An Empowering Event With Purpose

Last week, I attended the Odyssey Network Business Retreat in Naples, Florida, an annual conference that connects and empowers women of color with a focus on professional and personal development. Brands within the Unilever Beauty and Personal Care North America portfolio that I manage, Dove and SundialBrands' SheaMoisture had the opportunity to engage with these 600 current and aspiring icons, leaders, and change agents.

I had the honor of moderating a panel of two inspiring women: Lisa Osborne Ross, President of Edelman’s Washington, DC office, who provides counsel to C-suite and boards on policy-related, mission-critical situations and was honored by the PR Council as the agency world’s 2017 Diversity Champion; and Alicia Boler-Davis, Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing at General Motors who holds two Masters (one in engineering and the other in business), an Honorary Doctorate and leads a team of 165,000. Although both of these women are powerhouses in their own right, they humbly share the belief that their families are the foundation of their success.

My 1:1 conversation with SundialBrands founder and CEO Richelieu Dennis gave us the opportunity to talk about his vision behind the $50 million New Voices Fund, a fund explicitly established to empower Black women in entrepreneurship. In the spirit of Community Commerce, #NewVoicesFund held a business pitch competition during the conference and awarded two brilliant entrepreneurs each with $25,000 to help propel the next generation of leading Black female entrepreneurs!

While thought-leadership drove the conversations throughout the week, #Dove reminded the attendees that self-care and self-esteem are two critical components that will drive them to reach their full potential and offered them an opportunity to give back by inspiring future generations of women as a part of the Dove Self Esteem Project.

I am thrilled that #Unilever participated in this fantastic purpose-driven conference, giving us the opportunity to celebrate and support women of color, providing them the resources and the encouragement needed to shift, learn, lead and advance professionally and personally.