkedIn

Annika Hsu

1Y MBA | Programming Committee | LinkedIn

Catherine Dai

1Y MBA | Operations Committee | LinkedIn

Isabella Refkalefsky

1Y MBA | Operations Committee | LinkedIn

Jennifer Suh

1Y MBA | Marketing/Finance Committee | LinkedIn

Monica Mehra

1Y MBA | Programming Committee | LinkedIn

Priya Palaniappan

1Y MPH | Marketing/Finance Committee | LinkedIn

Sanjana Nayak

1Y MBA | Operations Committee | LinkedIn

Sharon Gao

1Y MBA | Marketing/Finance Committee | LinkedIn