Kellogg Celebrates Ongoing Commitment to Women’s Leadership By Convening Global Women’s Summit

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Kellogg will convene a Global Women's Summit, bringing together more than 800 alumnae, faculty and students in Evanston to learn from each other, make meaningful connections and explore the unique challenges women face across career stages.

The landmark event on May 8 and 9 will celebrate Kellogg women and the school's ongoing commitment to accelerating the careers of high-potential women.

Women now make up more than half of the incoming classes in the top U.S. universities, but still only a small fraction of CEOs, board directors, NGO and government leaders. Women are getting through the door, but not always ascending to the highest levels of organizations.

The summit is a direct outgrowth of Kellogg's ongoing programming with a particular focus on the three pivot points in a women's career: Launch, Mid-Career Marathon and Executive Transition.

"Kellogg identified three key decisions points or 'pivot points' where women face issues that are unique culturally and biologically. They produce predictable stressors into women's lives and mean that on average, high-potential women experience career choices, goals and trade-offs differently than do high-potential men with similar education and experience," said Ellen Taaffe, Director of Women's Leadership Programs at Kellogg and Clinical Assistant Professor of Leadership.

Kellogg has a strong history of developing and supporting women's leaders, specifically as they navigate these career pivot points. For example, 760 women have participated in Kellogg's Women's Director Development Program and one-third of those women now serve on corporate boards.  

"Kellogg is uniquely positioned to provide education and support to help women at all stages and transitions. The connections that Kellogg women make at the summit will help them navigate key challenges and boldly lead now and in the future," said Diana Cordova, Clinical Professor of Executive Education and Academic Director, Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute. 

The summit will welcome many successful Kellogg alumnae who will share their advice and lessons learned on their career paths. Featured speaker and Northwestern graduate, Sherry Lansing, former CEO of Paramount Pictures, will discuss how she navigated career pivot points and became a well-respected woman at the top of one of the toughest industries for females.

Alumnae will join remotely in key cities such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Hong Kong. Additionally, Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks will host viewing events of the summit from their corporate headquarters.

"Kellogg women mentor, coach and support other Kellogg women, sharing their wisdom, experience and connections. Kellogg alumnae at any career stage can seek the support of other alumnae as they navigate through their own career journey," shared Wendy Kritt, Managing Director of Alumni Engagement and Networking at Kellogg.  

The summit will tap into the Kellogg faculty's cross-disciplinary research on the challenges women leaders face. The session, "Ethics in the Workplace" will highlight new research revealing that women are less likely than men to engage in unethical behavior but when they do commit ethic violations, women are punished more harshly than men for the same offenses. Additionally, faculty will share new research across a variety of disciplines in research session, "The Impact of Gender."

Kellogg will also be livestreaming 14 of the sessions. Visit the virtual participation part of the FAQ on the logistics webpage for the livestream links.

For additional information on the Global Women's Summit, visit the event website and follow #KelloggWomen on Twitter.