ABOUT THE MAKERS CONFERENCE

The MAKERS Conference is a global leadership event that brings together more than 600 of the most powerful names in business, entertainment, tech and finance to explore ways to accelerate women’s equality. Each year, this three-day experience provides the inspiration that moves people to action via provocative conversations, compelling storytelling and onstage pledges to advance change.



HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2020 MAKERS CONFERENCE

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2019 MAKERS CONFERENCE

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2018 MAKERS CONFERENCE

2020 SPEAKERS

  • Abby Haglage

    Yahoo Lifestyle & MAKERS

    Senior Editor & Writer

  • Amelia Brodka

    Exposure Skate

    Skateboarder & Co-Founder

  • Amena Brown

    Sol Graffiti, Inc.

    Poet & Co-Founder

  • Angela Glover Blackwell

    PolicyLink

    Founder in Residence

  • Anita Hill

    Hollywood Commission

    Chair

  • Anne Fulenwider

    Kairos Group

    Operating Partner & Entrepreneur

  • Anne Wojcicki

    23andMe

    CEO & Co-Founder

  • Bernice Dapaah

    Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative

    Founder & CEO

2020 SPONSORS

VerizonP&GPWCFacebook

2020 AGENDA

    • 5:30PM

      SESSION 1 | WILSHIRE BALLROOM, 5TH FLOOR

      Tami Erwin, Executive Vice President & Group CEO, Verizon Business, kicks off the 2020 MAKERS Conference

      Dyllan McGee, Founder & Executive Producer, MAKERS, welcomes guests to the 2020 MAKERS Conference

      Kathrine Switzer, Athlete, Author & Advocate, reflects on being the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon and how defining moments can change your life

      SPECIAL PERFORMANCE: Members of the Together Live Tour — Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Cameron Esposito, Amena Brown, Sabrina Jalees, Connie Lim (MILCK) and The War & Treaty — will present a portion of the traveling event, where a diverse group of artists and performers prove the power of sharing personal narratives

      Michael and Tanya Trotter, who perform and record as The War & Treaty, sing live

      Ella Bell Smith, Professor, Tuck School of Business, introduces the concept of being a “diplomatic warrior”
    • 7:00PM

      WELCOME DINNER | WILSHIRE BALLROOM 3, 5TH FLOOR

      Guru Gowrappan, CEO, Verizon Media, opens the MAKERS Family Dinner

      Katie Couric, Journalist & Founder, Katie Couric Media, hosts the MAKERS Primary with Lydia Polgreen, Editor-in-Chief, HuffPost, and Brittany Shepherd, National Politics Reporter, Yahoo News

      Nurys Castillo, Social Media Producer, Yahoo Lifestyle & Entertainment, introduces Jenny Yang

      Jenny Yang, Comedian, Writer, Actor & Host, closes the evening with stand-up comedy

    • *agenda subject to change

    • Day 2 | Sessions 2 - 6

    • 8:30AM

      SESSION 2 | WILSHIRE BALLROOM, 5TH FLOOR

      MAKERS MOMENT in partnership with lululemon: Samantha Gash, Global Ambassador, lululemon, sets the tone for day two with an intentionality moment

      Lori Bongiorno, General Manager, Yahoo News, Lifestyle, Entertainment & MAKERS, on how Verizon Media collaborated with the Women’s Prison Association — and how partner companies can (and should!) too

      Joanna Barsh, Director Emerita & Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Company, gives her annual state of the union on women in the workplace and reveals new findings from the MAKERS On the Front Line study

      Willie Jackson, Keynote Speaker, Consultant & Facilitator, ReadySet, unpacks how to successfully undertake allyship at work and beyond

      Gabby Rivera, Author & Creator, talks about bringing multi-dimensional characters to the mainstream

      Ja’Nay Hawkins, Senior Partnerships Manager, MAKERS, introduces Part 1 of the MAKERS@ Board of Directors Pledges

      Glory Edim, Founder, Well-Read Black Girl, discusses creating space for black women in the literary world and why seeking different perspectives can change your life

      Judy Blume, Author, talks to Chelsea Handler, Activist, Best-Selling Author & Comedian, about the lasting impact of her coming-of-age books, the 50th anniversary of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret and the power of telling it like it is
    • 10:30AM

      SESSION 3 | WILSHIRE BALLROOM, 5TH FLOOR

      Meredith Kopit Levien, Chief Operating Officer, New York Times, shares the leadership lessons that she discovered while leading a company through a seismic shift

      Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru and Tokata Iron Eyes, Environmental Justice Activists, talk to Stephanie Shepherd, Entrepreneur & Activist, about how Generation Z is saving the planet — and changing the world

      Bernice Dapaah, Founder & CEO, Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative, chats with Megan Smith, 3rd U.S. Chief CTO & CEO, shift7, about the intersection of business and sustainability (and unveils a special surprise)

      Rebecca Traister, Journalist & Author, on why it’s not only OK for women to be “good and mad” today — it’s vital

      Katie Hill, Former Member of Congress & Advocate, sits down with Lydia Polgreen to discuss the call to action for women and millennials that this moment requires and what’s next in her career

      Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall, CEO, Dallas Mavericks, explains how owning your authentic self and bringing it to the workplace can transform corporate cultures

    • *agenda subject to change

    • 8:30AM

      SESSION 7 | WILSHIRE BALLROOM, 5TH FLOOR

      MAKERS MOMENT in partnership with lululemon: Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts, Ph.D., Global Yoga Ambassador, lululemon & Founder, Yoga Literature Art Camp for Teen Girls & Red Clay Yoga, leads a meditation to start day three in the right mindset

      Kamilah Newton, Writer, Producer & Activist, asks the audience not to discount the power of hiring justice-involved women through her inspiring personal story of resilience and determination

      Mj Rodriguez, Actress & Activist, talks with Monica Lewinsky, Activist, Producer & Vanity Fair Contributor, about her breakout role in the hit show Pose and all it took to get there

      Erica Chidi Cohen, CEO & Co-Founder, LOOM, explains why celebrating self-care and body literacy at the workplace is so important

      Thando Hopa, Diversity Advocate & International Model, on how othering, intersectionality and multiple identities impact diversity and inclusion when it comes to representation

      MAKERS MOMENT in partnership with SK-II: YoeGin Chang, Brand Director, SK-II Japan, calls out one of the only places where competition has become toxic: beauty

      Cathy Engelbert, Commissioner, Women’s National Basketball Association, chats with Stephanie Mehta, Editor-in-Chief, Fast Company, about how the new groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement reached with the WNBPA is just step one in her plan to change the game for women in sports

      Tina Tchen, President & CEO, TIME’S UP, talks about building boundless workplaces for all and what’s next for TIME’S UP

      MAKERS MOMENT in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers: Shannon Schuyler, Principal, Chief Purpose & Inclusion Officer, PwC, shares her personal journey in her new role helping shape and grow PwC’s diversity efforts

      #NOTDONE Pledges Part 3: MAKERS@ Board of Directors on how they will change the game for women at their companies in 2020 — and beyond

      Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder in Residence, PolicyLink, leads the audience through an empathy-building session on microaggressions and how companies understanding them is integral to diversity and inclusion

      Dyllan McGee and Ella Bell Smith close out the Main Stage portion of the conference
    • 11:00AM

      WORKSHOPS

      Eliminating Racial Microaggressions to Build Cooperation with Angela Glover Blackwell

      Allyship at Work and Beyond with Willie Jackson

      MAKERS WORKSHOP presented by Facebook: Leading Conscious Change with Alexis Robin and Gretchen Pisano

    • *agenda subject to change

SET A REMINDER

2020 MAKERS@ PARTNERS

MAKERS@ is our corporate partnership program that connects and inspires executives at the forefront of equality initiatives, impacting real change at work and beyond. To learn more, please contact partners@makers.com

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Tracy Keim

    VP, Consumer Marketing and Brand

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Katie Juran

    Senior Director, Diversity & Inclusion

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Sheila Shekar Pollak

    Chief Marketing Officer

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Kathryn Brown

    Managing Director

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Deirdre Bigley

    Global Chief Marketing Officer

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Meera Krishnamurthy

    Senior Vice President and Strategic Business Unit leader for Insurance, North America

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Kasha Cacy

    Global Chief Executive Officer

  • MAKERS@ Board Member:

    Michelle Klein

    VP Global Customer Marketing