This past week, I attended Celebrate 2024. It’s an annual women’s leadership event with themes of professional development and empowerment presented by the Schreiber Institute for Women’s Leadership. It also happens to be affiliated with UW-Green Bay, my alma mater.

In 2023, I also had the opportunity to attend and hear a great keynote speech. You may remember the blog post I shared that discussed Mariana Atencio‘s Control Framework for living authentically. In case you missed it, check it out here!

This year, the event began with a performance art presentation from The Art-Hop Collective. In just a few hours, a huge wall of art was painted along to the beat of DjRgs. It was really cool to see the vibrant colors and words come together.

I couldn’t resist letting my phone eat first by snapping pictures of the delicious treats available before and after the main program. Certainly, the food wasn’t the most important part of the event (we’ll get into the takeaways shortly!). But, as a UWGB grad, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t geek out a bit for the phoenix-shaped chocolate.

The core of the event featured a panel of four community leaders and a keynote speech from Jeffery Tobias Halter. Between the panel and keynote, there were a few great reminders that I jotted down:

• Lean into your strengths – Determine how you can best contribute, and focus on the things you are great at.
• You deserve to be where you are – Imposter syndrome can get to all of us. Know that you are where you are for a reason and act with confidence.
• Say “yes” to opportunities – When presented with opportunities to advance, take them! Prepare and do the work so you can shine when you have the chance.

Throughout the event, the theme of allyship was very prominent. It’s good to be mindful of how you can support others professionally and otherwise. When I think of this topic, I think of the quote, “Choose people who will say your name in a room full of opportunities.” You can choose to be the person who advocates for others too!

Have you attended Celebrate or an event like it? What did you take away? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or on Instagram. Let’s chat!