Landmark June 21st Event Will Bring Together Dynamic Leaders & the Community to Advance Equity, Empowerment & Opportunity for Bay Area Women
San Francisco, April 21, 2016—Today San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Women’s Foundation of California and San Francisco City Administrator Naomi Kelly announced the Bay Area Women’s Summit, a landmark event that will bring together the most dynamic leaders in government, business, philanthropy, education and others, on Tuesday, June 21 at Moscone Center North in San Francisco. The Summit will serve as a significant platform to engage influential leaders in the Bay Area and beyond in an action-oriented conversation that advances women’s equity, empowerment and opportunity in the region.
“San Francisco has long been at the forefront of social change and women’s rights, and we know we can, and must, do more to advance gender equity, particularly women’s economic empowerment,” said Mayor Lee. “The Bay Area Women’s Summit will be an opportunity to bring together influential leaders and the community to discuss policies and initiatives that will ensure women are participating in and fully benefiting from our robust economy. The Summit is unique in that it’s focused on the needs of the middle class, working class and working poor, action-oriented, and seeks to engage men in this important conversation as allies so that women, their families, and our cities can thrive and succeed.”
“This Summit will be an incredible platform for igniting real change for the women of the Bay Area,” said Mayor Schaaf. “Many women in our community are the breadwinners in their families – often in single income households. Economic mobility, empowerment and financial security are paramount for these women. Make no mistake. Their success is our success. We can’t honestly call this region great when inequity continues to exist and those among us who have the least cannot thrive. This Summit is about that conversation and about that change.”
Women and men from around the Bay Area will convene to discuss issues including workplace benefits and policies, working families and childcare, women’s leadership and visibility, entrepreneurship, education, financial literacy, economic security and many others. The Summit will include keynotes by powerful, nationally recognized leaders such as Anne-Marie Slaughter and Ai-Jen Poo as well as panels, interactive discussions and breakout sessions with a diverse range of speakers including Angela Glover-Blackwell, Josh Levs, Lisa Jackson, Lori Nishiura MacKenzie, Kimberly Bryant and many others.
“We have achieved remarkable policy victories in California over the last few years—higher minimum wage, pay equity, subsidized childcare and sick and family leave,” said Women’s Foundation of California CEO Surina Khan. “And we have a lot more to do to strengthen women's economic wellbeing in our state. We are proud to collaborate with Mayor Lee, Mayor Schaaf and their cities, which have long been at the forefront of gender and economic justice issues. The Bay Area Women’s Summit will be a place to come together, to learn and, most important, to develop good, effective policy solutions to the challenges women are facing in our region.
“Under the leadership and vision of Mayor Lee and Mayor Schaaf, and in partnership with public, private and non-profit stakeholders and inspirational speakers and participants, I am thrilled to be part of this conversation and movement to discuss issues that are pertinent, not only to women, but to men, families and our community,” said City Administrator Kelly. “I look forward to the June 21st Summit and continuing this important conversation thereafter.”
Mayor Lee and Mayor Schaaf and their partners in this event are committed to advancing equity, empowerment and opportunity for women in the Bay Area and the Summit will be both action-oriented and solution focused. Summit speakers, participants and attendees will have an opportunity to find solutions to some of the most pressing economic challenges for women and set the agenda for moving this conversation forward.
For more information and to register, go to: bayareawomen.org.