Offering a women-centered undergraduate education, Simmons University in Boston has 2 main goals: preparing the next generation of female leaders and furthering equality in the workplace.
For more than a century, Simmons has “integrated professional preparation, intellectual exploration, and community orientation” into its teaching, so it was a natural step for the University to sponsor the Simmons Leadership Conference when it was founded over 40 years ago.
What is the Simmons Leadership Conference?
The Simmons Leadership Conference is considered to be the premier women’s leadership conference in the world. While it’s an inspirational professional development event for women, people of all genders are welcome to attend.
The main conference is held annually in Boston, and an international conference has been taking place for the last 5 years.
2021 marks 42 consecutive years
of the Simmons Leadership conference
100,000+ women have attended,
with 4,000 attendees each year
for the last 10 years
95% of attendees
recommend the Conference to a friend
97% of attendees
would attend again
The aim of the Simmons Leadership Conference is to bring together professional women leaders, who want to better themselves, their workplaces, and the world. The event attracts over 4,000 middle- and senior-level women from companies and organizations across the USA and around the world.
What’s more, the conference is a non-profit fundraiser for graduate scholarships at Simmons University, so each attendee is supporting women’s education for years to come!
Inspiring speakers
The success and popularity of the Simmons Leadership Conference are no surprise given the outstanding speakers who give talks on subjects as varied as human rights, global economics, and defining power.
Over the years, the conference has hosted big names, including:
- Madeline Albright, former US Secretary of State
- Maya Angelou, poet and civil rights activist
- Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, former US Secretary of State
- Yue-Sai Kan, TV personality and entrepreneur
- Queen Noor of Jordan
- Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States of America
- Jehan Sadat, former First Lady of Egypt
- Zainab Salbi, women’s rights activist
- Padmasree Warrior, Founder, CEO and President of Fable Group Inc.
- Oprah Winfrey, talk show host and television producer
Each year, speakers at the conference are role models, thought leaders and prominent women, who tell their stories, discuss the experiences of women in the workplace, and motivate and inspire others to achieve their ambitions. The event is truly about women celebrating women.
Keynote Speakers at the 2021 Simmons Leadership Conference include actor Mindy Kaling and co-host of Today and daughter of former President George W. Bush, Jenna Bush Hager.
Going virtual in 2020 and 2021
With the world looking a little different in 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Simmons Leadership Conference was held online in April last year. Demonstrating its ever-present innovative thinking, Simmons University turned to one of the Leadership Conference’s sponsors, Cisco, to power its first virtual conference.
According to Dev Malladi, Cisco Vice President of APJC CX Centers and board member of the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership:
“The Simmons and Cisco partnership is based on a shared goal: an inclusive future for all. So, when Simmons Conference needed to go virtual, our team was the natural bridge between the inspiration the conference delivers, and the possibility of beaming directly to attendees. It brings together all things I love and care about.”
The 2021 conference was held virtually in March 2021, and it was another truly inspirational event with a great turnout.
Indeed, it’s safe to say that the transition to an online event has gone extremely well! Many of the virtual attendees said they enjoyed how intimate the talks felt — some saying it seemed as though the speakers were talking directly to them.
The chance to network wasn’t lost either, with social media rooms giving people the opportunity to connect with hundreds of others, far more than would be possible at a traditional in-person conference.
So, if you’re interested in attending the virtual Simmons Leadership Conference, you can save the date (April 13, 2022) and enjoy an inspiring experience that “motivates, educates, and empowers women leaders at every stage of their careers.”
Shape your future at Simmons University
Learn more about how the women-centered undergraduate education at Simmons University will give you a head start on your path to becoming a successful leader.
