Women’s Leadership Conference

Apr 25, 2025 - Apr 25, 2025

About Women’s Leadership Conference

The 2025 WLC program will have 7 workshops led by Asian-heritage women training professionals, 2 keynotes, and 3 executive panels featuring 9 executives.

The program is designed with a "staggered start" to allow attendees on both coasts to join at times that work best for their schedules without missing any content.

2025-04-25

09:30

Early Kickoff

The day will begin with a brief welcome message from emcees Hope Yin and Shruti Bahadur, marking the official start of the conference for our East Coast attendees. This quick introduction will lay out the day ahead, offering a warm welcome and a preview of what’s to come during WLC 2025.

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Hope Yin

Hope Yin

Hope Yin is an award-winning Tech Executive turned speaker, coach and advocate for Women in Tech. She is a seasoned ICF certified executive coach with a purpose for empowering women in STEM. As the Founder & Owner of Blueprint Coaching, she has coached hundreds of women leaders to elevate their power, expand their potential, and amplify their legacy.

With a proven track record in enterprise technology modernization and transformation, Hope has held senior executive roles at two Fortune 200 companies. At U.S. Bank, her work in tech transformation and modernization contributed to multiple industry awards for the company, such as Foresters, Brandon Hall and LinkedIn Top 50 Companies. At JPMorgan Chase, she led multi-million-dollar technology portfolios as the Global Head of Talent Development Technology. Her expertise in technical leadership and strategic career planning has enabled her to break through barriers and advance to executive positions.

Committed to inclusive thought leadership in STEM, Hope is a dedicated advocate for women in technology. She has spoken to tens of thousands of individuals at tech conferences and industry events, sharing her insights on overcoming challenges, building a strong tech leader brand, and achieving career success.

09:45

Beyond the Data: Using Storytelling to Influence, Lead & Inspire

As Asian women in STEM, you might often focus on technical expertise, believing that hard work alone will get you noticed. But data shows that visibility, influence, and leadership presence are just as critical for career advancement. So how do you stand out?

The answer lies in storytelling—a powerful tool that helps leaders communicate their vision, build trust, and advocate for themselves in high-stakes environments. Yet, many struggle with how to tell our stories effectively in professional settings.

In this interactive session, you will learn how to craft and deliver a compelling leadership narrative that elevates your voice and presence. Through real-world corporate examples, guided exercises, and peer discussions, you’ll walk away with a story that strengthens your influence in the workplace.

Outcomes:
Learn story structures (Hero’s Journey, The Three Cs) to make your message memorable
Develop your personal leadership narrative that reflects your strengths and values
Practice storytelling techniques that build confidence and executive presence

Audience: Open to all levels, especially those looking to enhance leadership visibility and influence

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Arshiya Kherani

Arshiya Kherani

Arshiya Kherani is a leadership and executive coach, storyteller, and entrepreneur dedicated to helping professionals elevate their presence, influence, and impact. As the founder of NIYAH Advisory, she partners with executives and emerging leaders to develop their leadership identity, strengthen communication skills, and navigate high-stakes career moments.

Her career spans entrepreneurship, strategy, digital media, and client experience, including founding and operating a direct-to-consumer brand. She began her professional journey in real estate and affordable housing, shaping her commitment to integrating profit and purpose in leadership.

A firm believer in the power of storytelling as a leadership tool, Arshiya is also the co-founder of Potluck Stories, an LA-based community organization that hosts interactive storytelling events to amplify underrepresented voices. She believes that mastering one’s narrative is key to career advancement, executive presence, and meaningful leadership.

09:45

Self-Compassion: A Key Ingredient for Leadership Success

Unlock the secret to successful leadership: Self-compassion.

In a culture that emphasizes being the best and achieving everything through hard work, AAPI women often experience pressure to constantly exceed average expectations. However, sometimes it feels like no matter what we accomplish, it’s never enough. Some days, we feel on top of the world, while on others, we find ourselves continuously striving—to improve, to be understood, and to feel appreciated. This persistent pressure can lead to a self-critical attitude and negatively impacts our well-being in life and at work.

Join us for an interactive session where you will unlock one of the secrets to leadership success: Self-Compassion.

Outcomes:
1.Understanding Self-Criticism Triggers
2.Unlocking Self-Compassion to Minimize Self-Criticism
3.Committing to Actions that Support Your Success as a Leader (now or in the future)
Audience: Open to all levels (those with formal and informal leadership titles.)

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Yon Na

Yon Na

Yon Na, PhD, is an organizational consultant and coach who helps leaders & teams create inclusive cultures and accelerate performance by applying organizational psychology principles.

Throughout her career, Yon has led Organizational Effectiveness and Leadership Development efforts in Fortune 100 and high-growth companies, including Warner Bros., The New York Times, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Nordstrom. She partners with her clients by leveraging research and assessments to design customized solutions.

Yon’s research area centers on the intersection of identity, culture, and leadership. She shares her peer-reviewed research on Asian women in leadership at conferences, companies, and colleges. Yon is also the co-founder of Radiance Leadership LLC, an organization dedicated to advancing Asian women in the workplace. She developed the Radiance Leadership Development Program, which combines her research, organizational psychology, and her experience leading in Fortune 100 companies.

11:00

Welcome & Opening Keynote

A Powerful Start to WLC 2025! This is the time East coast and West coast attendees come together and officially kick off WLC 2025 with an inspiring opening keynote by Amy Yip! As a Mental Fitness Executive Coach, TEDx speaker, and industry leader, Amy will share powerful insights on leadership, confidence, and personal growth, setting the stage for a day of transformation and connection.

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Amy Yip

Amy Yip

Amy Yip is the founder of Amy Yip LLC, a company dedicated to closing leadership skills gaps that prevent underrepresented employees from advancing into key roles. As an accomplished Mental Fitness Executive Coach, keynote speaker, award-winning author, and self-confidence trainer, Amy is passionate about helping individuals and teams thrive. A 2X TEDx speaker, she draws on over 16 years of experience building and leading global teams at industry leaders like Google, Clorox, and Booz Allen. Amy’s work is driven by her passion for fostering diverse leadership and creating transformative change.

Amy is an International Coach Federation Professional Certified Coach, a Certified Hudson Institute Coach, a Certified Strozzi Institute Somatic Coach, and a pioneer Mental Fitness Coach certified through Positive Intelligence.

Amy received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and her BS in computer science and BA in communications from the University of Maryland.

Amy resides in Maryland with Greg, her best friend and husband, and her sons Logan and Julian, the cutest kids ever.

11:55

Unlocking Career Growth Through Self-Leadership

Self-leadership is all about motivation and accountability. This interactive and self-reflective workshop will explore current definitions of leadership, Asian American cultural stories that help and hinder growth and advancement. With strategies to reframe narratives, participants will engage with a framework to chart out their goals with actionable steps and accountability.

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Farah Bala

Farah Bala

Farah Bala is a Leadership EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Oppression) Executive Coach, Consultant and Speaker. Through her certified minority, woman-owned agency FARSIGHT. Farah’s mission is to support organizations and leaders re-define the concept of leadership by making EDIA a core leadership competency. Her clients include executives in the C-suite, creatives and entrepreneurs, and organizations across wide-ranging sectors and industries. She is also a faculty coach at multiple learning & development institutions. She is a recipient of the Diversity Award by the World Zoroastrian Organization, recognized for her work in raising awareness towards gender, culture, racial equity and inclusion globally. Farah has been featured in Forbes and is a contributing member to the Forbes Coaches Council. She is co-creator of Wonder Women, an invite-only executive women-of-color leadership development community under FARSIGHT.

11:55

Cultivating and Owning Your Power Beyond Executive Presence and Titles

Have you ever wondered why some leaders have stronger followership than others and can move mountains through their teams? These same leaders are also the ones able to remove even the biggest obstacles to their organization’s success. How do they do it?
Sitting at the top of the organizational pyramid and having the authority to call the shots is just one answer – and it isn’t even the best one. During this session, we’ll dive into the rich and complex concept of power and how the best leaders dial it up and down to achieve their goals.
Other leaders have described this session as “eye-opening,” “super interesting,” and “game-changing for my leadership style.”

By the end of this event, you will be able to:
* Understand what power truly is
* Parse apart the different sources of power and how they relate to your leadership
* Assess what kind of power you have and what kind you need to expand
* Avoid the most common mistakes people make when it comes to wielding power
* Boost your ability to flex as a leader, both within and beyond your organizational boundaries.

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Nenuca Syquia

Nenuca Syquia

Nenuca Syquia is the CEO and Founder of Better Organizations by Design (BOxD), a consulting firm dedicated to aligning the people side of client's businesses with their strategy and goals. The firm offers services in organization design, team coaching, executive and leader development, DEI, change and integration. If you're thinking, "That's quite the breadth of services!" you are right, and that is 100% by design. Nenuca refers to this as "tying together the layers of change," which increases the odds of successful change, whether it is primarily at the organization, team or leader levels.

Having transformed businesses large and small, across industries, and at different parts in their lifecycle - from Sanofi to The San Francisco Ballet and Google to family-owned businesses - Nenuca has seen almost everything. As an entrepreneur, leader of a global team, and immigrant, she can relate to a wide variety of challenges firsthand.

11:55

Overcoming Perfectionism

Many of us have been rewarded for our perfectionism. Early in our careers, our perfectionism is an individual and organizational asset. Perfection means we outperform our colleagues and our work can be trusted. But holding ourselves to a standard of perfection also limits our impact, the opportunities we might pursue, and whether we use our voices in the moment.

This workshop will provide insights into the shadow side of perfection and strategies for unlearning the habits that get in the way of driving our own careers. We will explore the psychology that underlies perfectionist tendencies and identify ways in which perfection is unhealthy and holds us back. We will learn ways to challenge our operating assumptions, be comfortable with owning our “first draft thinking”, and design actionable experiments so waiting for the perfect time, way, moment, or set of factors doesn’t get in the way of having the life and careers we want.

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Elaine Lin Hering

Elaine Lin Hering

Elaine Lin Hering is a speaker, facilitator, and former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management. She has worked on six continents and facilitated executive education at Harvard, Dartmouth, Tufts, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. She has served as the Advanced Training Director for the Harvard Mediation Program and a Managing Partner for a global leadership development firm. She has worked with coal miners at BHP Billiton, micro-finance organizers in East Africa, mental health professionals in China, and senior leadership at the US Department of Commerce. Her clients include American Express, Chevron, Google, Nike, Novartis, PayPal, Pixar, and the Red Cross. She was named a Thinkers50 top management thinker to watch and is the author of the USA Today Bestselling book Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully (Penguin, 2024).