Queen's Heath Systems employees pose for a photo. (Photo Courtesy of Queen's Health Systems)
BY JERMEL-LYNN QUILLOPO / Special to the Star-Advertiser
When you have a full-time job — or several jobs, like I do — sometimes you get caught up in your regular work routines.
Like many others, I’m often required to attend mandatory conferences and conventions to help improve my work environment and increase productivity within my organization or company.
However, conferences like the Wahine Forum on October 26 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Coral Ballroom are the type I look forward to each year. This is an event that I highly recommend to all my female friends to attend.
The fifth annual Wahine Forum has a jam-packed agenda for attendees this year, with events scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The 2012 conference will feature short-form, dynamic presentations that include themes like “The Journey to Empowerment,” “There’s Still A Long Way To Go, Baby,” and “Your Mission For Today.”
The 2012 workshop list will cover topics like negotiation, surviving and overcoming financial challenges, and how to succeed in today’s data driven environment. Key female figures in Hawaii, like Margery Bronster (former State Attorney General and Bronster Hoshibata Attorneys at Law founding partner), Coralie Chun Matayoshi (CEO of American Red Cross’s Hawaii State Chapter) and First Hawaiian Bank senior vice president Lois Tojio will lead the sessions.
Jenny Ming will serve as this year's keynote speaker. (Courtesy photo)
This year’s keynote speaker will be Charlotte Russe president and CEO Jenny Ming, who was also one of the founders of Old Navy. Ming has worked as a retail executive for more than 25 years and currently oversees more than 500 stores across the United States and Puerto Rico. In 2000, Ming was named one of “Business Week” magazine’s top 25 national managers. In 2003 and 2004, she also made the top 50 list of most powerful women in American business by “Fortune.”
Event manager Dana Michiko Gusman said there will be about 700 women attending next week and this event will give many females an opportunity to network.
“The attendance ranges from Hawaii’s most successful CEOs to rising stars and tomorrow’s leaders,” she said. “I think there’s tremendous value in women learning from other women.”
When I asked Gusman about her personal opinion regarding women in business, she said events like this bring a familiarity that many can connect with.
“Women need to support each other. It’s tough out there in the world of business. Layering motherhood, marriage, and other commitments on to career, can seem overwhelming,” said Gusman. “It’s not easy and I think it’s a disservice to young women to tell them that it is. We need to be honest with ourselves and each other.”
Queen’s Health Systems has been a presenting sponsor of the Wahine Forum the last three years — but that’s no surprise. One of their founders, Queen Emma, was a young visionary who helped many worthy causes in Hawaii. Her legacy continues, especially in our education and health care communities across the state.
Queen’s spokeswoman Makana McClellan said they have always been a proud sponsor and believes their company is a great example of helping women succeed in the workplace.
“Today, over 74% of the 5,245 proud and hard-working employees of The Queen’s Health Systems are wahine, and nearly 40% of our executive management team is comprised of wahine leaders,” she said.
McClellan said events like this help elevate the role of women in the business community and there have been studies that showed companies with women in top leadership roles outperform their counterparts.
“The Wahine Forum also initiates a conversation among senior business leaders about the value of diversity in management,” she said.
Queen's representatives man an informational booth at a previous Wahine Forum. (Courtesy of Queen's Health Systems)
If you stop by the Queen’s booth at the Wahine Forum conference, there will be representatives from their Women’s Health Center, Queen’s Heart, and Queen’s Cancer Center providing health information and screenings for all attendees, as well as great giveaways and fun activities. As an added bonus, Queen’s will offer five-minute seated massages from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Both Gusman and McClellan hope the series of workshops and speakers will help women leave with powerful takeaways that will encourage them to succeed. McClellan shared a success story as a result of attending last year’s 2011 Wahine Forum. Punahele Alcon, a Queen’s employee working at Molokai General Hospital, was fortunate to hear keynote speaker Carla Harris, managing director of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Harris flew all the way from New York to give a motivational speech that helped a lot of women think more strategically when it came to thriving in the workplace.
Alcon thought that her energetic and humorous presentation was so inspiring and she walked away with a better understanding regarding the importance of perceptions people have of you and how you are in control of those perceptions. Shortly after Harris’ presentation, Alcon made the decision to go back to school to obtain her MBA and will graduate in January 2014.
“We hope that every woman will walk away with tools in her purse. … I personally have really appreciated the diversity of opinions offered at the conference,” said Gusman. “I believe that, if you get 700 women in a room, you’ll have 700 definitions of what ‘having it all’ means.”
Click here to learn more about the Wahine Forum.
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Jermel-Lynn Quillopo is a multi-faceted, energetic individual with experience in both print and broadcast journalism. “Social Encore” aims to tell diverse stories about Hawaii’s food, events and people; share your tips with Jermel via email or follow her on Twitter.