Keynote Speaker

Jennifer Openshaw

Patti Berger-Friedman, a prominent member of the WIL steering committee, was tasked with introducing the keynote speaker, Jennifer Openshaw, CEO of Girls with Impact. Jennifer’s story is not only inspiring, but empowering. Jennifer built herself from a 14-year-old working as a maid in a small motel to a financial wiz who has held top roles at JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft, and others. Her focus has always been to educate women and arm them with the necessary tools to successfully manage their financial future, which has rounded out to her role today at Girls with Impact.

Jennifer shared eight lessons for career success, all developed from her own life experiences, and all focused on how to build and achieve your dream career. The one lesson that seemed to resound into other segments of the day was leveraging your “home zone” and not to go it alone. Jennifer acknowledged that she had often found herself facing challenges on her own but recognizes the power of tapping into your network to yield greater success. This network, or “home zone”, includes immediate family, friends, and neighbors. Many fail to reap the benefits of engaging those connections for insights or assistance in a new initiative or career growth opportunity. She then opened the floor to questions, which she answered on the fly and with a direct, real-talk approach.

After Jennifer’s session concluded with a huge round of applause, attendees had the opportunity to participate in facilitated discussions around the major themes from the keynote. These sessions, led by our valued sponsors, consisted of engaging, thoughtful and animated conversations to advance the day’s theme of “Creating Dream Career[s] & Legac[ies].”

Eight Lessons For Career Success

1. Focus on Signature Moves

2. Look for Signals of Change

3. Know & build your personal brand

4. Persevere

5. Don’t give up

6. Move outside your comfort zone

7. Don’t go it alone

8. Be prepared