MAKERS Conference - Making the Future NOW

The ninth MAKERS Conference kicked off in style on Tuesday night at the Beverly Hilton with the first ever MAKERS HONORS Awards. The ceremony was established to honor incredible changemaking women who are making strides in equity and impact featured several notable speakers and honorees, including a welcoming address by the First Partner of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

MAKERS, a Yahoo media and community-focused brand that exists to accelerate equity for women in the workplace and beyond by forging purposeful partnerships and sharing stories that ignite passion and drive change, commenced the three-day event by honoring groundbreaking model turned activist Bethann Hardison.

Hardison, the subject of the 2023 documentary, Invisible Beauty, which she co-directed, was just the first inspirational pioneer honored on the event stage in a night that included SAG award winning actress J. Smith Cameron, USWNT World Cup Champions Tobin Heath & Christen Press, and former Vice President of health and reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center Judy Waxman.

Another highlight of the awards ceremony was the surprise honoring of financial firm Morgan Stanley. As the first corporate sponsor of MAKERS, the recognition marked the commitment to the core principles of advancing women in the workplace and beyond that Morgan Stanley made ten years ago and still delivers on today.

Day two of the conference welcomed women leaders from the worlds of business, entertainment, tech, finance, policy and sports with the theme of “Making the Future Now.”

Emmy-nominated Succession actress J. Smith Cameron returned to the stage along with The Morning Show star Karen Pittman for an honest conversation about women in the workplace and how the roles of their fictional characters have carried the weight of reflecting the real life experiences of women in hostile workplace environments.

With the sad reality that between 87-94% of women never come forward to report abuse, co-founders of the non-profit Lift Our Voices Julie Roginsky and Gretchen Carlson graced the event stage with the Executive Producer and co-founder of the Culture Club, Leslie Russo, to break the silence on the toxic problems of NDAs and forced arbitration. They shared poignant personal stories of their own difficulties and how they are using legislation to fight back.

Later Tobin Heath, co-founder of the lifestyle brand, re-inc, joined Jennifer Siebel Newsom on stage for an in-depth conversation about the future of women's sports as well as the work Heath is doing along with her USWNT teammates in the ongoing fight to close the gender pay gap.

Finally, marketing legend Bozoma Saint John capped off the star studded morning. The author of “The Urgent Life” pulled no punches when breaking down the challenges of female leadership and the importance of supporting your fellow women rather than hindering their growth. Or as she more eloquently phrased it, “don’t be that b*tch”.

The second session of day two focused on civic engagement and ways to protect your sanity while simultaneously protecting our democracy. Erin Loos Cutraro, the founder and CEO of the nonpartisan nonprofit She Should Run, was joined on stage by Abrima Erwiah and Cici Rojas to discuss the ways in which getting involved in grassroots programs can have a positive impact on legislation that impacts women’s lives.

Unfortunately, since the Dobbs vs. Jackson Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion bans have eliminated all or some access in 21 states. To go deeper into the fight for agency of their own bodies, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Alexis McGill Johnson led a discussion that included Center of Reproductive Rights attorney Hillary Schneller and New York Times bestselling author Elaine Welteroth sharing their personal stories that highlighted the pervasive problems that still exist in reproductive and maternal health systems today.

The conversation of body autonomy continued with a comprehensive dialogue on periods and menopause and the importance of destigmatizing these essential parts of the female experience. Karen Pittman returned to the stage again for an open conversation about The CROWN Act. Standing for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”, the conversation included Lauren Baker, Senior Brand Manager of Engagement and Social Impact for Dove, who has been a leader in championing awareness of the issue and working hard to shift societal norms to be more accepting and inclusive of the natural hair styles of Black and Brown people.

After a quick lunch break, the work continued in the third session with a lively discourse between music executive Ty Stiklorius and Stacy L. Smith. As the founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (AII), the leading global think tank studying issues of inequality in entertainment, Smith broke down the state of female artists, songwriters and executives in the music industry and the the allyship with their male counterparts can open doors and be beneficial for all.

Continuing the conversation of the importance of allyship, media personality Cari Champion welcomed Dany Garcia, the CEO of The Garcia Companies, to talk about how she operates and succeeds in multiple male-dominated industries, including being the new owner of the United Football League.

Of course there was no way the conference was going to avoid discussing the growing impact of AI on our daily lives, both professionally and personally. Enter Sheila Lirio Marcelo, the former founder of Care.com and current co-founder and CEO of Ohai.ai. The changemaker and innovator laid out her vision for Ohai’s new virtual assistance platform, dubbed "O“. Targeted to lighten the mental load of family schedule management and task delegation, Marcelo referred to the platform as a support for the “Chief Household Officer.''

Finally, the day wrapped with huge energy, thanks to a lively workshop conducted by Joanna Barsh, bestselling author and Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company. With a prompt to look inward for centered leadership, Barsh spotlighted mindsets both positive and negative to find constructive ways to recognize internal voices and deal with them in healthy ways – the perfect punctuation to an incredible day.

As it does every year, the MAKERS Conference continues to bring together fearless women and allies for an unforgettable leadership summit jam-packed with keynotes, panels, workshops, networking and a never ending supply of inspiration. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recap!

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