2026 Michigan ATHENA Leadership Conference

Become the leader your career – and your team – needs next.

Join hundreds of women leaders from across Michigan for three days of practical leadership strategies, meaningful connections and renewed confidence you'll put to work immediately.

Build executive presence and influence
Expand your statewide leadership network
Gain practical tools from nationally recognized experts
Return with actionable practices and a plan

Step away from the daily rush and join a powerful community of women leaders for three inspiring days in Northern Michigan’s spectacular fall colors. Learn from three separate breakout session tracks, designed to tailor your experience to your unique needs and interests.

Track A - Leadership Skills: Designed for detail-oriented leaders looking to fine-tune the core competencies that drive performance and influence. It will help you sharpen the skills that separate good leaders from great ones.
Track B - Career and Personal Growth: Adapted for leaders at a crossroads or in active pursuit of their leap forward. Featuring speakers who combine real-world strategy with the deep honesty that sparks transformation, these sessions will help you navigate transition and grow more intentionally.
Track C - Wellness and Sustainability: Tailored to leaders who recognize that sustainable performance starts from within. It's ideal for high achievers who are running low on fuel and ready to lead from a healthier, more grounded place.

You already have a brand. The question is, are you intentionally using it to lead, innovate, and create impact?
In this high-energy, research-grounded keynote, Monica Lloyd invites women leaders to step fully into empowered leadership by taking ownership of the most underleveraged leadership tool they have: their personal brand. Too often, reputation is left to chance. The most effective leaders, however, shape it with clarity, consistency, and intention to inspire others and drive meaningful results.

Drawing on her proprietary Authenticity in Action™ framework, Monica walks audiences through the three dimensions of a powerful personal brand: who you are, how you show up and the lasting impact you create. She connects the dots between self-awareness and influence, showing how aligned leaders don’t just perform, they elevate the people and environments around them.

This keynote challenges attendees to move beyond passive presence and into active, intentional leadership by actively defining, aligning and amplifying a leadership brand that drives influence and impact.

Attendees will leave with:

A clear understanding of their current leadership brand and the gap between perception and intention.
Practical tools to show up with consistency, credibility and influence in every interaction.
A renewed sense of confidence to own their story and use it to inspire and impact others.
A fresh perspective on how authentic leadership fuels innovation and elevates team performance

This isn’t about personal marketing. It’s about alignment. It’s about leading with intention. And it’s about owning the narrative that not only moves you forward, but creates ripple effects far beyond you.

Presenter: Monica Lloyd, People Forward

Track A: Leadership Skills

The Other Kind of Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a critical driver of both personal well-being and professional success. This interactive workshop explores the skills needed to understand, manage and respond effectively to emotions. Participants will gain practical strategies to strengthen self-awareness, build stronger relationships, navigate change, enhance communication and lead with greater impact. This session provides a roadmap for increasing personal effectiveness, workplace success and overall well-being.

Presenter: Jackie Krawczak, Jackie Krawczak, LLC

Track B: Career and Personal Growth

The Civility Code™: Small Leadership Behaviors That Shape Culture and Trust

A leadership experience focused on how leaders communicate, engage and make decisions in moments that test their character. This work moves beyond surface-level professionalism to build cultures grounded in respect, accountability and emotional intelligence. Leaders gain practical tools to strengthen communication, build trust and lead with greater consistency and intention.

Presenter: Shelley Davis Boyd, Essdee & Co.

Track C: Wellness and Sustainability

Mindful Leadership: Leading with Presence and Purpose

You’re successful. Capable. Driven. But leadership at a high level often comes with constant pressure, decision fatigue and the feeling that you always need to be “on.” Over time, even the most talented leaders can become disconnected from themselves, their teams and the purpose behind their work. This breakout session is designed for leaders who want to lead with greater clarity, confidence, presence and intention; without losing themselves in the process.

Through practical mindfulness tools, interactive exercises and real-world leadership strategies, you’ll learn how to slow down enough to lead better, communicate more effectively, strengthen team culture and create environments where your team truly thrives. You’ll also walk away with a deeper connection to the kind of leader you genuinely want to be. These are practical, applicable tools you can implement right away to create more meaningful impact in both your leadership and personal life.

Presenter: Samantha Gutowski, Be Here Now Baby

Track A: Leadership Skills

Release the WAIT: How High Impact Leaders Move Before They Feel Ready

In high-performing environments, women are often taught to prepare, perfect and prove BEFORE they act. And while that may look responsible on the surface, it quietly trains us to wait: for clarity, for confidence, for permission, for the “right” moment. This session challenges that paradigm by exposing the hidden cost of delay in leadership — not only missed opportunities, but diminished voice, stalled influence and ideas that never see the light of day.

With her trademark honesty, compelling storytelling, and incisive perspective, Regina Carey challenges participants to uncover where waiting has taken their lives and leadership hostage. Through relatable examples and real-world application, she introduces a practical framework to help women recognize their patterns of hesitation and shift into purposeful, values-driven action.

This is not about being impulsive or abandoning discernment. It’s about learning to move with uncertainty instead of being managed by it. Participants will leave with language, tools and a renewed capacity to act decisively — expanding their impact, their visibility and the legacy they are here to lead.

Presenter: Regina Carey, Carey On

Track B: Career and Personal Growth

Pivot with Courage

Change doesn't wait until you're ready. The career shift, the leadership leap, the moment everything you built looks different than you planned. It comes whether you feel prepared or not. In this session, Lisa guides participants through the framework she's used in her own life and with hundreds of coaching clients: how to navigate uncertainty strategically, show up confidently when the ground is shifting, and make bold moves without losing yourself in the process. She draws on her background in corporate and nonprofit leadership, her work as an ICF-certified coach and a lifetime of pivoting under pressure.

Participants leave with the clarity to stop playing it safe, the tools to lead through change and the permission to finally become the leader they've been holding back.

Presenter: Lisa Tarkington, Lisa Tarkington

Track C: Wellness and Sustainability

Positively Powering Values: Illuminating What Wires Your Energy and Impact

In leadership, communication isn’t just about what you say — it’s about how you show up. For women leading in complex, fast-paced environments, the ability to communicate with clarity, presence, and intention is what transforms just being heard to truly influencing.

This dynamic, interactive session invites women leaders to elevate how they connect, inspire and lead through communication that aligns words, tone and presence. Participants will explore how subtle shifts in energy — from curiosity to tone to nonverbal cues — can either fuel trust and engagement or quietly erode credibility and connection. Through engaging exercises and real-time reflection, attendees will strengthen their ability to tune into what’s spoken and unspoken, navigate high-stakes conversations with greater confidence and create space for more authentic, impactful dialogue.

We’ll explore what fuels meaningful connection — and what gets in the way — especially when navigating influence, visibility and voice. Designed for women who are ready to innovate how they communicate, inspire through presence and amplify their impact, this session equips leaders with practical strategies to lead conversations with intention and elevate how they are experienced in every interaction. Because when your words, energy and presence align, you don’t just communicate — you influence, inspire and ignite what’s possible.

Presenter: Nathalie Osborn, Positively Powered Professional Development

3:15-4:15 p.m. | Panel Discussion

Burnout, Boundaries and Balance: What Mental Wellness Means for High-Achievers

A powerful conversation designed for driven women who are balancing leadership, ambition and well-being. This panel session will explore the unique mental health challenges faced by high-performing professionals, offer practical tools for setting boundaries and share strategies to prevent burnout while maintaining your edge. Learn to reclaim your energy and redefine success on your terms.

Presenters:

Daphne Epps, Mott Community College
Suzanne Greenburg, Children Trust Michigan
Meghann Keit-Corrion, Dykema

Track A: Leadership Skills

Learning to Love the Dandelions: Resilience in Life and Leadership

Learn to see the stubborn, unexpected moments of life not as weeds to be eradicated, but as wild, persistent signs of strength and possibility. In this interactive session, participants will explore what research teaches us about psychological resilience alongside real, vulnerable stories of surviving cancer and other health issues, mental health struggles, sexism, parenting, business challenges and reinvention.

Together, we will unpack how women navigate leadership transitions, career pivots, the sandwich generation, health issues, ageism, parenting pressures and discrimination, and still show up with courage and heart.

Presenter: Carrie Rathbun Hawks, Rathbun Public Relations

Track B: Career and Personal Growth

Closing the Gap: How to Advance Your Career

This knowledge sharing session focuses on equipping leaders with strategies to identify and address workforce development needs. It covers methods for assessing current skills, crafting individualized development plans and implementing ongoing coaching aligned with business goals while building a culture of continuous growth, sharing success stories and addressing challenges to empower both employees and organizations.

This topic focuses on how career goals involve, the importance of being able to clearly defining your objectives and more.

Track C: Wellness and Sustainability

Reinvention Requires Order How to Rebuild with Purpose

Learn how to rebuild your life, career and businesses with clarity, structure and purpose.

This session challenges the idea that reinvention means starting over and instead introduces a practical roadmap for rebuilding on a stronger foundation. Through the O.P.E.R.A.T.E. Framework™, participants will learn how to organize their current reality, prioritize what matters, engineer supportive systems, execute with consistency, activate existing resources, train for the next level, and expand with confidence.

Move from reactive change to intentional reinvention, showing that order is not the end goal. It is the foundation for multiplication.

Presenter: Algernae King, King Enterprises Unlimited, LLC

Monica Lloyd

Founder, People Forward

Monica is an international speaker, global panel contributor and the founder of People Forward®, a consulting firm on a mission to create workplaces people love. She’s known for blending sharp business strategy with contagious energy that inspires organizations to raise their game.

Her style is equal parts strategist, motivator and innovator who never shies away from tough conversations. Her work remains rooted in one simple belief: the best business strategy is people strategy.

Meet Monica

Shelley Davis Boyd

Founder, President and CEO, Essdee & Co.

With more than 20 years of executive leadership experience spanning operations, communications, people strategy and organizational growth, Shelley brings a practical, people-centered approach to leadership development and culture change. She is the creator of The Civility Code™ and The Aligned Leader Lens™, frameworks designed to strengthen communication, accountability, executive presence and workplace culture. Through coaching, consulting and keynote speaking, Shelley helps organizations create environments rooted in trust, clarity and alignment.

Meet Shelley

Algernae King

King Enterprises Unlimited, LLC

Algernae King is a Business Infrastructure and AI Systems Strategist, Qualified Accountant, Certified AI Consultant, and three-time Amazon bestselling author. She is Michigan’s first and only Manus Fellow, creator of the O.P.E.R.A.T.E. Framework™, and founder of King Enterprises Unlimited LLC. Through her proprietary frameworks and AI systems methodology, she helps entrepreneurs and institutions build operations that run without them structured, AI-powered, and built to multiply. Her most recent book, Multiply with Manus, debuted at #1 on Amazon. She is listed with the AAE Speakers Bureau and speaks to corporate teams, institutions, school districts, and workforce organizations nationwide.

Meet Algernae

Carrie Rathbun Hawks, APR

Rathbun Public Relations

Carrie Rathbun Hawks is an accredited public relations professional, motivational speaker and change agent with more than 30 years of experience. A 2018 ATHENA International Leadership Award recipient and ATHENA Certified Facilitator, Carrie is in her fourth year leading Leadership Circles through the ATHENA Leadership Institute. In 2023, she co-founded the Inspired Women Network through the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce. In 2026, she launched Learning to Love the Dandelions: Resilience in Life & Leadership, using her personal experiences to inspire resilience and growth. Carrie serves on several boards and committees, is active in regional business and women's leadership organizations, and is a proud Michigan State University graduate.

Meet Carrie

Daphne Epps

Mott Community College

Daphne Epps is a dedicated higher education professional with a passion for developing young leaders and strengthening communities. With experience in nonprofit organizations, youth programs, event planning and organizational leadership, she is committed to creating meaningful opportunities that empower students to grow and succeed. Daphne holds a bachelor's degree in Organizational Leadership from Rochester College.

Meet Daphne

Jackie Krawczak

President, Jackie Krawczak, LLC

Jackie Krawczak is the President of Jackie Krawczak, LLC, where she draws on her extensive leadership experience to inspire and develop others. A former President/CEO of the Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce, Jackie has served in numerous leadership roles across business, education and nonprofit organizations. She combines her professional expertise with her personal journey of overcoming depression and an eating disorder to help others grow as resilient leaders. Jackie holds a master's degree in Organizational Communication from Central Michigan University and has been recognized as an Outstanding Young Michigander and for her leadership throughout Michigan.

Meet Jackie

Lisa Tarkington

International Coaching Federation

Lisa Tarkington is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation, keynote speaker and leadership consultant. She’s surfed in Ecuador, bungee-jumped in New Zealand, skydived in Texas and steps on stages to equip leaders to pivot with courage, operate at their best and self-leadership. Lisa is known for three things: her energy, how she connects with her audience and tools she teaches. Lisa has launched two companies, founded the nonprofit Lead, and hosts The Confident Podcast. As a graduate of Michigan State University (Go Green!), Lisa also holds training from the University of Pennsylvania's Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy, the Co-Active Training Institute, Applied Positive Psychology and Mindfulness. She brings over a decade of corporate leadership experience and blends adventurous storytelling with practical frameworks including her signature C.O.R.E. Blueprint and Z.O.N.E. Method to create lasting impact.

Meet Lisa

Meghann Keit-Corrion

Government Policy Advisor, Dykema

Meghann Keit-Corrion is a government policy advisor at Dykema with more than 15 years of experience in Michigan's political and policy landscape. She specializes in appropriations, healthcare, local government, economic development and public policy. Before joining Dykema in 2022, Meghann held government affairs and legislative leadership roles, including with the Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan Legislature. She earned her bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and was a policy fellow at the University of Michigan's Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation.

Meet Meghann

Nathalie Osborn

Positively Powered Professional Development

A fun-loving engineer, leadership consultant, and inspirational speaker, Nathalie Osborn is passionate about connecting people, purpose, and performance to spark lasting change. Co-author of Ignite Your Leadership and Chief Energizer of Positively Powered™, she helps organizations elevate leadership, communication, and culture at every level. When she’s not energizing individuals and teams, you’ll find her hiking outdoors, chasing sunsets, and savoring conversations that fuel fresh ideas and meaningful connections.

Meet Nathalie

Regina Carey

Founder, Carey On

Regina is a speaker, executive coach and facilitator dedicated to helping individuals and organizations navigate change, strengthen leadership and achieve sustainable success. Through engaging keynote presentations, one-on-one coaching and ongoing team support, she empowers people to build resilience, gain clarity, overcome challenges and move forward with confidence, purpose and impact.

Meet Regina

Samantha Gutowski

Founder, Be Here Now Baby

Samantha Gutowski is a Mindfulness and Executive Coach dedicated to helping people slow down, reconnect, and lead with intention. Through her coaching practice, Be Here Now Baby, she partners with individuals and organizations to cultivate presence as the foundation for effective leadership and meaningful work. Samantha’s work centers on the belief that presence changes everything. It cultivates clarity, emotional intelligence, authentic connection, and sustainable productivity rooted in alignment rather than exhaustion. Blending practical tools with science-backed strategies, she equips leaders to navigate complexity with greater awareness, strengthen their relationships, and create workplaces where both people and performance thrive.

Meet Samantha

Suzanne Greenberg

Executive Director at Children Trust Michigan

Suzanne Greenberg is the Executive Director of Children Trust Michigan, the state's only organization dedicated solely to preventing child abuse and neglect. A passionate advocate with more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience, Suzanne has devoted her career to strengthening children and families across Michigan. A survivor of childhood abuse, she brings both personal perspective and compassionate leadership to her work and has been recognized with numerous honors for her lifelong commitment to child advocacy and community impact.

Meet Suzanne