The first panel of the day, moderated by Lisa Anderson, CPA and Strategic Business Advisor & Virtual CFO of Anavo Transformation Solutions, was focused on mentoring and championing. Anderson set the tone early by referring to her panel's discussion as black coffee conversation. The straight talk that followed with panelists, Margaret Davis, President, Maryland Hall, Sharon Pinder, President, Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council and Holly Shook, Executive Director of CUPs Coffeehouse and Project I CAN, focused on how leaders can pass their skills on. All of the panelists talked about learning to lead, but also, the importance of having people you can speak openly and honestly with to bounce ideas and concerns off of.

The second panel of the day, led by moderator Nicole Mitchell, Partner, Aronson, included Lisa Cines, Director of Business Development at Radius, Howard Community College President Kate Hetherington, Ed.D. and VP of Population Health and Advancement for Howard County General Hospital, Elizabeth Edsall Kromm, Ph.D., M.Sc.. Mitchell had everyone in the room identify themselves by their generation to show that each was well represented at today's conference. All of the panelists agreed that the stuggles of the baby boomer generation are not always the same as today's stuggles. But they also emphasized the importance of "not making the next generation do things the hard way like we did."

The third panel was all about succeeding in male-dominated fields. Moderator Kim Watters, Fearless Leader at GovRealm, asked panelists Susan Brown, Laboratory Ombudsman, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Debra Cruz, Managing Partner, Levin & Gann Law and Sallie Sweeney, Principal Cyber Solutions Architect, GDIT, about their experiences working in industries where the majority of their colleagues are men. All three women talked about the importance of emotional intelligence and "picking your battles." But above all else, the panelists agreed you have to know your audience, know your stuff and hold your own.

After a brief break, conference attendees were treated to a visit from Maryland's First Lady Yumi Hogan. The First Lady met with guests and exhibitors in the Exhibitor Hall and then addressed the entire conference. The First Lady said she was very pleased to be able to join us because of her connection to Howard County as a former resident and because today was all about celebrating women. The First Lady shared some sage advice, offering that we should "continue helping each other and supporting each other." Her parting words were "Go ladies!"

The last session of the day was also one of the most inspiring, which is fitting, considering the title was "Rising to and Inspiring from the Top."

Moderator Anna Fleeman Elhini, Founder of Creatrix, introduced two women who need no introduction. Major General Linda Singh, Maryland National Guard, and Jane Campbell, Director of Washington Office for Advocacy, National Development and former Mayor of Cleveland, both shared their incredible life stories. General Singh spoke about the trials and tribulations of her childhood and her hard fought journey to get to her level of success. But she also said that "when you get up here, you gotta start pulling." Campbell talked about how she got into politics as a child through her religion and her family, but was constantly having to be the first woman to hold most offices in Ohio along the way.

Afternoon keynote speaker, Laurie Moe Buckhout, Colonel (Ret.) US Army and CEO of Corvus kept the crowd laughing and riveted at the same time through her stories of public service, motherhood and entrepreneurship. She mentioned she had been reading a lot of Presidential biographies recently and has learned "the people who stand still in life aren't the ones they write books about."

Chamber President McClarty closed out the conference by thanking everyone who attended, all of our inspiring speakers and panelists, our hard working team of conference committee volunteers and the sponsors who make events like today possible.