NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Speak Up World, LLC, announced today that Speak Up Women, will be held Saturday, March 5 at the United Nations (46th Street and 1st Avenue). Starting at 8 AM, the one-day conference, scheduled to kick off Women’s History Month, is designed to support women with understanding the importance and impact of speaking up in their personal, professional and philanthropic lives. Early bird registration - https://www.eiseverywhere.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=147502& - ends on Friday, January 22nd. Group tickets can be purchased at event_office@glowmediaNY.com. Registration fees cover breakfast, lunch, a networking after-party, as well as panels and breakout sessions.
“I see a lot of women not speaking up or out, held back by unwarranted fears,” says Jennifer S. Wilkov, Speak Up Women’s founder. “‘Speak Up Women’ will provide attendees with nuts-and-bolts information that will enable them to drive forward their passionate personal and professional agendas and causes; empower them to use their voice; and create change where change is necessary. It is a new kind of conference, where every attendee walks away stronger and more knowledgeable – and more fearless – than when they first entered.”
The genesis of Speak Up Women comes from Wilkov’s own experiences, as a woman who was denied the opportunity to speak up and paid a powerful price for it. In 2008, she survived being incarcerated for four months in one of New York’s and the nation’s most violent prisons, Rikers Island, after being railroaded by the questionable practices of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the judge and inappropriately being told to plead guilty to a crime she didn’t commit by an attorney who mishandled her case. She was subsequently exonerated by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and is currently working on an appeal in the NY State criminal court system. Wilkov now speaks up in Albany, NY, on behalf of licensed professionals who are falsely accused and convicted of white collar crimes to support the bill to create the first-in-the-nation Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.
“I survived a devastating experience and my mission is to help people understand the importance of speaking up in their personal, professional, and philanthropic lives,” Wilkov says. “I understand how much it takes to speak up, what the risks are, how afraid people are, and what the rewards are when you do.” Her ordeal was featured in an award-winning article in MarieClaire Magazine - http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a2745/jennifer-wilkov-rikers-island-prison/. She also spoke about it in her TEDx Talk, “I Survived Prison” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhY5mENtSYo.
Panels and break-out sessions of Speak Up Women will include discussions on business, finances, philanthropy and how to speak up. Scheduled speakers include:
- Jennifer Wilkov, Founder of Speak Up Women
- Jessica Abo, Award-winning Journalist, Founder of JaboTV YouTube channel
- Laura Fredricks, Speaker, Author, Founder and CEO of The Ask
- Michelle Lederman, CPA, MBA, PCC, Founder and CEO of Executive Essentials
- Jess Minhas, Founder and CEO of I’ll Go First, a non-profit dedicated to providing remote psychosocial care to marginalized trauma populations throughout the developing world
- Stephanie Parker, Founder of SleepingBaby, a million dollar company inspired by motherhood
- Geri Stengel, Author, Founder and President of Ventureneer, a research and education company
- Kathy Zucker, Author, Startup Founder, Shorty Awards winner
Additional speakers and moderators will be announced.
“The discussions will cultivate strength and skills in the participants and promote grassroots collaboration,” says Bonnie Bruderer, Speak Up Women’s emcee and the host of the AskBonBon Show. “I am very much looking forward to not only to participating in the conference, but learning from the other women as well.”
“Speak Up Women is an incubator for individual women and women’s organizations to imagine, develop, and realize the presentation of their own visions, to and for others,” Wilkov says. “We envision women forging a better future—for themselves and others.”
About Speak Up Women
Founded by Jennifer S. Wilkov, Speak Up Women is a grassroots collaboration between attendees and a roster of thoughtfully selected presenters, vendors, sponsors, and partners. Speak Up Women is an event production of Speak Up World, LLC. To learn more, visit speakupwomen.com.
About Jennifer S. Wilkov
Jennifer S. Wilkov’s passion for communication has made her a #1 international best-selling award-winning author, a keynote speaker, an award-winning freelance writer, a successful book and business consultant, a #1 radio show host and executive producer on WomensRadio, and an entrepreneurial mentor. In two decades of strategic planning and business development in Corporate America, Wilkov perfected skills in fostering teamwork, communication, collaboration and success at every level of an organization and business.
As a keynote speaker, Jennifer fans the flames of the Human Spirit in each audience member and empowers them with her inspiring message: “You have the right to remain fabulous!” She is an active board member of It Could Happen to You, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the needs of the falsely accused and convicted.
For more information, go to http://www.JenniferSWilkov.com.
