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NACW 45th Annual Conference

On July 19-23, 2015, the Indiana Commission for Women (ICW) hosted the 45th Annual Conference and Empowerment Summit for the National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW). Open to all women’s organizations, the conference offered three full days of workshops in professional skills development, women’s issues briefings and creative programming ideas. For a summary of the event, please review the final report.

We wish to thank the sponsors who made the conference a huge success:

Ruby Sponsor

Emerald Sponsor


IUPUI Office for Women
IUPUI Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Corradino Group

Pearl Sponsor


Beam, Longest, & Neff
Butler, Fairman and Seufert Civil Engineers

DLZ Indiana, LLC
First Group Engineering, Inc.
HWC Engineering
Integrating Women Leaders, LLC
IU Center of Excellence in Women’s Health
Krieg DeVault, LLP
Mentoring Women’s Network
Moore Matters, LLC
RQAW Corporation
United Consulting
Women Like Us Foundation

Friends of NACW


Banning Engineering, PC
CHA Consulting
Champps Downtown
The Honorable Christine Altman, Hamilton County Commissioner
Spotlight Strategies

Tastings—A Wine Experience

Girls Forum Sponsor


Heroes Camp
Indiana Commission on Hispanic and Latino Affairs
Jennifer Gabou, Open Gym Indy
State Representative Gail Riecken

Description of Conference Activities

On Sunday, July 19, activities kicked-off with a Welcome Reception. Invited guests included Indiana state legislators and state elected officials, women mayors and other special dignitaries.

Breakout sessions began on Monday, July 20, and focused on issues briefings on topics such as human trafficking, trauma-informed care, pregnancy discrimination, preserving women’s history and women in politics. The opening plenary luncheon featured Dr. Corey Hebert, a nationally known medical broadcast journalist, who has appeared on numerous TV shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, Good Morning America, and The Today Show. Dr. Hebert spoke on Women’s Health concerns. IUPUI professor, Kristina Horn Sheeler, led a general session on Gender, Sex, and Politics Heading toward Campaign 2016, with special guest U.S. Representative Susan W. Brooks, Indiana 5th District, and Co-Vice-Chair of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues. Monday’s evening plenary featured Jennifer Browning Holmes, President and Founder of Integrating Women Leaders, as she addressed Making Impact through Your Personal Brand.

On Tuesday, July 21, attendees had an opportunity to focus on topics such as resiliency, keeping girls safe on the internet and military families. Participants took part in an interactive general session on Empowerment through Partnerships to discuss ways in which organizations at all levels can collaborate on critical community issues. At the luncheon plenary luncheon, Jennifer Pope Baker of the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana spoke on their innovative NEXT initiative that will help emerging adult women (ages 18-24) move from economic instability to economic stability.

Breakout sessions on Wednesday, July 22, helped participants increase professional skills with such topics as: using social media to strengthen an organization’s mission, creating partnerships with key stakeholders and engaging girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Wednesday’s Luncheon celebrated NACW’s 45th Anniversary, featuring a panel of prominent sports personalities in a discussion on Leadership through Sports.  In the afternoon, participants discussed how to start a movement during the final General Session of the conference. During an afternoon general session, Latifa Lyles, Director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, provided an update on current Women's Bureau activities, including their Lead on Leave initiative. Wednesday’s Closing Plenary Dinner and Celebration featured Dr. Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber, Executive Director of the IU National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and President of the American Medical Women’s Association.

A highlight of the 2015 conference was the addition of the Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders Girls Forum on Wednesday, July 22. Open to forty (40) high school girls, the Girls Forum provided opportunities to learn about mentoring, leadership, and reputation safety.

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