At the 2024 Health panel at Power Up Conference: (L to R): Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, Heather Florio, Dr. DeShawn Taylor, Dr. Sophia Yen.

Now more than ever each one of us needs the courage to lead.

In a difficult, divisive cultural environment and a complicated economy, leaders identifying as women face silencing, resistance and erasure as funds disappear and companies, organizations and brands recalibrate to maintain.

In organizations experiencing growth, leaders, colleagues, supporters and collaborators need to define ways to strengthen systems for success and encourage everyone in the network to expand by defining today’s evolving winning strategies.

This year’s Power Up Conference 2025 from Take The Lead held on Women’s Equality Day with the theme, Courage To Lead, offers such strategies, solutions, accolades, insights and learnings from an extraordinary group of experts and leaders in order to assist anyone looking to lead with dynamic innovation and intelligent energy.

“Power Up Concert & Conference 2025 from Take The Lead held on #WomensEqualityDay offers strategies, solutions from experts and leaders on the #couragetolead with innovation and energy. @takeleadwomen”

The timing of the sixth Power Up Concert & Conference in Washington, D.C. coincides with the date 105 five years ago when the 19th Amendment was made into law in the U.S., granting women the right to vote.

Women’s Equality Day, was declared to celebrate that legal and cultural victory on August 26, and the Power Up Conference is on that date. Take The Lead has been operating with the clear mission of achieving gender parity in leadership across all arenas for 11 years.

This year’s Power Up Conference engages participants to underline the urgency for all leaders to work for gender equity across sectors, divisions and platforms and to come away with options, tangible strategies and reliable information. Here are 11 reasons to pareticipate in the Courage To Lead Power Up Conference.

Register here for the Power Up Courage To Lead Concert & Conference 2025

1. Get centered in a complicated economy. With the threat of tariffs increasing costs of doing business, layoffs and shrinking capacities a common denominator in many fields, it is critical to define methods of leading that adapt to this unprecedented time. Yes, there is also good news of 147,000 jobs added by U.S. employers in June, (which was beyond estimates), and an unemployment rate down to 4.1%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But even with growth, there is the ongoing, historic and systemic inequality of women leaders at the top in business. The Women’s Business Collaborative latest CEO Report shows “women’s representation in the Fortune 500 remains at 10.4%, with 52 women CEOs in 2024, up from 41 in 2021. Another database is the Russell 3000, that states in 2024, 9% of CEOs in the Russell 3000 were women, up from 6.2% in 2021, marking a 66% increase. There is a rise in the number of women entrepreneurs by 41%, with 13.5 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., women now own 34% of all small businesses and franchises. Not half, but more than one-third. Private companies valued over $1 billion saw a 118% increase in women CEOs from 2023.

2. Prioritize pay equity. As pay equity across all identities of gender, race, geography and industry is a central mission for Take The Lead, pay equity continues to be a concern nationally and needs to be a top priority for all companies and organizations. Pay gaps are evidence of systemic biases that can prevent all employees from thriving, yet only 62% of employers report that pay equity analyses are current or planned practices, according to Catalyst. The good news is that for those identified by Catalyst as Champions for Change, 96% conduct pay equity audits. An interesting fact is that according to CPA Practice Advisor, “Women CEOs at large U.S. public companies out-earned their male counterparts in 2024. The median compensation for female CEOs in the S&P 500 was $16.4 million, while their male counterparts earned $15.6 million.”

“#Paygaps due to systemic biases can prevent all employees from thriving, yet only 62% of employers report #payequity analyses are current or planned practices, according to @Catalyst.”

3. Learn from stellar leaders across multiple arenas. In the sectors of sports media, finance, branding, health, and so many more industries, panelists, speakers, participants and attendees at the Power Up conference are determined to offer concrete, strategic information and guidance from their personal and professional stories of success and leadership.

Watch this video from the dynamic Power Up Concert & Conference 2024. Learning from those you meet and share information is “how power develops,” says Vada Manager, founder and CEO of Manager Global Holdings, and President and CEO of Manager Global Consulting Group, and a former winner of Take The Lead’s Leading Man Award.

4. Establish Your Mission. What is your purpose in the work you do? This is more than logistical goal-setting, this is about having a larger intention, embedding in the work the point and purpose of your daily and long-term efforts. “The strongest CEOs are known for setting a bold vision for their organization and mobilizing teams and stakeholders around it, McKinsey research on CEO excellence shows. ”As the conference offers a chance to meet leaders across sectors and job roles, learning how they articulated the purpose for their work may help you identify and follow through on the mission and purpose of your work.

According to McKinsey, “Because the world in which organizations operate is increasingly complex, the best CEOs are systemic thinkers: They can embrace paradoxes, hold integrated perspectives, and engage an ecosystem of stakeholders in service of their vision.”

“The best CEOs can embrace paradoxes, hold integrated perspectives, and engage an ecosystem of stakeholders in service of their vision.” @McKinsey #CEOS #mission ”

5. Prioritize wellness. At the Power Up conference this year, Estela Barraza, CEO of Estelaire, opens up the conference with her "Art of Well-Being" workshop. This is a critical element of every person’s life and for those identifying as women, research and products related to women’s health has been historically underserved and underfunded, according to McKinsey. The actions an individual can take for self-care is critical.

Read more in Take The Lead on wellness

According to research from Southern New Hampshire University, “Self-care refers to anything that you do to keep yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually healthy.” Dr. Caroline Perjessy, president of the Association for Humanistic Counseling and a faculty member at SNHU, says , “As we cultivate our self-care practices with ourselves, we become more grounded and purposeful in our activities and behaviors, honoring our finite resources, energy and priorities.” Perjessy says the areas of wellness include emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social and spiritual wellness.

Listen to Estela Barraza on Mission Matters Podcast

6. Adapt collaboration techniques for team building. Workshops, discussions, speakers, panels and casual conversations all touch on the power of collaborating with others. According to Export Development Canada, “Collaboration is such an effective strategy because business women typically possess personal qualities that make it work. These include open-mindedness, the desire to make things work and try new things, business development and management skills.” At the recent Medill Summer Summit at Northwestern University, Candice Fortman, JSK fellow at Stanford University, said, “Collaboration is the future of everything.”

““Collaboration is the future of everything,” says Candice Fortman, JSK fellow @StanfordU @Medillschool Summer Summit @NorthwesternU”

Learn more in Take The Lead on collaboration

7. Dive into self-awareness. You can elect to have a goal of the conference to be a time you dive into what you need personally and professionally to shift or enhance your life. According to University of Thomas Opus College of Business adjunct faculty member Jill Hauwiller, “Better relationships. Deeper trust. Greater clarity of purpose and goals. Self-awareness is more than just a personal trait – it’s a strategic tool for professional success.” She continues, “One of the most powerful competencies that separates good leaders from great ones is emotional intelligence (EQ). At the heart of EQ is self-awareness. It’s the skill that allows successful leaders to understand themselves deeply, leading to sound decisions, more confidence, and greater professional growth.”

8. Sharpen network strategies. It is therefore necessary to envision ways in which women, both as individuals and as a collective, may challenge power in organization, according to research from University of the West of England, Bristol. ”Failing to move beyond a conceptualization of male power over women, career success for women and gender equality in the workplace continue to be viewed as dependent upon how entrenched male networks are and the willingness of men to accept women into them.” This year’s Power Up Concert & Conference offers a multitude of opportunities to network with the country’s top leaders in business, entrepreneurship and more.

“#PowerUp Concert & Conference offers a multitude of opportunities to #network with the country’s top leaders in business, #entrepreneurship and more. @takeleadwomen #leadership”

9. Gather truths, facts and useful information. In an era of deeply harmful disinformation, “The solution is the truth,” founder of Spiralbound, author and Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Alison Flowers recently shared. Disinformation is unfortunately not just limited to political arenas, it is harming businesses. At the Power Up Conference, you can learn what is factual about different aspects of leadership and inquire about how to counter harmful inaccuracies. “What was once largely confined to the machinations of state actors and partisan political warfare has entered the corporate realm, with malicious actors now targeting businesses for financial gain and reputational damage,” according to Teneo. “Whether it is a falsified financial report, a fabricated scandal involving key executives, a doctored video of a product malfunction, or fake audio of a company official requesting a financial transaction, the consequences can be dire: stock price fluctuations, monetary loss, customer attrition and regulatory scrutiny. Businesses that once viewed disinformation as a problem confined to the political realm must now recognize it as a direct and serious threat to their operations and bottom line.”

“Businesses that once viewed disinformation as a problem confined to the political realm must now recognize it as a direct and serious threat to their operations and bottom line.” @Teneo @PowerUp ”

10. Encouraging boldness in your actions and in others. It is important to take the information and learnings from the conference , share it with colleagues, clients and employees to move into action. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recently tells ABC News, "The more that people are engaged with our institutions, I think, the better." At the Essence Fest, she shared a story from her freshman year at Harvard University when another Black woman passed by her and said, "Persevere."

Jackson says, "That story has obviously stuck with me because it felt like being given a lifeline. So I would tell them, everyone, that that kind of encouragement is something that we should all be giving one another in this very challenging time."

11. Take a stand and send a message of courage and strength. Each individual you hear from on stage and meet at the Power Up Conference will assist you in taking a stand on your work and the message you share of your own courage to lead. “Successful women CEOs define their organizations’ purpose and vision clearly and understand how it meshes with their own values. They care about the longer-term impact their organizations can have on employees, customers, communities, and society. This strong sense of purpose guides their communications and stakeholder relationships,” according to Harvard Business Review.

In advance of the Power Up Concert & Conference, Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead, writes, “In these transformative times, leading with courage is not just a choice, it's a call to action. As the world faces unprecedented challenges, it’s time to step into our leadership with clarity and strength. The Power Up Conference is your opportunity to seize this moment.”

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About the Author

Michele Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, an award-winning author, journalist, emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. @micheleweldon www.micheleweldon.com

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