Women's Leadership Summit 2023 recap

This year at the PrimeGlobal Women’s Leadership Summit members were able to connect and learn

more about making an impact in their own firms by using their voice to advocate for themselves, their

teams, and all people throughout their networks. Here’s a recap of what we experienced!

Pre-Event

The Welcome Reception was a great opportunity for members and sponsors to connect! ‘HER’-ricanes, sponsored by Becker, were a great way to kick off the empowering week ahead!

Day 1

Denise Harrington, Founder of Speaking With Impact, led a keynote session and activity in which she encouraged women to think about their ability to impact a board room setting through various ways to carry yourself (posture, tone of voice, hand gestures, etc.) Fun Fact: The most impactful seat in the board room is in the middle of the room.

Leah Donti, Founder of Montreal Seminars, discussed the importance of Environmental Social Governance and the impact firms can make by hiring individuals of diverse backgrounds, including women. By taking a look at the 2023 Bloomberg Gender – Equality Index (GEI), it was determined that there are 5 pillars to lead to success in a firm through ESG Efforts: (1) Leadership & Talent Pipeline (2) Equal Pay & Gender Pay Parity (3) Inclusive Culture (4) Anti-sexual Harassment Policies (5) Managing your External Brand.

In the afternoon, Participants were busy in the afternoon. First the Sponsor Networking Break where the participants were able to meet and greet with sponsors and learn more about their services.

Later in the afternoon, participants were encouraged to participate in making toiletries bags for a local women’s shelter in New Orleans. To create a bag, their teams had to work on various team building activities to earn their materials. Partnering with Hands On New Orleans we were able to make the following contribution as a PrimeGlobal Community: 100 Hygiene Kits for the Homeless at GraceHouse, our contribution towards community savings $10,391 (number is based on current labor wage, number of participants, and time we spent working on the care packages).

For a special night out, a New Orleans Second Line Parade escorted us to dinner!

Day 2

Day 2 started off with Christy Demetrakis, The Empowered Speaker, who shared her personal journey on conquering fear, the science behind fear, and her tactics in helping others to understand fear. Her theory the A.R.T. of conquering Fear includes a three step process. Step 1: Acknowledge your fear, Step 2: Recognizing the Root Cause and Step 3: Take Action.

Carla McCall, Managing Partner at AAFCPAs, inspired our audience by sharing her story on her track to partner, the obstacles that she encountered on the way, and how to change your state of mind to encourage leading with authenticity, instead of trying to be the corporate giant the world expects you to be.

Two sessions throughout Day 2 included hearing directly from our members to collaborate on new ideas and initiatives. Firth, Bridgett Rich, Enterprise Growth Director at Xero, lead a discussion through the difficulties in DEI. Second, a PrimeGlobal tradition “One Good Idea” encouraged members to share the best thing happening in their firms right now as a tangible action item to take back to your personal firm.

Notes from our Participants

“I think the summit is a great platform for women’s leaders in accounting industry to connect, collaborate, exchange experiences and truly inspire. There is an abundance of work so everyone was kind to share their thoughts and issues that they deal with. I received a lot of support and good ideas that I will share with my firm’s leadership. The atmosphere of the conference was “we are in it together and how can we make it better.” I left so impressed with the leadership in the group and so inspired and proud that we have such a powerful group.

My favorite speakers were Carla and Bridgett. I think there is something powerful in seeing someone from the industry and hearing their stories or discuss topics that are directly related to what we deal with.

The PrimeGlobal team provides excellent experience for a collaboration but mostly for creating opportunities to build strong relationships among the members. Between morning group walks, music on the roof, meals and special activities, there are many ways we can connect on professional and personal level. By far, the Kinfolk band walk on the streets of New Orleans exceeded anyone’s expectations. Not only you made us live through lifetime experience but made us all feel so special and on top of the world. Unforgettable!”

~Sylwia Nazar Friedman & Huey Associates LLP