PPB August 2021

Three-Day WLC Creates Inspiring Conversations And Invaluable Connections In June, PPAI held a successful PPAI Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC), this year virtually for the first time in its 16-year history, following a one-year hiatus in 2020. The popular event brought together 127 attendees together for three days of virtual educational programming and events, optional fitness programs each morning, 12 education sessions, three afternoons of roundtable discussions, an evening awards program with networking, and what was probably the industry’s first virtual dine-around using Zoom to bring small groups of attendees together for casual conversation. The conference opened on June 21 with a thought-provoking session, “Dream It. Make It Happen,” presented by Geiger CEO Jo-an Lantz, MAS, one of the original founders of WLC, a former PPAI board chair and PPAI Hall of Fame inductee, among her many other achievements. During the hour-long session, Lantz shared some of her own realized dreams, along with seven fundamental lessons she learned from an interview series she did last year. Lantz set the stage for three days of inspiring and information-packed sessions that brought attendees together to learn and create lasting connections. Kelli Denes, MAS, co-chair of the WLC workgroup, greeted attendees to close the program on the afternoon of June 23. “I’m so excited that everyone is still here at 3:35 on the third day,” she said. “Thank you for showing up and for making this event feel so special—even in this virtual environment. I think it’s really incredible that we’ve connected on the level that we have. When we leave here, keep the conversations going. That is what this event is about.” As the first virtual WLC drew to a close, attendees were already talking about the 2022 event in anticipation of an in-person conference. Joél Bastien, MAS, of AIA Corporation, another member of the WLC workgroup, explains what it took to create this year’s extraordinary virtual experience. “With the primary vision of WLC being to create an engaging, collaborative community that enables diverse women | AUGUST 2021 | 83 CONNECT