*Please note that this will be an interactive session for both in-person and online attendees. Attendees will participate in three rounds of speed networking with a partner. Virtual attendees will do this in Zoom breakout rooms. We strongly encourage you to turn your camera on for this exercise.*

Networks are very important to the business development success of accountants, but where do you start? And do you even know the right people to begin with? In this session, you’ll see who should be part of your professional and personal networks, as well as what you need to do to inventory your existing relationships and make needed changes. And once you have the right people in your network, how do you best leverage these valuable assets. Come learn how a network can help you build visibility and find potential clients, and then partake in a live networking exercise to begin building that network.

Between demographic, environmental, and economic changes, innovating is a requirement for all organizations to stay healthy and prosper. Some research has shown women tend to be more prone to challenge the current status. They can also bring a different point of view and purpose for driving change in process improvements, talent development techniques, and services, just to name a few. In this session, hear from a panel of women that are influencing and leading innovation in their organizations and the accounting profession. They will share their perspectives on the need for change and what is takes to be successful.

The concept of taking a career break isn’t new, but perhaps we need a new way to approach them. This session dives into the AICPA's recently released toolkit "Leave of Absence as a Retention & Re-Entry Tool, " and focuses on its practical application. The goal is collaboration between employees and employers to create a mutually beneficial path forward using extended leave _as a tool._ This session is meant to catapult organizations forward as you prioritize developing and maintaining your leadership pipelines and is ideal for leaders in firms who are looking for a new approach with practical implementation ideas. Join us to explore how to empower your employees to predictably pause their career for a set period of time in order to prioritize another part of life—but with full expectation of re-entering the workforce with their current employer.

This panel contains industry leaders who will share their best practices at attracting and retaining talent in a post-COVID world. They will share their own stories and help the audience take practical steps in transforming their own leadership and organizational talent management practices.

We’ve all heard about mindfulness and meditation, and yet, we may not have created a practice that seems to stick. In this workshop we will go over the landscape of various somatic practices that are able to increase your rest, resilience and help your recharge. We’ll go over the research and try on a few practices in the room to see which can be embedded into your daily life and use a tool called a ‘habit stack’ to support your practice sticking.

*Please note that this will be an interactive session for both in-person and online attendees. You will be assigned to roundtables or virtual breakout rooms for a group discussion.* 

Concerns about pay equity have created momentum in the direction of greater transparency in compensation. Employees also crave greater transparency about how their performance is measured. Greater pay transparency without greater performance transparency is likely to create frustration and friction. An over-reliance on metrics like hours and tenure fall short in measuring real impact. Many other factors considered in promotion and compensation decisions tend to lack transparency without discernable metrics. Join us for an interactive session exploring how we might go deeper than inputs and effort and better measure our value and impact. Bring an open mind and your best ideas to share in the conversation.

This empowering session will focus on the skills and attributes that help women "Lead the Way", overcome barriers and build successful careers. Packed with data, guidance from the professions most successful women and action steps and tools, the session will allow you to consider how best to leverage your strengths. Women will share perspectives, fresh ideas and inspiration, and learn from each other’s challenges, triumphs and career journeys.

Team members are walking away from jobs by the millions and that includes CPA firms. Is your "good" culture, good enough? Nothing is off limits in this conversation as we talk about opportunities to win when it comes to attracting and advancing talented individuals in your organization. We'll be talking employee experience vs. client experience, culture by design, achieving a sense of belonging in hybrid workplaces, challenging the traditional thoughts about career ladders/paths, and sharing specific ideas for a leg up on retention and recruiting.

Great leaders have very diverse networks because they are inclusive leaders. Inclusive leaders create psychological safety and belonging, a strong sense of caring community, collaboration, and connection. Join us to expand your network with heart-based leaders committed to DEI+Belonging and allyship at work. Learn more ways to be inclusive across many dimensions of diversity. This session will include practical advice on activating your inclusive leadership lens to lead by example and better together.