The 2018 United State of Women Summit

LAC Women & Girls Initiative with the Department of Public Health are hosting a panel on three areas that demonstrate how social experience shapes the health of women: domestic violence, substance abuse, and birth outcomes. After the event, participants will be provided with a pass to enjoy the Natural History Museum for the remainder of the day. Location of the Event: This event will take place at the Community Room at the Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas Constituent Services and Training-Center. The Training-Center is located adjacent to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum Historic South Entrance at 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90007. The Natural History Museum is a family of three museums including the Natural History Museum located in Exposition Park, the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum located in Hancock Park, and the William S. Hart Museum located in Newhall. The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education. The Museum was the first dedicated museum building in Los Angeles, opening its doors in 1913. It has amassed one of the world’s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history-with more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. Parking: Will be $12 at the Natural History Museum and California Science Center.

50 Women Can Change the World in Media & Entertainment: How the Media Industry is Tackling #MeToo and Creating a Blueprint for Gender Parity

An interactive dialogue & shared learning with industry leaders who are shaking up the status quo & leading with results & action to create 50/50, round table discussions with the #50WomenCan Cohort, partners & champions who are taking the lead for gender parity in media and entertainment & experience hands-on techniques & tools to redefine power.

For further information about the #50WomenCan initiative go to, www.50WomenCan-Media.com for Level Forward: http://variety.com/2018/biz/news/killer-content-abigail-disney-level-forward-studio-1202664003/

In 2015, Alliance for Girls received a competitive National Girls Initiative Innovation Award from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to develop the Meeting Girls Needs
Initiative to support female students of color in Oakland, Calif. Based on the success of an Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) pilot project to increase equity for girls and reduce the school to prison pipeline, AFG developed a Meeting Girls Needs toolkit to enable community based organizations to launch similar initiatives in their communities. Learn how you can bring this initiative to your schools, and delve into a case study of how this initiative is being implemented in LA. AFG-LA founding members Motivating Our Students Through Experience (MOSTe) and EmpowHer will guide participants in breakout sessions that explore their program models for effective mentorship and access to opportunity for girls of color in LA, as well as how their programs feed into a collective effort to effect systems change for girls on the margins in LA.

Athlete activism is an ever-evolving phenomenon that today looks very different from when we started the conversation a year ago. We believe that activist efforts seek to change the social climate and structures that make volunteerism necessary, yet few people understand their service as an important contribution to larger structural social change.

We seek to help female athletes and laypersons understand the power and necessity of activism in achieving social change, and to reframe volunteerism and service as an effective act of dissent.

This panel discussion will share the stories of athletes, coaches and executives in the sports industry who have found their voice and used it to support causes they believe in while highlighting Play Like a Girl programs and sharing how athletes and those passionate about sport can propel our efforts to level the playing field for girls and women in sports.

Women's March LA will be hosting the "Empowered Civic Engagement" panel to give attendees the tools to actively engage in their local communities, including how to lobby for community initiatives, re-engaging in local democratic environments, and re-inventing the political process from its current form.  And most importantly, learn how to build power for a sustainable movement!

Meet the young women from South LA who represented their community and shifted the narrative of the “March For Our Lives” movement to include the experiences of youth of color. Learn how you can get involved in the fight to advance equity in public education, transform communities and build the next generation of powerful and impactful Girls and Womyn of Color.

Join Bossed Up, She Should Run, and Platform Women for an engaging series of trainings focused on helping you level up in your leadership practice. Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, corporate boss, or community activist, all leaders must be able to clearly communicate their vision and tell their story in a way that inspires action.

Recent research shows women tend to struggle when it comes to communicating a clear vision - an essential skill for leaders of all ages and stages in one’s career.

Join award-winning trainers from three national organizations for an interactive, engaging, and actionable half-day of training that will leave you equipped to create lasting progress back home.

How can you impact governance decisions in your city and county? Join the Liberty Hill Foundation to learn how to influence equitable decision-making in your community, to ensure that decisions benefit all residents through City and County boards and commissions. This session will be a conversation for activists who want to interact with commissions; aspiring commissioners who want to represent low-income, communities of color; and existing commissioners who want to deepen their impact.
In any given city or county, there can be dozens and dozens of local commissions yielding great power over local communities. With roots in the Progressive Era (1890-1920), commissions are a bridge between residents and professional politicians. Their appointed members (more than 300 in L.A. City alone) oversee key city agencies and advise elected officials and government employees on core policies, but not even the wonkiest policy wonks can name all the City's 52 boards and commissions, never mind the many dozens of County and State boards and commissions. And yet these policy-making and advisory bodies made up of non-political experts and residents are one of the most important—and powerful—cornerstones of regional government.

How can you impact governance decisions in your city and county? Join the Liberty Hill Foundation to learn how to influence decision-making in your community, and ensure that equitable and fair decisions are being made for the benefit of all residents. This session will be a conversation for activists who want to interact with commissions to defend their communities; aspiring commissioners who want to represent low-income, communities of color; and existing commissioners who want to deepen their impact. This session will include presentations and discussion designed to help you ensure that your city has strong civic leaders to serve on all boards and commissions making decisions every day that will be good for all of our communities.

Through Liberty Hill Foundation’s Wally Marks Leadership Institute, Liberty Hill has been running a commissions training program since 2013, providing trainings tailored to the specific interests of social justice advocates and grassroots activists. Through our trainings we have incubated and accelerated the leadership of dozens of organizations and hundreds of Angelenos, and supported the appointments of nearly 40 individuals to city, county, and state boards and commissions.

We cannot achieve equity for all women, unless we actively dismantle racism. As we fight for gender equity it is our responsibility to ensure that the voices and experiences of women of color are centered in advocacy efforts and policy solutions. For 160 years, YWCA has been on a mission to to eliminate racism and empower women. Join us, to learn more about our journey and gain tools to strengthen your own journey to fight for justice at the intersection of race and gender.

From Fannie Lou Hamer to Erica Garner, history has shown us that far too many women have paid for the movement with their health. GirlTrek’s “Self-Care for Freedom Fighters” workshop gives women the opportunity to learn and practice tools to begin pushing past burnout, historic trauma, rampant sexism, institutional racism, and other obstacles that hinder doing the work they’ve been called to do.

Often, the biggest barrier for creating change is knowing how to take the first step toward achieving your goal. Our communities need new leaders—and new voices—to get involved. All over the country, women are stepping up to fill this void and make a positive impact on their local communities. In this session, we work to understand the critical nature of establishing a strong, actionable vision; we develop one; and conclude by laying the groundwork for turning it into action.

This session will take a deeper look at the essence and foundation of community organizing—what is it we are truly seeking to achieve by organizing others to action? In this, we’ll highlight some of our country’s most notable women organizers, as well as those who currently display powerful leadership as volunteer organizers through Organizing for Action.

First, we’ll discuss the unique challenges presented to women as they seek to organize and empower their communities to effect change. We’ll look at how operating from our strengths is a more effective strategy—because successful organizing leverages a diverse array of skills, tactics, and ideas. There’s no one right way to organize.

In the second half of our session, we’ll examine some concrete organizing skills and how to apply them. Namely, we’ll start at one of the most fundamental necessities of strong organizing: creating and understanding our vision. What is our purpose? What drives us to action? Why do we organize, and why do we care? These are the questions we must be able to answer to construct our path forward and begin creating the world we want to see. From here, we’ll pivot towards developing an understanding of how to effectively plan and implement a strategy for success based on our visions—Once we know what we’re aiming for, we need to develop a way to get there!

We’ll close our session by outlining what work is left to do in order to organize and impact our communities, including the ways you can get involved with OFA and other progressive organizations working to achieve a world of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

This training is geared towards those who seek to make an impact in their communities and want to figure out how a good way to establish a strong foundation. Often, the biggest barrier for creating change is taking that first step towards your goal. We hope to give you the skills, confidence, and drive to get started.

Develop and enhance your leadership abilities and mindset for success, in this fun and unique skills-based workshop. Learn the science behind the mind and your thinking, and understand how unconscious programs and archetypes affect women in positions of power today. In this interactive learning lab, overcome imposter syndrome, improve your internal dialogue, clam negation nerves, and combat the fear of, and embrace being “aggressive” or a “bitch”.

Leave this workshop with increased, clarity, excitement and a basic understanding of how to go out, lead from within, and JUST GET IT!

Courtney A. Seard is a Peak-Performance Coach, Business Strategist, Author, and as a certified Trainer of Neuro-linguistic Programing, with 20+ years of experience in architecting outcomes and success for Fortune 500 companies and high-profile clients. She uses her life story to inform her innovative business management and behavioral leadership strategies by linking innovation, neuroplasticity, behavioral science, and mindset training.

Come accelerate your success and development, and leave with:

• 5 Leadership Principles
• “Path of Power” A stress reduction and state control exercise
• A Goal Setting Process and Exercise
• Advanced Motivation Techniques

Come with an open mind, excitement, and the readiness to step into more.

Calling all changemakers, community organizers and anyone interested in leveling up their tech know-how! Want to learn how to code, but not sure where to start? If you are a complete beginner to coding and want to learn what it’s all about, this is for you. We will walk through the fundamentals of web development and take you through various components of the web and how they work together. Following the workshop, we’ll hear from women from various backgrounds that have transitioned into tech.

Women make up the majority of the population in the U.S., but in TV and film account for 27% of producers and only 13% of writers and directors. The odds are stacked even higher against women of color, which is why we need to ensure that entertainment is truly inclusive both behind the camera and on TV.

Underground parking lot is accessible on Blackburn Ave.
Join Raben_Impact and the Writers Guild Foundation on Sunday, May 6th for a panel with industry showrunners and special guests, and a training that highlights tools and grassroots communications tactics to support women creators and promote the content they create.

The entertainment industry has enormous influence on how society views women and it must be proactive to 1) not embrace damaging portrayals of women and 2) promote empowering and positive images instead. This starts with an inclusive culture behind the scenes and in the workplace -- one that values the unique perspective of women. Unfortunately, harmful traditional power dynamics often come into play, historically placing more value on the perspective of the straight white men in the room. But its time is up, and together, we can help ensure gender equity in writers rooms and among audiences as well.

A portion of this training will provide insight and advice from successful women writers, directors, and showrunners about how to create diverse writers rooms, casts, and crews that are truly representative of the communities whose stories are being told. The culture change of “who is in the room and how they are treated” is equally as important as the on screen portrayal of characters, because they come to life on screen as an extension of the creative vision.

The second component of the training will focus on grassroots communications tactics and best practices that help support women showrunners. Audiences hold infinite power and when armed with organizing and communications tactics, can influence networks to keep investing in women and ensure that content with strong female leads (the content we want to see) stays on TV.

Continuing the momentum of the #MeToo movement, this Girl Up workshop co-led by staff and a trained youth advocate will inspire and guide you to create safe spaces in your community for women and girls. You will gain the tools to be an effective activist for girl-led solutions, turning your passion into action to be a change-maker in your community.

When women and girls are not safe walking in their own town, shopping in markets or selling their goods, using community toilets, or simply taking public transit, it has a huge impact on their lives. The experience or threat of violence affects women and girls’ access to social activities, employment, education, and leadership opportunities.

In this interactive session, you will learn about the importance of safe spaces and how to create them in your community. The training will cover:
• Public speaking
• How to pitch your advocacy plan
• Networking
• What effective leadership strategies are
• How to build your communications/media plan
• And more
Girl Up will help you become the leader and change maker you want to be.

The following Girl Up Staff Members and Youth Advocate that will lead you through this training are:

Lisa Napper: Lisa is a former member of the It’s On Us Student Advisory Committee and White House Champion of Change. Upon graduating from Howard University, she began working with Girl Up at the United Nations Foundation as their Program Associate.

Kelsey Carroll: Kelsey is the Communications and Digital Media Associate for Girl Up, housed by the United Nations Foundation. She has a degree from William Smith College in Women’s studies, and is passionate about gender-centered global development and ethical storytelling.

Youth Advocate: Our Youth Advocate is a current Girl Up leader, who is a champion for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Through Girl Up’s leadership programs, Girl Up inspires, convenes, trains and connects girls globally, helping to position them as leaders and changemakers.

A good interview with the right media outlet or talk at a high-profile conference can advance your cause or candidacy. Join communications strategists Nell Callahan and Heather Wilson from SKDKnickerbocker for a hands-on training to help you refine your message, prepare for any question that comes your way, and stay in control of your interview or presentation.
 
SKDKnickerbocker, 2016 National and Global Public Affairs Agency of the Year Holmes Report, works with elected officials, candidates, corporate leaders and advocates to cut through the clutter of a crowded media landscape. This session will help you develop an authentic narrative that’s clear, consistent, memorable, and meaningful.
 

Join Awesomeness, a leading media company for Gen Z, to learn about this highly influential generation and what inspires and moves them to social action. During the panel, we’ll chat all things Gen Z and explore how they’re going to change or rather, save, the world. We’ll be joined by Gen Z girls to discuss their own advocacy, and explore the role that entertainment, social media, & brands can play in social activism. You’ll leave knowing exactly who Gen Z is and what mobilizes them to action.Awesomeness is a media company serving the global Gen Z audience through its suite of digital networks- AwesomenessTV, DreamWorksTV, Awestruck- and its film and television studio arms.

Founded in 2012, Awesomeness has spent five years creating original programming and cultivating an audience made up of one of the most coveted and difficult to reach demographics. As a leading media brand for this generation, Awesomeness’ extensive distribution footprint spans across owned, social and premium SVOD platforms. The company also includes a creative agency, creator network, and brand partnerships division. Awesomeness is headquartered in Los Angeles, with additional offices in New York, London and Singapore. Investors include Comcast NBCUniversal, Verizon and Hearst.  

Four survivors trace the fates of their rape kits, as officials investigate the systematic failure that’s created a backlog of more than 400,000 untested kits nationwide.  

An HBO Premiere.
Runtime: 89 min

Directors: Geeta Gandbhir and Trish Adlesic
Producer: Mariska Hargitay

Complimentary water provided by RED BULL and complimentary LUNA bars provided at all screening venues.

This event will bring together state and local elected officials to discuss policy ideas and strategies for advancing women’s rights in 2018 and beyond. With attacks at both the federal and state level on access to health care, reproductive rights, child care, and workplace policies such as equal pay and paid leave affecting women and families, state and local leaders are at the forefront of protecting gains – and creating further progress - for women’s equality and economic security.  This policy event will include discussions by elected officials on legislation, best practices, and organizing opportunities across a number of women’s rights policy topics.

Speakers:
Valerie Jarrett
Alejandra Castillo, YWCA
CA State Senator Hannah Beth Jackson
AZ State Representative Athena Salman
Shilpa Phadke, Center for American Progress
Jocelyn Frye, Center for American Progress

Brunch will be provided.

Reproductive Justice is the human right to control our bodies, our sexuality, our gender, our work and our reproduction. It is a framework created by women of color that expands beyond the womb, encompassing the many intersections of having a child, not having a child and being able to raise a family with dignity and respect. Addressing the wide range of reproductive justice inequities requires an intersectional approach that recognizes the history and barriers that communities of color face. This workshop will look at everyday barriers faced by marginalized Black women and girls from a Reproductive Justice lens and demonstrate how you can implement an Reproductive Justice framework in your own grassroot/campaign work.

Following registration and light breakfast jump into an action-driven workshop to revamp the scope of vision for your Artist-Entrepreneur career. Whether you're wondering how to engage your own flavor of entrepreneurship or already immersed in self-employment, take your career vision to new heights with best practices from lady bosses that have built companies through ingenuity, creativity and savvy business know-how. The session will begin with pitches from each industry leader about the focus area they will delve into, followed by round-table working groups to hammer out questions on how to make your art practice sustainable, enhance creativity in your brand, or actualize your business concept. We will close out the session with a special motivational performance from Award-winning author and poet Iris Gomez.

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM, Breakfast Mixer & Registration (PROVIDED ON SITE)

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM, She Can Have It All: Rise of The Artist-Entrepreneur Workshop
Whether you're wondering how to engage your own flavor of entrepreneurship or already immersed in self-employment, take your career vision to new heights with best practices from lady bosses that have built companies through ingenuity, creativity and savvy business know-how. The session will begin with pitches from each industry leader about the focus area they will delve into, followed by round-table working groups to hammer out questions on how to make your art practice sustainable, enhance creativity in your brand, or actualize your business concept.

PRESENTERS:
Anasa Troutman, Founder & CEO, Eloveate
Cristina Pacheco, Creative Producer
Katrina Frye, Founder & Director, Mischief Managed

11:30 AM, Poetry with Iris Gomez

12:00PM, Lunch (PROVIDED ON SITE)

Join us for a series of short narrative films curated to expand the conversations from the USOW main stage and to inspire action. Featuring female voices that reflect the diversity of Los Angeles, these shorts transcend traditional storytelling in capturing big ideas within a limited timeframe. Filmmakers will introduce their selections and be available for questions after the screening.  Runtime: 110 minutes

·    The Counter 1960: Three ‘woke’ black students from 2017 find themselves seated at lunch counter in 1960. Will they be seated? Directed by Tracey ‘Twinkie’ Byrd

·    2500KM: A Guatemalan mother must decide between staying with her abusive husband or running away to the U.S in the hopes of finding a better life. Directed by Daniela Arguello

·    Muted: When her teenage daughter Crystal disappears, a divorced African-American mother of two, is stunned by the inaction of local police. They come to learn the painful lesson that all missing children are not created equal. Directed by Rachel Goldberg

·      Keep Calm & Tampon: Follow a menstruating teen girl on her quest for a single tampon. She must battle teasing boys, tear down gender constructs, and even take on the United States Government, all while singing, dancing, and shedding a uterine lining. Directed by: Claudia Lonow Rapaport

·    Q.U.E.E.N.: A teenage girl who was sexually abused uses rap as her outlet to express her pain. Directed by Brittany "B.Monét" Fennell

·      Vessels: A young transgender woman considers a dangerous black market surgery that may be her only option in gaining a more feminine body. Written & Directed by Arkasha Stevenson

Thanks to NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) and Los Angeles Womens International Film Festival (LAWIFF) for their assistance in curating these selections. Complimentary water provided by RED BULL and complimentary LUNA bars provided at all screening venues.

Please join us for a grassroots rally at Pershing Square as we shine a light on the very real issues affecting moms in Los Angeles:

• Maternal Death
• Postpartum Depression
• Family Leave Policies
• Access to comprehensive reproductive health care
• Preterm birth disparities
• Racial and ethnic disparities in breastfeeding
• Obstetric Violence & consent-based care

We can do better and with your help, we will.