On October 24, the International Women’s Forum (IWF) World Leadership Conference in Miami will bring together nearly 1,000 women experts and visionaries from over 40 nations Centered around this year’s theme, “The World Redefined”, the three-day conference provides an important platform for women thought-leaders from across the globe to engage on current issues from the future of trade to the opioid crisis and the growing number of women running for office around the world.

The World Leadership Conference is held each year in a North American city which is playing a critical role in shaping the future. A vanguard of change with rich diversity that has made bold creativity the city’s hallmark, there is no better backdrop to discuss the current seismic shifts in global issues than Miami.

“IWF is thrilled to convene women thought leaders and influencers in this dynamic city, my hometown. The issues we will discuss are timely, urgent, and have an outsized impact on both the policies of nations and the lives of individuals,” said IWF President and Merrill Lynch Managing Director, Teresa Valdes-Fauli Weintraub.

The International Women’s Forum & Leadership Foundation (IWF/LF) will close the conference with the celebration of two women who have set groundbreaking precedents through their work and example, Alice Walton and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Both women will be inducted into the IWF/LF Hall of Fame during its annual gala. IWF/LF will also celebrate five Women Who Make A Difference Honorees, IWF members selected from the organization’s 7,000 members across 33 countries for having made a difference in their communities and beyond.

“Each of our conferences is unique, and we’re looking forward to hosting women at the top of their respective fields for conversations and discussions designed by world leaders, for world leaders,” said Melanie Damian, Conference Co-Chair and Senior Partner, Damian & Valori, LLP.

Conference speakers include:

  • Gloria Allred, Esq., Founding Partner of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg law firm, human and civil rights attorney and member of IWF Southern California
  • Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Chair and Director of the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative, Arbuckle Professor of Business Administration and member of IWF Massachusetts
  • Martha Nelson, Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, former Global Editor-in-Chief of Yahoo! and former Editor-in-Chief of Time, Inc.
  • Bernice Steinbaum, Gallerist, Curator and member of IWF Florida
  • Stormy-Annika Mildner, PhD, Head of External Economic Policy at the Federation of German Industries and the Sherpa to the Business 20 (B20), G20 Dialogue on global business
  • Hannah Birna Kristjansdottir, Chair of the Women Leaders Global Forum Executive Board, former Minister of the Interior of Iceland and Mayor of Reykjavik
  • Virginia Cram-Martos, Director of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe
  • Alina Polyakova, PhD, Rubenstein Fellow of Foreign Policy in the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution
  • Anita van Breda, Senior Director of Environment and Disaster Management at the World Wildlife Fund
  • Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Miami-Dade State Attorney, co-creator of the Miami-Dade Opioid Addition Taskforce and Member of IWF Florida
  • Susanne M. Torriente, Chief Resiliency Officer and Assistant City Manager for the City of Miami Beach

“More than an economic and technological hub, Miami sets trends in art, culture, media and entertainment, and we look forward to introducing this year’s attendees to the cutting-edge ideas Miami is generating and exporting to the rest of the world,” said Lucy Morillo, Conference Co-Chair and President and CEO, LM & Associates.

The Miami Conference takes place October 24-26. The full agenda and complete speaker lineup can be viewed here. To stay up to date and join the conversation, follow @IWFGlobal on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

About IWF & The Leadership Foundation:

IWF is an invitation-only, membership organization comprised of more than 6,800 diverse and accomplished women from 33 nations on six continents. IWF is dedicated to building better leadership locally and globally. IWF’s Leadership Foundation supports high-potential women through leadership development programs – the Fellows Program and the EY Women Athletes Business Network (WABN) Mentoring Program. For more information on IWF and LF visit www.iwforum.org.