WID-PC 7th Annual Leadership Summit | Leading Through Change

Join us for the WID-PC 7th Annual Leadership Summit – ᒪEᗩᗪIᑎG TᕼᖇOᑌGᕼ ᑕᕼᗩᑎGE

This dynamic, full-day event brings together leaders and changemakers from across the government, defense, and military sectors for powerful conversations, professional development, and meaningful networking.

Open to the public, the Summit offers a unique opportunity to connect with top industry experts, explore strategies for navigating change, and gain practical insights to grow your leadership impact. Whether you're an emerging leader or a seasoned professional, you'll leave feeling inspired, equipped, and empowered to lead with confidence through any challenge.

Do you still need to become a member of WID-PC? You can purchase your Annual Membership here and then register as a member!

IMPORTANT! Select Your AM & PM Training Workshops During Checkout

This year, you’ll choose your morning (AM) and afternoon (PM) workshop sessions during the Eventbrite registration process—no separate form needed!

Simply select ONE (1) AM session and ONE (1) PM session as Add-Ons at checkout. Seats are limited and selections are first-come, first-served, so register early to secure your preferred sessions.

>>> Morning Workshops

AM1: Tracey H. Sigler, PhD – Leading Through Change

What do you think of when you hear the word “change?” What do you think those you are leading think of when you introduce a change? In this session you will learn, experience, and reflect upon your leading change competencies. How do you view change – organizational and personal. Participants will reflect on their own experiences with change, both successful and unsuccessful; analyze a specific change and then develop a plan for leading a successful change; and apply John Kotter’s 8 step process for leading change, evaluate different approaches to change, and plan for the resistance that always accompanies change.

AM2: Erin Ryan Diffenderfer – Just Dance: Lessons in Enjoyment, Leadership, Resilience, and Reinvention from the Dance Floor

Movement and Music (both literally and figuratively) can foster resilience, adaptability, and connection. Whether participants are leading a team, managing a significant life change, or seeking new ways to move forward in any way, this session invites them to consider: what might happen if they allowed themselves to JUST DANCE?

AM3: Renee Manning – Resilience Reset: Building Energy and Focus Through Times of Change

Leaders navigating change need strong internal resources—physical vitality, mental clarity, and emotional steadiness. This workshop equips them with practices to restore energy, regulate stress, and show up grounded for their leadership roles. Participants will learn to build resilience to stress for clearer decision making, adapt a reliable reset tool to use in moments of overwhelm, and create an actionable, personal energy plan for leading through uncertainty.

>>>Afternoon Workshops

PM1: Heidi Budro – Leading Through Change: From Saboteur to Sage in Action

In today’s fast-paced defense and aerospace environment, leaders are constantly challenged to navigate change, influence teams, and make high-stakes decisions under pressure. This interactive one-hour workshop introduces Positive Intelligence (PQ)—a proven framework to identify and weaken the internal saboteurs that undermine leadership effectiveness, while strengthening the “Sage” mindset that fuels clarity, creativity, and resilience. Participants will learn to identify common saboteurs that show up in themselves and others at work, explore Sage alternatives to shift perspective and decision-making, practice applying PQ principles in group activities and debriefs, and create a personal action plan to lead through change more effectively

PM2: Ericka Plater – Strategic Foresight: Building Leadership Muscle for Complex Times

This interactive workshop equips women leaders to strengthen their strategic muscle through guided practice, real-world scenarios, and peer dialogue. Participants will learn to step beyond reactive leadership and cultivate the clarity, confidence, and foresight needed to thrive in environments defined by complexity, rapid change, and competing pressures. Participants will learn to define strategic leadership as a practice—understanding strategy as more than a plan but as a set of habits, reflections, and intentional actions; apply the Four I’s of Contextual Intelligence to analyze complex leadership challenges; integrate the Five Strategic Moves into their leadership approach; and identify one concrete leadership commitment to test in their work within the next 60

days.

PM3: Renee Manning – The Art of Renewal: Leading Through Change with a Kintsugi Mindset

Change often feels like breakage—systems disrupted, plans shattered, confidence cracked. But just as the Japanese art of kintsugi repairs broken pottery with gold, leaders can guide their teams through disruption by embracing imperfection, finding hidden strengths, and creating renewed value from challenges. Participants will learnt to reframe challenges as opportunities for growth, practice using storytelling and symbolism for inspiration and creative growth and build a leadership mindset that embraces imperfection and models resilience.