2026 Women’s Leadership Forum Signature Program

Event Location:

MGM National Harbor
101 MGM National Ave
Oxon Hill, MD 20745

Times subject to change

IAEE Women’s Leadership Forum Agenda

*All event functions will take place in the Grand Ballroom and Pre-function Space.

*Breakout session locations are listed within the program agenda.

*Additional CE Hours if attending Day 1 (Pre-event Sessions) | Earn 4.75 CE Hours for Day 2

Monday, 27 April

1:00 PM – 6:00 PM

WLF Registration

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM

Breakout Session (Optional Pre-Event Breakout Session 1)

Safety and Security for Women: Tactical Tools to Protect and Empower

Dr Jennifer Hesterman, Vice President, Business Resiliency, Watermark Risk Management International

(Limited Seating – First Come First Serve on site)

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM

Breakout Session (Optional Pre-Event Breakout Session 2)

The Power of What’s Next: Navigating Your Career Trajectory – A Vision Lab Experience

Necoya Tyson, CEM-AP, CGMP, CCEP, Owner and CEO, Lightsey Event Solutions and Sherron Washington, M.A., CEO, The P3 Solution

(Limited Seating – First Come First Serve on site)

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM

Business Connect Speed Meet Up

3:15 PM – 5:00 PM

Connect & Chat Table Talk Insights

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Reception | Social Giving Project

Tuesday, 28 April

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Headshot Photos
Brought to You by

8:30 AM – 9:15 AM

WLF Breakfast
Brought to You by

9:15 AM – 9:35 AM

IAEE Welcome

9:35 AM – 10:20 AM

Quick Leadership: 6 Shifts to Build Trust, Share Power, and Inspire Ownership

Selena Rezvani

10:20 AM – 10:40 AM

Afterthought Insights

10:40AM – 11:00 AM

Networking Break | Headshot Photos by Oscar & Associates
Morning Break
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Experience Grand Rapids

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Surrender to Lead: The Counterintuitive Approach to Driving Extraordinary Results

Jessica Kriegel

12:00 PM – 12:15 PM

Mid-Day Wrap Up

12:15 PM – 1:30 PM

Networking Luncheon

1:30 PM – 1:40 PM

Mix and Pix Power Break

 

1:40 PM – 2:45 PM

Strategic Leadership in Exhibitions & Tradeshows: Women Driving Industry Transformation (Panel Discussion)

Kara Dao, CEM Fellow, DES, Chief Operating Officer, JDC Events LLC

2:45 PM – 3:15 PM

Afternoon Networking Break
Brought to You by

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM

Humanity Back to Work: The Value of Human Connection in an AI World

Mallory Brown

4:15 PM – 4:30 PM

Wrap Up

2026 Women’s Leadership Forum Program Content

Click Session Titles to See Detailed Descriptions

Pre-Event Optional Breakout Sessions

Feeling safe is the foundation for confidence and success — both personally and professionally. This session offers practical, hands-on strategies and tools designed specifically to help women protect themselves in a variety of everyday situations, from business travel to daily life.

Led by security expert, Dr. Jennifer Hesterman, you’ll learn how to recognize and mitigate risks, apply simple yet effective personal security techniques, and leverage technology to stay alert and prepared. Whether navigating airports, hotels, client meetings, or your own neighborhood, these empowering strategies will give you the confidence to move through any environment with greater peace of mind.

Discover action tips that you can begin using immediately to enhance your safety wherever you go—because feeling secure is essential to living fully and boldly.

  • Identify and Assess – Discover common safety risks that women face in everyday settings, including business travel and personal environments.
  • Apply Practical Security Techniques and Strategies – Proactively protect oneself in diverse situations.
  • Utilize Technology and Tools for Safety and Security – Gain tools and resources to enhance situational awareness and maintain safety while on the move.

Presenter: Dr Jennifer Hesterman, Vice President, Business Resiliency, Watermark Risk Management International

Careers do not simply progress — they evolve, pivot, and require recalibration over time. For women in the mid-career to retirement phase, the question is no longer just what’s next, but what do I want this next chapter to represent?

This Vision Lab is a guided, highly interactive session designed to help participants step back from day-to-day demands and think more intentionally about their professional direction. Through structured reflection, peer dialogue, and forward-focused exercises, attendees will explore how their priorities, ambitions, and definitions of success are shifting and how to align their decisions accordingly.

Whether you are accelerating, repositioning, preparing for retirement, or redefining your professional identity, this session transforms uncertainty into intentional movement.

  • Evaluate their current career position and evolving priorities
  • Identify drivers, constraints, opportunities, and risks influencing their trajectory
  • Define practical moves that create forward momentum
  • Map the impact and contribution they want their next chapter to represent.

Presenters: Necoya Tyson, CEM-AP, CGMP, CCEP, Owner and CEO, Lightsey Event Solutions and Sherron Washington, M.A., CEO, The P3 Solution

Main Event Program Content

What does it take to lead a team that truly runs on trust—not fear? In today’s fast-moving workplaces, top leaders know how to cultivate psychological safety, share power instead of hoarding it, and inspire a deep sense of ownership in others. This session, based on Selena Rezvani’s acclaimed book Quick Leadership: Build Trust, Navigate Change, and Cultivate Unstoppable Teams (Wiley), offers actionable tools to lead with clarity, flexibility, and purpose. Attendees will learn how to strengthen team cohesion, respond to failure with growth in mind, and create conditions where people speak up, lean in, and thrive. Whether you’re an ambitious professional or a seasoned manager, you’ll leave equipped with practical strategies to foster a culture that’s bold, inclusive, and built to last.

  • Learn to Build Psychological Safety Through Everyday Actions – Discover practical ways to create trust-filled environments where people feel safe to contribute ideas, take risks, and admit missteps, without fear of judgment or backlash.
  • Practice Sharing Power to Unlock Team Potential – Gain strategies to delegate authority, invite input, and make team members feel genuinely invested in outcomes, turning compliance into true ownership.
  • Apply Growth-Minded Leadership Tools to Boost Team Confidence – Walk away with specific language and techniques to respond to failure constructively, reframe challenges, and sustain motivation during change, so teams stay agile, engaged, and resilient.

Presenter: Selena Rezvani, President, NextGenWomen, LLC

The old leadership model of controlling more, pushing harder and knowing all the answers has reached its limits. In a world shaped by volatility, AI disruption, and cultural fragmentation, the leaders who thrive aren’t the ones gripping tighter. They’re the ones who surrender – not in weakness, but in wisdom.

Based on Dr. Jessica Kriegel’s groundbreaking book Surrender to Lead, this keynote introduces a transformative, counter-intuitive leadership framework for unlocking adaptability, clarity, and resilience. Through powerful storytelling, research-backed insights, and a practical roadmap for application, Jessica shows how surrender is not giving up – it’s giving way to better leadership.

Participants learn how to stop fighting reality, break out of fear-based decision loops, shift their mindset from control to clarity, and take aligned action that propels teams forward.

  • Discover Surrender – Explore how and why Surrender is the most underestimated leadership skill of the next decade.
  • Implement The SHIFT™ Framework – Learn the five-step method for leading with clarity, alignment, and accountability.
  • Experience a New Model for leadership –  Gain insights in a model of leadership effectiveness that aligns purpose, strategy and culture to unlock accountability across all levels of teams.

Presenter: Jessica Kriegel, Chief Strategy Officer, Culture Partners

In today’s rapidly evolving exhibitions and tradeshow landscape, strategic leadership is paramount to navigate disruption, foster innovation, and secure sustainable growth. This exclusive panel brings together senior women executives and thought leaders who have not only achieved remarkable success but are actively shaping the future of the industry through visionary leadership and strategic foresight.

Hear firsthand how these influential leaders have overcome complex challenges, leveraged change as opportunity, and positioned their organizations—and the industry at large—for long-term impact. Gain critical insights on emerging trends, diversity-driven innovation, and how women’s leadership is redefining the strategic priorities necessary to lead the exhibitions and tradeshow sector into its next era.

Moderator: Kara Dao, CEM Fellow, DES, Chief Operating Officer, JDC Events LLC

In today’s rapidly evolving world, where AI and automation are transforming the workplace, the most powerful advantage we have isn’t technology—it’s our humanity. While AI can streamline processes, it cannot replicate the trust, creativity, and emotional intelligence that drive real impact. Authentic human connection remains the key to meaningful success, innovation, and fulfillment.

In this engaging and transformative keynote, humanitarian filmmaker and human connection expert Mallory Brown takes audiences on a journey across 60+ countries to reveal the universal power of empathy. Her fresh perspective builds a workplace culture of trust, openness, and meaningful communication. Through captivating stories and actionable strategies, Mallory demonstrates how to cultivate stronger relationships, lead with empathy, and create lasting impact—both personally and professionally.

  • Break Down Barriers – Foster collaboration and innovation by focusing on our shared humanity
  • See the People, Not the Problem – Shift from problem-centered to people-first solutions that address the human experience
  • Take Small Steps for Big Change – Discover how small, consistent actions can lead to big transformations

Presenter: Mallory Brown, Human Connection Expert, Mallory Speaks