The second Empowering Women in Industry Conference and Awards Gala took place on August 1, 2020. The virtual event had both women and men learning and networking with one another over the course of the day and into the evening for the awards gala.
“While we had to pivot this year and go virtual to keep everyone safe, we were able to pull off a great event with 180+ attendees and over 2,000 messages taking place throughout the day of women networking and engaging with the community we’ve built together” said Founder and CEO, Charli K. Matthews. While last year’s theme was #BeTheChange, this year our focus was #MakeAnImpact. With that focus and our everyday goal to Connect, Educate, and Empower Women in male-dominated professions, the organizers of the event (Empowering Brands and an independent, all-volunteer Steering Committee) had another successful conference that that focused an array of topics such as Building Allies, Taking Action in the Workplace, and Controversial Questions: A Team of Young Professionals Take on Tough Gender Topics to name a few.
With the support of our event sponsors, including ABB, Lift Leadership, Mueller Water Products, Xylem, Grundfos, Taco Comfort Solutions, Vaughan, Sulzer, and others, this event included a full day of speakers, interactive breakout sessions, and an awards gala where 12 women were honored. We even had a nap, curtesy of Nap Bar™.
Among many nominees from across the globe, our award winners this year were; DeIla Ray (Tradeswoman of the Year), Shea Dunifon (Industry Advocacy), Amanda Kurt (Mentor of the Year), Christy Behnke (Marketer of the Year), Rasha Maal-Bared (Leadership in STEM), Amanda Nummy (Innovator of the Year), Nandini Easwar (Engineer of the Year), Megan Livak (Emerging Leader of the Year), Carol Kunkel (Saleswoman of the Year), Kate Rome (Leadership in Manufacturing), Mandy Klopp (Leadership in Reliability & Operations) and last but not least, our very own Bethany Womack (Woman of the Year).
“We would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support as well as the hundreds of women in our community who show up and connect with us not only at our conferences but every day with the goals to grow together and be the leaders that we need” says Rebekah Mechtensimer, Sales & Marketing Manager with Empowering Brands.
For information on upcoming Empowering Women in Industry events, please visit empoweringwomeninindustry.com and engage with us on social media! Also, for those who missed the event, stay tuned for some news coming soon on how you can still participate online.
About Empowering Brands
Empowering Brands is a versatile, digital marketing services company located in Tuscaloosa, AL specializing in social media management and marketing; marketing consulting; content development and digital advertising. Working as a strategic partner and extension of our clients marketing team; we bring fresh thinking and experience with flexible and responsive service to empower our clients and maximize their brands. In addition to our marketing services work, Empowering Brands owns the leading online community for the global pump and equipment industries, EmpoweringPumps.com.
Awards and recognitions are a great motivation factor. I missed the virtual event, and I hope there are more such gala events online where women entrepreneurs can open up and share their story. I am associated with https://www.maximedialv.com/, where I provide design and creative ideas to make brands and taglines.