Last Friday IPWS hosted the annual IPWS Leadership Summit at the spectacular Bellagio Shanghai Hotel. It was certainly an event to be remembered, as we followed each speaker on a journey, woven together by our passionate MC, Em Roblin. Each year IPWS aims to equip professional women in the community with the tools for success, and each year during the Summit we explore a theme that ultimately guides us along a Roadmap to Success. Last year the Summit focused on power, and many of the talks focused on actionable insights and quantifiable steps to implement in your professional role. This year, it’s been several days and yet we’re still unpacking the deep range of emotion each speaker encouraged us to explore. It was quite clear by the end of the day that confidence is not something that you reach, or attain, but it is a constant journey within ourselves.
Current IPWS President, Amanda Argentieri kicked off the afternoon by welcoming everyone and congratulating IPWS on 25 years of connecting professional women in Shanghai. IPWS remains a non-profit organization, and through the years has helped to foster the growth of professional women in the community by providing a platform to connect, grow, inspire and lead. The annual Summit has become a pillar in the program of events IPWS brings to the community each year.
The first speaker, former Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Dassault Systèmes’, Monica Menghini brought with her fiery attitude and a story to match it. For Monica, her life has been about “do, or die” and she’s thrown herself headfirst into every opportunity without looking back.
After Monica’s moving talk, we welcomed to the stage Weng WenLe, Vice Chairperson of the Shanghai Women’s Federation to present the Business Leader of the Year Award. During the Summit is when we announce the winners of the Women Leadership Awards, who were selected by an independent jury of six. Business Leader of the Year went to Heather Smith, General Manager of Shanghai Market, Shanghai United Family Healthcare.
We then heard from Yvonne Wang, President at Hearst China, who stressed that you do not need to be perfect, leading with confidence means you are able to reach out to your team and ask for their help. You won’t be perfect at everything, but you can equip yourself with the right team, which allows you to focus on your strengths.
Roseann Lake, Author of Leftover in China: The Women Shaping the World’s Next Superpower, filled up the stage with her larger-than-life smile, and left us all with a powerful image of a cut open orange. She quoted, “the world is an orange, and it only takes a tiny slice to change it.”
After Roseann and Yvonne, two more Women Leadership Awards were announced, Elizabeth Schieffelin, Founder & CEO of Lizzy’s All Natural was named Entrepreneur of the Year, and Monte Rosen, Founder & Managing Director, ELG (Engage-Learn-Grow) was named HeforShe Man of the Year.
After the awards Elva Yao and Lilian Shen of Zmack, Improvisational Theater Group, took the stage and led everyone out into the atrium where practiced useful exercises to help us feel more confident in any situation. The interactive element of the conference gave us all real practice reflecting on how we interact with others, and how we project confidence.
After the break we returned to welcome to the stage two more Women Leadership Award winners. R. May Lee, ShanghaiTech University (on sabbatical) was awarded Innovator of the Year, and Enoch Li, Founder & Play Consultant, Bearapy was awarded Social Contributor of the Year. We asked all finalists who were unable to attend the Summit to record an acceptance speech in the event that they won – we listened to Enoch thank previous Women Leadership Award recipients for the encouragement, and shed light on the important work she is doing to help individuals who are battling depression.
Gabby Gabriel, Founder of LesQueers and Creator of Shanghai Love Notes took the stage and filled it with her infectious laughter, but also moved many of us to tears when she spoke of her journey with confidence. Gabby left us with a strong message; only you are able to tell yourself what is possible.You are the one responsible for growing yourself, know your potential, find your passion, and grow through the resistance.
Unfortunately our next speaker, Susie Kuhn, Vice President/General Manager, Retail Industry, was unable to attend at the last minute, but was able to record her speech. Susie spoke about a very real thing that everyone experiences in her/his professional life; evaluations. And even though evaluations are judgements that may not always be founded, they are nonetheless valuable opportunities. She encouraged attendees to not only lead with her/his own strengths, but find a way to communicate how your strengths can be positive.
After Susie and Gabby we concluded the Women Leadership Awards by honoring the recipient of the first ever, Women Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award, Michelle Garnaut, Founder & CEO of the M Restaurant Group.
We concluded the day with Allan Wu, Host of Amazing Race Asia, who led us through his journey with confidence, from a small child through until today. Allan spoke about confidence as a journey, and reminded us that “the longest journey, is from your brain to your heart.”
The Summit would not have been nearly as impactful without the help of brilliant MC, Em Roblin who helped us move from one speaker to the next by highlighting impactful elements of each talk, reminding us to reflect on our own experiences, and guiding us through exercises to keep us mindful and present throughout the afternoon.
We concluded an incredible afternoon with a wonderful celebration in the Bellagio atrium, mingling with speakers, award winners, new and old friends. We thank all of you for attending, our amazing volunteer team for making the event run smoothly and our sponsors for making the day possible. View the full photo gallery here, with beautiful photos from Chris Giles and Vphotos.
