THANK YOU!

We had 300+ attendees celebrate, elevate, share and connect with us for the 2024 W4W Summit! See you next year!

 

Join us as we celebrate, elevate, share and connect with women from across South Carolina. Together, we embrace change and inspire a new generation of women to become leaders in their fields and industries.  

Who Should Attend W4W?

The Summit is open to all women and supporters – no matter their level of experience or profession – who want to network with like-minded women, learn new skills and be inspired.

Created for women, by women.

"If you can't see it, you can't be it."
Sarah Coleman-Lee
Sarah Coleman-Lee
Broker Associate, Charleston's Best Home Team
2020 Panelist

Celebrate.

Women – and our supporters – have a lot to be proud of. In the past decade alone, women have made major strides in legislature, corporate America, academia and more. We cannot let these accomplishments go unnoticed. Our dynamic programming, impressive lineup of speakers and uplifting atmosphere will leave you asking, “what glass ceiling?”

Elevate.

Women have been breaking barriers and making their own rules for quite some time now. From boardrooms to classrooms across the globe and in all industries you can think of, women have (and will continue) to make a name for themselves. Attendees learn strategies and acquire the necessary tools to advance in their personal and professional lives.

Share.

Learning who we are, what we want and what we are capable of is a lifelong process. Sharing insights with one another can make that process easier. Talking about our wins and lessons learned teaches us all about how to navigate challenges. It also lets us know what tokens of wisdom to pass down to the next generation of women. Attendees appreciate the act of sharing and what it does for women empowerment.

Connect.

Community is the perfect catalyst for social change because there is power in numbers. Fortunately, being a champion for women comes with a tribe of supporters. At the Women for Women Summit presented by the College of Charleston School of Business, you can take the time to make meaningful connections that ignite and foster your personal and professional growth.

"Ask for things that will allow you to be your best person. Everyone else is."
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley
Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
Former Governor of South Carolina
2020 Woman of Courage Award Recipient

2024 Agenda

Let’s get the day started!

Featuring:

Jennet Robinson AltermanJennet Robinson Alterman
Non-Profit Consultant and Women’s Rights Advocate

Words of welcome from our title sponsor, Bank of America The Private Bank

Featuring:

Julie Harris
Head of Banking, Lending & Platforms,
Bank of America Private Bank

Featuring:

Lisa Cook
Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

Come increase your investment self-confidence and learn how to invest well for your future with author and wealth manager Alice Finn. Alice will lead a discussion about her book SMART WOMEN LOVE MONEY: 5 Simple Life-Changing Rules of Investing. Discover how to invest in your financial future with five simple rules that cut through the unnecessarily complex jargon of Wall Street.  

Featuring:

Alice Finn
Founder and CEO, PowerHouse Assets

Celebrate this year’s award recipient.

Featuring:

Mary Thornley, Ed.D.
2024 Woman of Courage Award Recipient
Former Trident Technical College President

Katarina Fjording

Katarina Fjording
COO, Coastal 8
Founder and CEO, Fatum LLC

ARE YOU THRIVING?

  • 85% of adults worldwide are not engaged or actively disengaged at work, according to polling firm Gallup.
  • While technology brings connection, productivity, and freedom, it can also contribute to stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depression.
  • Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, causing 1 in 3 deaths in women. Studies suggest that the high levels of cortisol from long-term stress can increase blood cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure.

Yet, Thriving is an innate capacity we all have as human beings and it is an untapped power for living and leading through complexity and change.  And it can become depleted from the challenges that life brings to all of us.

Why does it matter?  When we thrive, we have an abundance of energy to unleash toward positive business and social outcomes.

Discover what it might mean for you. Learn about how to think about growing your capacity to lead from a foundation of internal balance, resilience and wellbeing — elevating your wellbeing, leadership effectiveness and wisdom.

The afternoon session will offer up some options for how to tap into this incredible power for your life and leadership.

Learn from three women leaders from three different fields: medical, academia and corporate.

Dr. Christine Holmstedt

Christine Holmstedt, D.O., FAHA
Professor of Neurology and Director of Clinical Stroke Services,
Medical University of South Carolina

Christine offers actions to manage stress and high blood pressure, sleep better, feel more balanced and connected and even lower your risk of heart disease.

Kelley Cours Anderson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marketing, 
College of Charleston

Kelley will explore the importance of digital wellness and share strategies for finding balance in our always-on world.

Dianne Culhane headshot, Women for Women Summit

Dianne Culhane
Certified Leadership & Executive Coach,
Wisdom Works

Dianne supports leaders around the world with facilitating their personal wellbeing and leadership, and build cultures of thriving that attract, develop, and retain people at their best. She spent her global corporate career as a senior executive at The Coca-Cola Company for 23 years. Dianne will explain the six dimensions of thriving, how they directly relate to your leadership, practices you can employ to continuously renew your innate capacity to thrive and in conclusion, provide an opportunity to assess and develop this untapped resource within you.

Those who attend this session will be offered the opportunity to experience a holistic, personal, confidential online self-assessment drawing from cutting-edge science on thriving and leadership. The Be Well Lead Well Pulse® assessment equips you with an 11-page individualized feedback report mapping what enables or erodes your ability to thrive as a leader and whole person across 6 categories & 19 psychometrics. Plus, you’ll receive a 1-hour session with a Be Well Lead Well Pulse® Certified Guide to debrief your report and support you in identifying actions for expanding your effectiveness through your capacity to thrive. Find out if you’re leading from a foundation of thriving with Be Well Lead Well Pulse®.

Featuring:

Joanna Lau Headshot

Joanna Lau
Founder, Lau Acquisition Corporation

Close out the day with attendees.

2024 Speakers

"Sustainability is a team sport with individual accountability. It takes more to be a qualifier in the eyes of investors, partners, clients, customers and employees. Having a strong ESG agenda is imperative, and no business can afford not to be sustainable."
Katarina Fjording Headshot
Katarina Fjording
Executive Advisor, Global Automotive Executive, Sustainability Leader, Blue Economy Investor
2022 Speaker

2024 Sponsors

Our biggest champions. Become a sponsor.

Title Sponsors

Bank of America Private Bank

Anita Zucker &

Premier Sponsors

William “Bill” Finn &

Corporate Sponsors

PermCap Investment Office

In-Kind Sponsors

"The funny thing about blazing a trail is most people do not know they are doing it."
Cathy Bessant
Cathy Bessant
Vice Chair, Global Strategy, Bank of America
2020 Keynote Speaker
Join our mailing list to get the latest info on the W4W Summit, presented by the College of Charleston School of Business.

Venue

The 2024 Women for Women Summit will take place at the Charleston Gaillard Center at
95 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC 29401.

Latest News

Reese_Moore_Photography-2404

W4W 2024: The Year to be BOLD

Written by Sarah Thomas ’26, Marketing and Communications Intern On October 10, 2024, the College of Charleston School of Business hosted its annual Women for Women Summit at the Gaillard…