ATTEND! 

Enjoy a day of leadership tips, inspiring personal growth, and networking with Springfield-area women.

Who should attend? Any adult professional of any experience. You don't need to be a member to attend IWIL events. But we'd love it if you'd join! Learn about joining IWIL. 

 " I look forward to the Symposium each year, because during the day, I know, I will recharge and meet so many new friends!"

- Amy Beadle

SPONSOR!

Benefits of Sponsorship

We need your support for this amazing event and are seeking sponsors! Several levels are available and include free registrations for the women leaders at your business. All sponsors will be heavily recognized before and during the event. Sponsorships are accepted now! Please contact our Sponsorship Chair at [email protected] for more information.   

The Symposium exhibits are a highlight of the day!  Symposium attendees love shopping, learning more about services in our community and this is a nice break from the day's sessions.  There are opportunities for attendees first thing in the morning starting at 7:30 am, in between session breaks, lunch break, and before the final wrap up session in the ballroom at the end of the day.

We also encourage Exhibitors to bring a door prize, which you will need to capture the name and phone number to contact the winner.

For as little as $125, you can present your business to an enthusiastic audience of hundreds of professional women. The past 3 of 12 years, we have had over 400 women in attendance. Your name as an Exhibitor will also be placed in the program book that is provided to each attendee. In addition, you have the opportunity to place an ad in the program book. We have three registration options for Exhibitors:

Three Options for Exhibitors:

• $250 includes exhibitor registration and your registration to Symposium for all sessions, lunch, and cocktail networking reception
• $150 includes exhibitor registration, lunch, and cocktail network reception - No access to break out sessions          
• $125 includes exhibitor registration only - no lunch, cocktail networking reception or access to break out sessions

Since the exhibitor tables are located in the main ballroom, exhibitors get to enjoy the keynote speaker and wrap up sessions.

Contact [email protected] with any questions.  

Exhibitor Registration

2025 SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

Keynote Speaker - Andrea Flack-Wetherald

Andrea Flack-Wetherald is the Founder and President of The Center for Mindful Improv Thinking, a consultancy providing coaching, training and retreat facilitation for leaders and staff desiring to strengthen the skills and behaviors that create and restore deep trust. They teach a framework for initiating, engaging in and recovering from conflict, disagreement and other forms of brave communication using skills rooted in mindfulness practice and improvised comedy. Their evidence-based approach has been shared with thousands of leaders in sectors ranging from healthcare to technology, banking to space exploration, education to beauty supplies and everything in between. 

Andrea is the bestselling author of two books: The Funny Thing About Forgiveness: What every leader needs to know about improv, culture & the world's least favorite F word (Foreword written by Colin Mochrie of Whose Line is it Anyway) and Mindful Improv Thinking: Build a Culture of Resilient Trust. 

Andrea's deeply engaging, high-energy and heart-centered keynotes are perfect for audiences passionate about deepening human connection and carrying the practical skills they learn out of the workplace and out into their spheres of influence. Andrea customizes keynote content and interactive pieces to each audience and makes every engagement a joyful and transformative experience.

Andrea is a social worker turned comedian, foster-to-adopt mom to two amazing kids and outdoor enthusiast. She's a Bluffton University graduate living in Northeast Ohio with her husband, two children and two dogs.

Breakout Sessions

Breakout I: 10:15-11:15

• Generative AI: What It Is and Why It Matters - Rebecca Parton, Lincoln Land Community College
  
  
• Reaffirming Equity: Foundational Tools for Understanding DEI - Becky Gabany, ChangeBridge Consulting, and Xuna Hu, The Real Estate Group, Inc. 
  Our commitments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are more crucial than ever. This interactive workshop will provide a foundational understanding of key DEI concepts and offer practical strategies for fostering inclusive practices in your organizations. Grounded in both historical and current contexts, this session will empower leaders to champion equity despite environmental shifts.
  
  
• Women's Finance: Your Financial Journey -  Sarah Goleman, Merrill Lynch

Breakout II: 12:45-1:45pm

• From Shattered to Shifting: A Journey Through Loss, Growth, and Becoming - Mandy Eaton, Memorial Health
  
• Generative AI for Career Advancement - Kathyy Battee-Freeman, University of Illinois Springfield
  
  
• TBD

Breakout III: 2:00-3:00 pm

• Beyond the Scale: Women, Weight, and Hormones - Dr. Nikki Florence, Memorial Health and Mary Hitt, SIU Medicine
  
  
• What's Your Why? Re-Visioning Your Life & Work - Sparkle Sanders, Certified Leadership Trainer and Coach
  
  
• The Power of Networking : One Conversation At A Time Debbie Thompson, Always On Consulting
  Learn how one meaningful conversation can lead to opportunities, collaborations and friendships. The session will include a powerful interactive activity, along with tips and insights that will be shared to build or enhance your networking capabilities and small talk techniques.

*IWIL is unable to provide refunds. If you cannot attend an event for which you have registered, we encourage you to send someone in your place. Simply have your guest indicate at the check-in table that she is your substitute. We appreciate your understanding.