OPEN from American Express® Supports Women Entrepreneurs Through Sponsorship of Women's Leadership Exchange Conferences

The Women's Leadership Exchange® [WLE], a national leadership and business development program, is proud to announce that, for the fifth consecutive year, OPEN from American Express® is the WLE Founding Sponsor. This year, with the support of GoodBiz113 ad partner OPEN from American Express, Women's Leadership Exchange will hold its first-ever Northern California conference, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007.

Exciting, new highlights include candid, inspirational "conversations" with two extraordinary women: Dawn Lepore, chairman and CEO of Drugstore.com, who recently led the Internet-based company to record sales in excess of $100 million; and California's own Carly Fiorina, former chair and CEO of Hewlett Packard, and author of "Tough Choices."

The conference also features expert- led seminars focused on leadership and business development skills, the WLE powerful brand of Speed Coaching, QVC Product Evaluations, and more. In addition to Dawn Lepore and Carly Fiorina, speakers and honorees include Quinn Tran, founder and CEO of goQTT, and Edie Weiner, renowned futurist and co-author of "Future Think."

Built into the day are various facilitated interactions between sponsors, speakers and the attendees so that they can build relationships and become resources for each other.

Michelle Thompson-Dolberry, director, Advocacy Marketing, for OPEN from American Express, says, "Over the past five years, working closely with the Women's Leadership Exchange, we have seen women make significant strides in every arena of business.

"Women helping women is the right formula for growth, and these conferences have definitely been a contributing factor, because they bring women together in the most impactful way. All of us at OPEN are proud of our founding sponsorship of WLE and we are delighted to help bring the first event to Northern California's entrepreneurial and executive women."

WLE was one of the first national advocacy/conference programs to give corporations the opportunity to build relationships with women business owners/leaders, and OPEN stepped up to the plate early on.

"OPEN from American Express committed to the growth and success of women business owners by becoming the WLE Founding Sponsor in 2002," said WLE co-founder Andrea March, "long before most corporations understood the potential of the women's business market.

"As my co-founder, Leslie Grossman, explains in her book, 'SELLsation! How Companies Can Capture Today's Hottest Market: Women Business Owners and Executives' [WLE Press, 2006], today, rather than 'mass sell' to women, companies need to get to know them directly, understand their needs, and help them succeed."

In addition to OPEN from American Express, WLE corporate partners include IKEA, Morgan Stanley, American Airlines, Bermuda Department of Tourism, and Jones New York.

For registration information, visit http://www.womensleadershipexchange.com/; or, call 888.937.5800.

The cost to attend the Northern California conference, which includes facilitated networking, breakfast, luncheon and a cocktail reception, is $299. Members of WLE's supporting organizations save $50.

The WLE also plans all-day conferences in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta and Long Beach/Los Angeles.

Source: The Women's Leadership Exchange
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