summit for women
Leadership News Briefs

Speakers for Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit

Fortune announced several of the confirmed speakers for its 2024 Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, October 14-16, as well as an industry-spanning slate of ambassadors to inspire and engage the community of female business leaders.

The list of speakers includes Mary Barra, CEO General Motors, who has led the auto company for a decade through major transformations; Dr. Fei-Fei Li, the “godmother” of artificial intelligence; and media veteran Campbell Brown, Senior Advisor, Tollbit, who has entered the AI startup space.

Other speakers include Rachel Romer, who built a $4.4 billion education unicorn, Guild, by the time she was 34 and then suffered a stroke. She will be joined by her successor, CEO Bijal Shah, for their first public interview together. The MPW Summit will also include Christy Turlington, Founder, Every Mother Counts, who will speak with Reshma Saujani, Founder, Moms First and Girls Who Code.

MPW Speakers

At the 2024 MPW Summit in October, Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell will join Summit co-chairs: MPW and Brainstorm Managing Director Maryam Banikarim; Editorial Director Michal Lev-Ram; Deputy Editorial Director Ellie Austin; Senior Writer Emma Hinchliffe; Leadership Editor Claire Zillman; and guest co-chair Mallun Yen, founder and CEO of Operator Collective. They will dive into pressing issues and explore this year’s theme, “A New Era of Leadership.”

“Fortune MPW is a community with a long history of bringing leaders together to debate the issues of the day and come up with real-world solutions,” explained Banikarim, the recently appointed Managing Director of Fortune’s MPW and Brainstorm franchises. “Now more than ever, women are redefining power. MPW has a unique opportunity to collaborate with business leaders to make the world better.”  

“Gathering our high-powered community for candid and thoughtful conversations on pressing issues is especially critical at this time when leaders are faced with so many new challenges,” added Lev-Ram.

In addition to a timely lineup, Fortune is thrilled to launch its inaugural MPW Ambassador program at this year’s Summit. Twenty of the community’s most impassioned members will help shape MPW’s path forward by giving feedback, serving as hosts and fostering community.

Meet the MPW Ambassadors

  • Floss Aggrey, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Randstad
  • Julia Alexander, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, ExecOnline
  • Mitra Best, Partner and Technology Impact Leader, PwC
  • Shideh Sedgh Bina, Founding Partner, Insigniam
  • Vanessa Broadhurst, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs, Johnson & Johnson
  • Kat Cole, Chief Executive Officer, AG1
  • Jotaka Eaddy, Founder and CEO, Full Circle Strategies, LLC
  • Jennifer Fonstad, Founder and Managing Partner, Owl Capital
  • Leigh Gallagher, Senior Managing Director, Teneo
  • Bonnie W. Gwin, Vice Chair, New York, Heidrick & Struggles
  • Marie Hattar, Chief Marketing Officer, Keysight Technologies
  • Seema Hingorani, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Investment Management
  • Michal Katz, Head of Investment and Corporate Banking, Mizuho Americas
  • Christina Kosmowski, Chief Executive Officer, LogicMonitor
  • Dr. Victoria Husted Medvec, Adeline Barry Davee Professor of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Chief Executive Officer, Medvec & Associates
  • Ellen Patterson, President and GM, EVERFI from Blackbaud
  • Jana Rich, Founder and Executive Chair, Rich Talent Group
  • Irana Wasti, Chief Product Officer, Bill.com
  • Michelle Weese, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Novartis
  • Andrea Wishom, President, Skywalker Holdings, LLC

A summit for women

The 2024 Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit is presented in collaboration with Premier Partners Deloitte, Fidelity, Heidrick & Struggles, Insigniam, Instacart, Philip Morris International, Salesforce, Thrivent, TPG and Workday, with Partners AARP, Braze, Guild and Johnson & Johnson and with Transportation Partner Uber.

Fortune Most Powerful Women began as a list in 1998. The annual summit convenes top women in business along with select leaders in government, philanthropy, education and the arts. The networking and wide-ranging conversations will inspire and deliver practical advice. For more information, visit the Fortune Most Powerful Women 2024 hub and follow Fortune MPW on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About Fortune

Fortune is a global multi-platform media company built on a legacy of trusted, award-winning reporting and information for those who want to make business better. Independently owned, Fortune tells the stories of the world’s biggest companies and their leaders as well as a new generation of innovators who are moving business forward. Digitally and in print, Fortune measures corporate performance through rigorous benchmarks, and holds companies accountable, in regions around the world. Its iconic rankings include Fortune 500,  Fortune Global 500, Most Powerful Women and World’s Most Admired Companies. Fortune builds world-class communities by convening industry thought leaders for exclusive summits and conferences. These include the Fortune Global Forum and Brainstorm Tech. For more information, visit fortune.com.

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