The Wilson Chamber of Commerce will host its Women’s Leadership Conference on Tuesday, October 18 from 8:30am until 12:00pm at the Frank L. Eagles Community Business Center on the campus of Wilson Community College.  The inaugural conference is an evolution of the Women’s Leadership Breakfast, held in 2021 as a program of the Women of Wilson professional networking group that is a program of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce.
 
Registration begins at 8:30am with a light breakfast served.  After opening remarks, Denise Stinagle, Wilson County Manager, will serve as the first keynote speaker of the conference.  Attendees will then have the opportunity to participate in two breakout sessions.  Carletha Ward, owner of Legacy Life Coaching & Consulting, will lead “Channel Your Inner CEO”, to inspire women to compete for advancement opportunities in their professional lives.  Heather Mercer with Truist will lead “Growing Your Small Business”, an examination of strategies and best practices for entrepreneurial women to adopt in order to successfully grow their businesses in our market.  All participants will be able to attend both breakout sessions.
 
Following the breakout sessions, the event will conclude with a second keynote speaker, Heather Dennis, Executive Director of Dress for Success Triangle.
 
“This first Women’s Leadership Conference in Wilson is a long overdue way for us to recognize and cultivate the women business leaders we have in our community”, says Ryan Simons, President of the Wilson Chamber of Commerce.  “There have been countless women business leaders who have contributed to the success of our market and Chamber.  Not only will this conference acknowledge those contributions, it will also hopefully be the springboard that inspires more women to take on a leadership role in our community”.
 
In addition to the keynote and breakout portions of the conference, the Chamber is inviting women-focused businesses and services to be vendors at the event.  Vendors will be positioned around the perimeter of the main conference room, with time dedicated for attendees to visit with vendors.  The cost for a business to serve as a vendor is $150, which includes an assigned table, and admission to the conference.  Vendor opportunities are very limited, and are expected to sell out.  Presenting sponsorships and breakfast sponsorships are also available to businesses who wish to support this program.
 
According to Simons, the Women’s Leadership Conference is intended to appeal to an important segment of the Wilson business community.  “Women business leaders comprise over half of our membership, and a good majority of those who actively participate in Chamber programming.  When we launched our Women of Wilson group a few years ago, I think many shared the vision that someday we would have a big event that specifically addressed the unique needs of women business leaders.  This is one step towards achieving that, although I’ll concede that there is quite a bit we can do to grow from here.  While there is much to be excited about with this year’s event, I’m especially anxious to hear from our two keynotes.  Ms. Stinagle has obviously served county government exceptionally well at the highest level, and as she approaches her announced retirement date, I know she will have a lot of wisdom to share.  Additionally, to have Dress for Success grow out of the Triangle to Wilson is very ambitious, and I know that Ms. Dennis will have a great deal of information to share about this new program for our community.” 

Click HERE to register for our inaugural Women's Leadership Conference.