Equipped to Rise, Empowered to Elevate: Highlights from the 2026 Women’s Leadership Conference

On Tuesday, the Bellevue Chamber’s 2026 Women’s Leadership Conference — presented by JP Morgan Chase — brought together a room full of ambitious, thoughtful, and candid leaders for a day built around one big idea: Growth isn’t something we wait for, it’s something we practice.

From the first welcome to the final networking conversations, the energy in the room was equal parts inspiring and real. This was not a “sit back and listen” kind of event. It was a show up, lean in, and leave-with-something-you’ll-actually-use kind of day.

Co-emcees Linda Hoffner (Wright Runstad & Company) and Tanji Johnson Bridgeman (Bridgeman Health Solutions) set the tone early with warmth, humor, and a clear invitation to engage. As Tanji put it, “The culture that we’re building through this leadership experience cannot be done without you.”

The throughline across every session was simple: Leadership looks different at every life stage, but it gets stronger in community.

Designing Your Life, Not Being Designed by It (Guest Speaker: Lisa Chin, Juma)

Before the panels began, Lisa Chin, CEO of Juma Ventures, asked everyone for a “heart check” on whether our “heart work” matches what our time, energy, and skills are actually doing day to day.

She offered a practical reflection that stuck: Name what you’re good at, what you love, and what people will pay you for, then pay close attention to the meaning side of the equation. It was a helpful reset before a day packed with honest stories, career pivots, and hard won leadership lessons.

Panel 1: From Girlhood to Legacy, Leading at Every Life Stage

The first panel dug into how leaders are shaped over time, and how we can build environments where women thrive long term. One of the strongest themes was the role of mentorship, not just in the traditional sense, but in the everyday examples that teach us what’s possible.

Michelle Schoonover (Junior League of Seattle) shared that her “very first mentor was my mother,” and described watching her mother model resilience as an immigrant.

“She has demonstrated to me what it means to give of yourself constantly … and that you can have the grit and determination to go and pursue whatever dreams you have.”

Malia Razzaia (Dress for Success Seattle) offered a powerful reframe on learning from tough workplaces and difficult dynamics.

“The biggest definition in my life has been what I would call my anti-mentors,” she said, describing early career experiences where women were, “pitted against each other… to fight each other rather than support each other.”

The lesson she carried forward was lasting: “Every single time that happened to me, it taught me the leader I didn’t want to be, but more importantly, it taught me the leader I did want to be.” 

Andrea Anderson (Girl Scouts of Western Washington) brought the room into a moment of personal clarity that became a leadership story.

“That swimsuit didn’t fit me because it wasn’t made for me,” she said, describing the realization that so many systems, standards, and expectations were never designed for women to thrive as they are.

She asked a question that landed hard and stayed with people well after the session: “How much energy have we spent trying to cram ourselves into something to fit?”

It was a reminder that leadership is not just climbing, it is choosing, again and again, to be fully yourself and to build spaces where others can do the same.

Panel 2: It’s a Woman’s World, Moving Through the Ranks

This conversation was all about momentum, career risks, pivots, confidence, and what it takes to keep moving even when the path is not obvious.

Terri Fujinaga (Seattle Storm) shared a defining decision from earlier in her career, choosing a less conventional route that ultimately helped shape her leadership.

“The risk was taking a jump out, so that I could jump back in later, without knowing that the path to jump back in was obvious.”

She also offered an honest nod to the support systems that make those risks possible.

“Shout out to the allies and the partners in our lives,” she said, recognizing the behind the scenes stability that can give someone room to take a leap.

Madeline Haydon (nutpods) spoke to the internal part of risk taking — the moment before the leap, when you are deciding whether you believe in yourself enough to go first.

“Before you ask other people to invest in you, you have to ask yourself, am I willing to invest in myself?”

She also shared a practical model for healthy leadership and decision-making that many attendees were still talking about afterward: “The time for you to disagree is when we’re on the shore … when you’re in the boat, now we’re going to work together as a team.” 

Denise Raper (Maven Collective Holdings) talked candidly about walking into new rooms, especially when you are building something new or stepping into spaces where you do not have a long history.

“You can’t stay in a room that you’ve outgrown,” she said, describing what it takes to start over, prove yourself again, and keep going anyway.

Her closing point was one a lot of people needed to hear: “You have to walk in first, and then you gain the confidence.”

Panel 3: From the Corner Office, Empowering the Next Generation

The final panel moved into executive leadership at the highest levels, and it delivered on substance. The conversation was candid about pressure, decision-making, and what it means to lead when your choices ripple across entire organizations.

Heather Snavely (AAA Washington) shared what she sees as essential skills at the top.

“Curiosity. 100%,” she said. “You have to be curious. Ask questions.”

She also offered one of the most practical leadership truths of the day: “When you get to a position like ours … no one wants to give you feedback.”

Her solution was straightforward and actionable. You have to ask deliberately, create the conditions for honesty, and be genuinely open to what comes back. She paired that seriousness with a reminder that leadership is also about joy and perspective: “If you can’t laugh at work, why are you there?”

Ana Mari Cauce (University of Washington) brought a values-centered lens to leading through complexity.

“A crisis is not a time to figure out what your values are,” she said, underscoring that clarity has to be built before the pressure hits.

She also shared a memorable self-management tactic that had the room smiling because it was so human and so useful. In tough meetings, she said, “I literally sit on my hands … it’s making sure that I listen and I don’t immediately speak up.”

It was a reminder that leadership is not just what you say, it is how you hold the room, how you listen, and how you choose your response.

Keynote: Jane Boulware on Worthiness, Labels, & the Courage to Act

Jane Boulware’s keynote was equal parts funny, honest, and deeply motivating. She opened with the idea behind her book Unworthy (with the “un” crossed off), sharing her belief that we are “all born worthy,” yet many of us collect the “uns” over time, telling ourselves we’re “unprepared, unqualified … unworthy.” Her message was one of a  reset: Stop shrinking your own potential with labels that were never meant to define you.

She spoke about the expectations many women grow up with, the subtle pressure to “stay small,” and how that can shape what we believe is possible.

“It’s hard to be more when no one expects more of you,” she said, setting up the moment that changed her trajectory.

That moment came from Sister Frances Xavier, her biology teacher, who asked what she was doing after graduation.

When Jane said, “I don’t know,” Sister Frances replied, “Jane, you should go to college,” and then helped her secure a scholarship.

“$320 is not a lot of money,” Jane said, “but it was priceless.”

It shifted how she saw herself, and it became the foundation for one of her biggest takeaways: Encouragement matters, but, “action opens doors.”

Jane tied that directly to confidence, reminding the room that confidence, "comes after action, not before.” Instead of defaulting to “no” when you don’t feel ready, she encouraged replacing it with, “not yet,” a small shift that keeps you moving forward without pretending fear is not there.

She closed by naming what happens when others try to define you, and what it looks like to refuse that story.

“Your bulldog is my determination. Your bitch is my bold … your label is not my reality,” she said, before landing the keynote’s final truth: “You are worthy. Worth is your birthright.”

Then she turned it outward, urging everyone to lower the drawbridge behind them, lift others up, and help the next woman walk into the room believing she belongs.

The Part You Don’t Want to Miss Next Year

The 2026 Women’s Leadership Conference was built for connection, across industries, across career stages, and across the many ways leadership shows up in real life. And yes, the networking was as good as everyone says.

If you missed it, you missed the kind of conversations that make you walk out taller. Luckily,  we’ll be back, and the seats will fill fast.

Check out the full album of photos from Tuesday here (and share them!):