USC OWN IT hosted a “Women Who Leads World” summit in the Galen Center on March 29. This summit focused on women in leadership positions, exploring topics like entrepreneurship, social media, mental health, social justice and finance. With a plethora of speakers like Serena Page and Megan DeAngelis and sponsorships like Tower 28, The Giving Keys and One Size, this summit investigates women’s involvement and development in all types of leadership.
The summit opened with a speech from the School of Dramatic Arts’ Dean Emily Roxworthy. She explained a common phenomenon among women in leadership is that they overprepare as a means of proving competence and exhibiting control. Thus, Dean Roxworthy emphasized the importance of adaptability.
“Adaptability means that bravery, laughter and humor flourish because we lean into change with less fear and more confidence,” she said.
Following Roxworthy was Haven Lin-Kirk, the dean of USC’s Roski School of Art and Design. Lin-Kirk explained she grew up as a shy kid, and that leadership was “something [she] grew into.” Through her keynote speech, she reminds audiences that leadership manifests in multiple ways, making every person a leader in their own unique right. Whether you are more vocal or more observant, you can be suited to be a leader. “Vision does not require noise to be powerful,” she said.
After Lin-Kirk was the first speaker panel of the event, “Women Leading Social Change.” Moderated by Ariela Turndorf, an adjunct marketing professor at USC, this panel focused on women’s involvement with social justice and advocacy. The panelists included Melissa Berton, Founder and Executive Director of The Pad Project and Academy Award-winning producer, Fatima Goss Graves, CEO of the National Women’s Law Center and Iliana Perez, Executive Director of Immigrants Rising.
This panel emphasized the importance of women in leadership roles in facilitating important social change. All three panelists discovered their passions early in life, often having them ingrained in their everyday surroundings. For Perez, her own parents’ grit and resilience inspired her to fight for immigration rights everywhere.
“The communities that we work with … pushed me to figure out how to change policies and how to ensure that there is a different future,” Perez said.
For Berton, her work as a high school English teacher exposed her to period stigma.
“One in four students misses school right here in the United States and also around the world because she doesn’t have access to clean and safe toilets,” Berton said.
Being inspired by the Hollywood landscape, she chose to make a documentary about menstrual health challenges and stigma around the world called “Period. End of Sentence.” Her documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2019.
As for Goss Graves, she wanted to become an attorney and commit her career to justice after witnessing the attorneys who represented her family during school desegregation cases. “I saw them as sort of the heroes in the story, that you can use law for good and justice.” Through her work at the National Women’s Law Center, she works to improve the state of women’s pay and narrow the pay gap between working women and men.
Transitioning from the panel to lunch was Nicole “NeeKKo” Lindsey with an energy booster segment. Lindsey is a media personality, host and founder of the “Education is Key” nonprofit, describing herself as an “entertainer with a purpose.” “Energy is transactional,” said Lindsey, telling attendees that the confidence you display impacts both yourself and the people around you.
Shortly after the energy booster segment was a “Taste and Talk,” where attendees mingled with industry professionals while eating lunch. Companies like KPMG, Project Glimmer, House of Clay LA and the Los Angeles Sparks were represented during this segment. This networking session gave attendees the opportunity to ask personalized questions and get a glimpse of various professional fields.
For the next panel, “Women in the Spotlight: Social Media & Mental Health,” Serena Page and Megan DeAngelis came to the stage and spoke about their experiences in the public eye. With Page gaining viral traction quickly from the airing of “Love Island USA” season six and DeAngelis growing up making content for the internet, both speakers had unique insights of living in the spotlight. A vital takeaway was the importance of sisterhood and companionship, being able to have a tight-knit community that supports your professional and personal growth.
“Men come and go, who you have is your sisterhood and your family,” said Page.
Additionally, both Page and DeAngelis describe how entertainment and content creation are “not an organized industry.” Therefore, DeAngelis described the importance of authenticity and building a social life outside of her career, drawing inspiration from the popular quote “to be cringe is to be free.” Whether that be an odd passion, an unorthodox hobby or an unconventional career path, DeAngelis said “doing it anyway is so powerful,” encouraging audiences to stay true to themselves.
Following Page and DeAngelis was the “Women in Business: From Idea to Impact” panel, presented by TWELVE and moderated by Kimberly Kelly-Rolfe. The panelists included: Dianna Cohen, founder of Crown Affair, Emily Kosko, founder and CEO of Global Business Consulting and Globu Media and Caitlin Crosby, founder and CEO of The Giving Keys.
This panel was focused on entrepreneurship and exploring what brings a business from paper to action.
“I started a few businesses and every single one of them chose me,” Kosko said.
She spoke about how leadership and entrepreneurship worked best when she was passionate about her mission and vision.
For Cohen, her entrepreneurship is based on “working on things that change the way that people feel about themselves.” Specifically for her hair care company, Crown Affair, Cohen’s mission was to empower consumers through their hair routine, and she spent several years preparing for Crown Affair’s launch in 2020.
Crosby’s organization came from a beautiful coincidence. Previously a full-time musician, she engraved affirmational words in vintage keys and attached them to chains as tour merchandise. Soon, she noticed these keys were gaining popularity and saw audience members connecting over the words engraved. Crosby then decided to start The Giving Keys, selling these key necklaces and encouraging people to share these necklaces to someone and share their story on their website.
“I wanted to write songs to help people, but I never thought that they would be through these token key necklaces.” Crosby showed attendees that entrepreneurship can stem from anywhere, leading to real impact and change you couldn’t have imagined unless you take a chance.
Overall, this panel emphasized the importance of taking risks and being authentic to yourself. Whichever business idea you choose or entrepreneurship venture you take, passion and dedication will be the foundation for success.
Nicole Lord, US luxury retail leader and New York advisory market leader at KPMG, brought the summit to an end with a keynote speech about confidence and action. A USC Leventhal alum, Lord explains that success is not about being good at everything. “Success is about self-awareness, not perfection,” she says. Lord emphasizes the importance of taking action consistently and having the initiative to take the first step forward. Additionally, it was a full circle moment for Lord as her mother and daughter were in attendance. Lord’s powerful speech on initiative and self-discovery brought the summit to a close, encouraging attendees to reflect and act.