Women Opening Doors for Women

IWF/MA Inspires Tomorrow's Leaders at our Annual Women Opening Doors for Women

Women Opening Doors for Women is an event designed to inspire connection between IWF/MA members and emerging women leaders in our community. Through personal interactions between women of substantial influence in the Greater Boston area (our members) and the area’s most promising emerging women leaders, WODFW delivers a dynamic event with mentoring, access, empowerment and role modelling. It is through this mentoring relationship we hope to inspire, counsel, and teach each other. In 2021 we added to the impact of this event by participating in the “Pay it Forward Pipeline,” a longer term mentoring program with Tomorrow’s Women Today.  

Check back soon for information about our 2023 Women Opening Doors for Women Program!

Previous Women Opening Doors for Women Programs

Dr. Lynn Perry Wooten was our featured keynote speaker at the 2022 Women Opening Doors for Women, focusing on key strategies from her recent book, Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership. Over 100 mentees participated along with 35 IWF/MA member mentors.

Chaos. Confidence. Connection 

Wednesday, June 23, from 4:30 – 6:15pm.

This year’s virtual gathering will open with a panel of three very special women sharing personal stories about exactly that – how they have navigated through chaos with confidence, and how meaningful connections made a difference for them: 

Moderator:
Beth Chandler, CEO, YWBoston 

Panelists:
Cady Coleman, Retired Astronaut
Dr. Aisha Francis, CEO, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology
Yvonne Garcia, Chief of Staff to the CEO, State Street

Chaos. Confidence. Connection 

Wednesday, June 23, from 4:30 – 6:15pm.

This year’s virtual gathering will open with a panel of three very special women sharing personal stories about exactly that – how they have navigated through chaos with confidence, and how meaningful connections made a difference for them: 

Moderator:
Beth Chandler, CEO, YWBoston 

Panelists:
Cady Coleman, Retired Astronaut
Dr. Aisha Francis, CEO, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology
Yvonne Garcia, Chief of Staff to the CEO, State Street

Mentoring so it Matters


July 14, 2020
Guest speaker, U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley

Event Co-Chairs: 

Heather Campion, Koya Leadership Partners
Yvonne Garcia, State Street

Lauren Pimpare, Tomorrow’s Women TODAY
Boston Women’s Leadership Council

AGENDA

5:00 PM – Sponsor & Member Reception

5:30 PM – Program Begins

8:00 PM – Closing Remarks

8:00- 8:30 PM – Networking Reception

FIRESIDE CHAT
GETTING THERE AND STAYING THERE

The keynote featured strategies for building a powerful sustainable
personal brand with Boston’s Connector and
Founder of Get Konnected Colette A.M Phillips,
moderated by Dr. Priscilla Douglas.
Introduced by Lauren Pimpare.

A tremendous thank you to our

2019 Sponsors:

GOLD
  • Center for Women and Health
  • Brown Brothers Harriman
  • Converse
  • Easten Bank
  • Verizon
SILVER
  • Globalization Partners
  • Linda Henry
  • KHJ Brand Activation
  • Nutter McLennen & Fish LLP
  • Simmons College
INDIVIDUAL
  • Diane Hessan, C Space
  • Heidi Wyle, Venti Technologies
AGENDA

6:00 PM – Networking cocktail reception

7:00 PM – Buffet Dinner & Program– Mentees are seated at tables with MWF Members who are the mentors for the evening.

  • Fireside Chat with Carol Fulp, President & CEO of The Partnership and Gloria Larson, President Bentley University
  • Member Panel Discussion led by Jesse Mermell, President of Alliance for Business Leadership with Panelists: Rachel Kaprielian (U.S. Government Relations at McDonald’s); Susan Rittscher (CEO of the Center for Women and Enterprise); Lauren Pimpare (CEO of the Tomorrow’s Women Today)
  • Small Group Mentoring Sessions, the most powerful portion of the event, led by our Member Mentors.

9:00 PM – Conclusion

A tremendous thank you to our

2018 Sponsors:

PLATINUM
  • Helen Drinan, Simmons
  • Melanie Foley, Liberty Mutual
  • Linda Henry, The Boston Globe
  • Tara Levine, Ocean Spray
  • Deborah Manus, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
  • Barbara Heinemann, Eastern Bank
GOLD
  • Donna Cupelo, Verizon
  • Tracey Flaherty, Natixis Global Asset Management
  • Gloria Larson, Bentley University
  • Cordi O’Hara, National Grid
  • Julie Slattery, Verizon
SILVER
  • Renee Connolly, MilliporeSigma
  • Judy Habib, KHJ Brand Activation
  • Micho Spring, Weber Shandwick
BRONZE
  • Dana Born, Harvard Kennedy, Center for Public Leadership
  • Susan Esper, Deloitte & Touche LLP
  • Joyce Murphy, UMASS Medical School
  • Kem Danner, State Street
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
  • Heather Campion, Mount Vernon Strategies
  • Nancy Crimmin, EdD, Becker College
  • Diane Hessan, C Space
  • Gale Murray, The Business Journals
  • Heidi Wyle, Venti Technologies

We recently held our eleventh annual Women Opening Doors for Women mentoring event, which paired established executives with aspiring leaders. This year’s event was held at the law firm of Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP. The event sold out and more than 135 women were in attendance. Over 30 mentors attended, including event chairs Gale Murray, Jesse Mermell, Gloria Larson and Donna Cupelo. The emerging leaders represented over 50 different companies in the Commonwealth. To kick off the mentoring, Beth Monaghan, CEO and Founder of InkHouse, inspired the group with a brief keynote address based off of her TED talk, “Leave the Ladder Down.”

A tremendous thank you to our

2017 Sponsors:

PLATINUM
  • Helen Drinan, Simmons College
GOLD
  • Donna Cupelo, Verizon
  • Linda Henry
  • Patricia Jacobs, AT&T Inc.
  • Gloria Larson, Bentley University
  • Deborah Manus, Nutter McClennen & Fish
  • Marcy Reed, National Grid
SILVER
  • Jacqueline Shoback,
    Boston Private Bank
  • Micho Spring, Weber Shandwick
BRONZE
  • Dana H. Born, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
  • Geri Denterlein, Denterlein
  • Susan Esper, Deloitte & Touche LLP
  • Judy Habib, KHJ Brand Activation
  • Deborah Jackson, Cambridge College
BRONZE (cont’d)
  • Beth Monaghan, Inkhouse
  • Joyce A. Murphy, University of MA Medical School
  • Adrienne Penta, Brown Brothers Harriman
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
  • Beth Boland, Foley Lardner
  • Deborah Devaux & Stephanie Lovell,
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA
  • Heidi Wyle, Venti Technologies

The Tenth Annual Massachusetts Women’s Forum Women Opening Doors For Women Mentoring Event (WODFW) was held on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at the State House. The theme of the event was “Fostering Women’s Leadership”.

The goal of WODFW is to bring emerging women leaders together with women of substantial influence in the Greater Boston area, for mentoring, showcasing living-and- breathing role models, and engendering an “I can do it too!” worldview. We hope to inspire emerging leaders through interactions with our membership in a world-class event. In 2016 we had over 110 mentees and over 40 mentor/members from MWF.

The evening began with a cocktail reception on the Grand Staircase from 6:00-6:30pm. Attendees then moved into The Great Hall for a seated dinner with MWF member hosts at each table. They then heard from our Elected State Constitutional Officials, enjoyed a Keynote Speech by Cathy Minehan, Dean, Simmons College School of Management, and participated in three interactive topic-based small-group sessions led by MWF members who answered attendee questions and shared their personal stories and wisdom.

A tremendous thank you to our

2016 Sponsors:

PLATINUM
  • BNY Mellon
GOLD
  • Bentley
  • AT&T
  • Verizon
  • State Street
  • Personal
  • B&W
GOLD (cont’d)
  • Simmons
  • Eos Foundation
  • Slolum Consulting
SILVER
  • National Grid
  • Regina Pisa
  • Weber Shandwick
BRONZE
  • Diane Hessan
  • Heidi Wyle
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
  • Dana Born
  • Gale Murray
  • Betsy Nabel
  • Lynn Nicholas