Women's Leadership Summit (WLS)
Event Information
2026 Women's Leadership Summit (WLS)
Amp Up Your Advocacy: Her Story, Our Story
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Time: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Location: Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology
Ticket Cost: $20
Deadline to register - Friday, February 6, 2026
An interpreter has been requested. Attendees requiring ASL interpreting or real-time captioning services, please visit RIT Access Services and submit a request so we can ensure appropriate accommodations.
The RIT Women’s Leadership Summit (WLS) is hosted by the Leadership Academy at Saunders. Our mission is to inspire, connect, and educate women and allies to become the leaders of tomorrow. We focus on driving leadership excellence in all industries, including arts, sciences, and technology.
Saunders College of Business is excited to celebrate Women's Leadership Weekend! Join us on Friday, February 27, 2026, for the 16th annual Power Your Potential half-day leadership conference geared toward working professionals.
Women's Leadership Summit is open to all eligible members of the Rochester Community, regardless of protected category. View RIT nondiscrimination statement.
WLS Agenda
| Time | Event | Potential Speaker | Room Number | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00-10:00 AM | Check-in, Breakfast | 1st Fl Atrium | 1225/1235 Overflow | |
| 10:00-10:20 AM | Opening Remarks | Allie & Dr. Caroline Solomon | LOW-1050 (The G) |
|
| 10:20-11:05 AM | Keynote Presentation | Becky Yaeger- Connections that Scale: Networking Strategies that Work Across Cities and Screens | LOW-1050 (The G) |
|
| 11:15-11:45 AM | Presentations | Keri Jobson- Four Building Blocks of Leadership: The power of listening, empathy, open-mindedness and motivation | 1225/1235 | |
| Carline Vargas-Gonzalez- From Inner Critic to Inner Advocate: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Through Wellness & Advocacy | 3105 | |||
| Aurelkys Estevez- Empowering Women through Service & Innovation | 1135 | |||
| Paula Yandow-Reilly- The Road Not to Follow | 3015 | |||
| 11:50-12:35 PM | Seminar | Sherry Dadgar- Amplifying Women's Voices in Science, Leadership, and Advocacy: Turning Personal Stories into Collective Impact | 1225/1235 | |
| Kristi Mitchell- The Crossroads: Knowing When to Grow or Go |
3105 | |||
| Stephanie & Tomicka- Embracing Authenticity as a Woman of Color | 1135 | |||
| Sue and Helen- Women Leading the Way in Safety | 3015 | |||
| 12:40-1:40 PM | Lunch | 4th Floor | 1225/1235 Overflow | |
| 1:40-2:40 PM | Leadership Panel | Dinah Weisburg, Alethia Jimenez, Roynda "Roy" Hartsfield-Nack | 4th Floor | |
| 2:45-3:15 PM | Presentation | Kathleen Neville- Women: Power of Advocacy, Storytelling for Change | 1225/1235 | |
| Shaneek Williams- Owning Your Voice: Confidence and Visibility for Emerging Leaders | 3105 | |||
| Linda Kerrigan- Women - How We Can Be Allies Instead of Rivals | 1135 | |||
| Pamela Conley- Advocating Epistemic Justice for Women Leaders | 3015 | |||
| 3:20-4:05 PM | Activity | 1225/1235,1135, 3105, 3015 | ||
| 4:10-4:20 PM | Closing Remarks | |||
| 4:20-5:00 PM | Networking & Promotion | 1st Fl Atrium |
Speakers & Presenters
Keynote Speaker: Becky Yaeger
Becky Yaeger is a Rochester native and RIT New Media Design ’18 alumna whose career has evolved quickly into design leadership spanning agency, enterprise, and media teams. Her foundation in user-centered design was shaped at RIT through hands-on coursework and co-op experiences that set the stage for her professional growth.
After graduation, Becky designed for well-known brands including Total Wine & More, Paychex, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Today, she is a Lead Product Designer at The Walt Disney Company, where she leads ESPN’s Watch Pillar - a focused team guiding video and streaming experiences across ESPN’s digital platforms and shaping how millions of fans watch sports.
In addition to her role at Disney, Becky runs BDrex Design, LLC, providing independent design and strategy services, and continues to mentor and support the next generation of designers through her connection to the RIT community. In her free time Becky enjoys photography, traveling, hiking and cheering on the Buffalo Bills.
Panelists
Roynda Hartsfield-Nac
Roynda aka "Roy" is the CIO of Obie & Ax Inc., leading technology for the largest North American podcast production firm serving corporations and government. Previously, she led Talent and DEI at Devron, advancing federated machine learning and privacy-preserving innovation. A retired senior intelligence officer with 27+ years of federal service, she has driven engineering, data strategy, and STEM leadership across the Intelligence Community and is a fierce advocate for advancing women in engineering.
Presentations
Pamela Conley – NTID
Pamela Conley is an Associate Professor at RIT/NTID, with over 30 years of teaching in higher education, including writing to deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and deaf literature to deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing students. She is completing her doctoral studies at Antioch University, where her research focuses on marginalized deaf perspectives in three 19th-century stories. Pamela brings a lifetime of advocacy based on lived experience.
Aurelkys Estevez
Aurelkys Estévez is an Academic Coordinator at the National School of the Public Ministry (IES-ENMP) in the Dominican Republic and a professor at Universidad Católica Santo Domingo (UCSD). With a background in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Service Leadership and Innovation, her work focuses on ethical leadership and advancing women’s leadership in higher education. She is committed to empowering women in academia through teaching, academic leadership, and collaboration with nonprofit organizations.
Linda Kerrigan
Linda Kerrigan ’02, MBA ’03 is Associate Director, R&D Agile Sourcing at Bristol Myers Squibb and has over twenty years experience in pharmaceutical drug development covering both Clinical Trial Sourcing and Research. Before her progressive roles at BMS she worked for over a decade at Celgene in portfolio sourcing and relationship management. Linda also spent five years with Wyeth Vaccines Research as a research scientist. Linda majored in biotechnology and completed her MBA, Technology Management through RIT’s 4 + 1 program
Carline Vargas-Gonzalez
Carline Vargas-Gonzalez is an RIT alumna, an active member of Lambda Pi Chi Sorority, Inc., and a licensed esthetician and massage therapist. She is the founder of Euphoric Transcendence and brings over a decade of experience as a spa professional and educator.
Paula Yandow-Reilly
Paula Yandow-Reilly is currently a Lead Developer at Frontier communications. She holds an Educational Doctorate from the University of Rochester and a Masters in Computer Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has been a manager and a lead developer for multiple organizations, including banking, higher education, and telecommunications. She's known for pioneering new technologies, most recently working with Cursor AI to leverage agents like Claude Sonnet 4.5 to speed software development and documentation. She’s led major projects, solved complex application conversions, and loves a good puzzle.
Directions
Women's Leadership Summit will be held in Saunders College of Business, on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology.
Parking
Please park in Parking Lot S
Download Campus Maps: Interactive Campus Map.
Map/Directions
RIT’s campus is conveniently located five miles from the Greater Rochester International Airport and the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90).
From the Airport
Turn right onto Brooks Avenue, then right onto Interstate 390 South. From 390, take the Scottsville Road exit and turn right. Drive for approximately three miles, then turn left onto Jefferson Road. Travel east for approximately one-half mile to the campus.
From Interstate 90
Take exit 46 and proceed north on Interstate 390 to exit 13 (Hylan Drive). Turn left on Hylan and continue north to Jefferson Road. Turn left on Jefferson and proceed west for approximately two miles to the campus.
Address for GPS
Parking Lot D, Reynolds Dr, Rochester, NY 14623