Email from Innovation Women

Innovation Women Newsletter #539

November 28, 2025

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APPLAUSE FOR THE NAME DROPPERS

Hi ala,


The air is still scented with gravy and pie as I sit down to write this. I started cooking around 7:30 am and more than 12 hours have passed since then. I'm two-thirds of the way to a total turkey coma.


Time to write the newsletters.


Oh, look! My friend forwarded an email thread where she invoked my name in an email to an event organizer. What's going on? She saw a MANel (yep, another all-male panel) and decided to speak up.


She invoked my name: “Hey, have you considered reaching out to Innovation Women?” (Spoiler alert: we have hundreds of amazing speakers.)


Curious, I took a look. Over the past year, this organization has featured 64 speakers. Only 17 were women. The event organizer's LinkedIn profile header shows him speaking to a room full of men. Only men.


That’s not a pipeline problem. That’s a pattern.


I’m not here to shame; I’m here to remind. Visibility matters. Representation matters. And sometimes, all it takes is one person saying, “Hey, this doesn’t look so good,” to start shifting the balance.


So, to the member who spoke up: thank you. Feel free to cc me anytime. And to all the organizers out there: we’re right here. Let’s fix this.


Bobbie and the entire Innovation Women team

SPEAKER FRIEND FRIDAYS

All are welcome!


Join us today (and every Friday) at 8:45 am ET for Speaker Friend Fridays on Zoom. You can also join us for West Coast Friendly Speaker Friends on the first Friday and third Friday of each month at noon ET/9:00 am PT. Click the links below to RSVP and add the recurring links to your calendar. (Everyone is welcome at these events. Bring a friend, even if they aren't a member.) Event organizers? You're welcome too!

GET (EVEN) MORE SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES

Looking to boost your business, increase your visibility, and get on more stages? Speaking is one of the most effective ways to share your expertise, build credibility and attract new business and career opportunities — and we’re here to help you.


Join us for this free session with Innovation Women founder Bobbie Carlton. She'll be sharing insights gleaned from more than 40 years of placing executives on stage, 5 years of hosting Speaker Friend Fridays and a decade leading this company.


You’ll learn:

  • How speaking can help drive business and grow your professional visibility
  • What event managers, podcast hosts and media are looking for in speakers
  • How Innovation Women connects women and other underrepresented voices with speaking opportunities of all kinds
  • Ways our community, tools and platform help you take your speaking career to the next level, no matter where you are at right now


Plus, you’ll get a live tour of our speaking opportunity database, a peek at our educational resources and an introduction to our supportive online community.


Whether you’re just getting started or looking to grow your impact, this session will help you gain access to more opportunities and amplify your voice.


This special event is happening twice:


UPCOMING INNOVATION WOMEN WEBINAR

The Portfolio Mindset Advantage: Leveraging Multiple Passions for Maximum Impact,

Featuring Jessica Tudos

December 3, 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET


Ambitious women innovators don’t need to choose between careers, passions, or skills—they can strategically leverage them all to build resilient, sustainable, and creative careers in complex times. This interactive session, led by Olympian-turned-life design strategist, speaker, and edupreneur Jessica Tudos, introduces the Portfolio Mindset—a framework for transforming diverse skills and passions into strategic advantage.


Through storytelling, reflection, and practical exercises, participants will learn:

  • How to map their strengths, align passions with opportunities, and navigate non-linear paths with confidence.
  • Actionable strategies to accelerate innovation, maximize impact, and design careers and lives that are unique to each person.

LIONESS MAGAZINE FEATURES

Lioness for the Female Entrepreneur is our digital magazine for women who are starting (or thinking about starting) companies. Get the latest news, tools and resources to launch and scale startups. This week you can read great articles like:


LIONESS COMMUNITY EVENTS

December Lioness Networking

December 9 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm


Tired of setting the same resolutions every year? It’s time for a big change!


At this month’s Lioness Networking, we’re talking business pivots. Learn how to plan your next move and launch (or relaunch) with confidence. Wrap up the year strong! Come share your big ideas with other founders and get inspired.

Lioness Community Event

Start, Scale, Exit: Why You Need to Become a Better Negotiator

Featuring Alla Adam

December 11, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 pm ET


Many skills shape every stage of entrepreneurship, but one skill especially: negotiation. Not the transactional kind — the strategic kind that determines your speed of breakthrough, speed of scale, and ultimately your speed of exit. This talk breaks down why founders who negotiate well grow faster, avoid costly mistakes, and keep far more control over their company’s direction.

SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES

Every week our speakers get brand new opportunities and there are even more on our website. There are hundreds of open opportunities on the site right now and we added more than 90 new ones this week! Below are some of the NEW opportunities:


  1. Enlit Europe 2026 November 10-12, 2026 Vienna, Austria Deadline 8/10/2026 - Oil and Energy
  2. Europe's Event For Legal Transformation 2026 June 17-18, 2026 London, UK Deadline 3/17/2026 - Legal Services
  3. SEG3 London 2026 June 1, 2026 London, UK Deadline 3/1/2026 - Marketing and Advertising
  4. NDSML Summit 2026 October 21-22, 2026 Stockholm Sweden Deadline 7/21/2026 - Information Technology and Services
  5. 2026 Global Accessibility Awareness Day May 21, 2026 Online Deadline 1/9/2026 - Higher Education


Get hundreds of opportunities like these, a profile on our site, education and more for only $159/year!