Women Lead Spring Conference

  

Sara Dean

Sara Dean is a dynamic keynote speaker, certified facilitator, and executive coach who helps women lead with confidence, clarity, and courage. Drawing from over two decades of experience and a background in behavioral science, she guides clients to dismantle self-limiting beliefs, challenge cultural conditioning, and lead with intention and impact. Sara has worked with leaders at Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Starbucks, among others. She hosts the top 1% globally ranked podcast, Shameless Leadership, and will be graduating with her master's in organizational leadershipfrom Gonzaga University in May.

Session Overview

In their Women in the Workplace 2025 Report, Lean In and McKinsey & Company proclaimed that women are becoming less ambitious. Not only is this notion deeply flawed, but it is downright dangerous. This keynote explores how social conditioning and false narratives teach women to shrink, second-guess themselves, and disconnect from their own self-trust. This is an invitation to reclaim your power and position in the world without competing, apologizing, or waiting for permission to take up space.  Through inspiring stories and practical reframes, you will walk away ready to lead with embodied confidence and the collective power of hundreds of other women leaders.

Session Objectives

By the end of this keynote, attendees will be able to:

• • Recognize and challenge false narrativesabout women’s ambition, confidence, and leadership that fuel self-doubt and imposter syndrome.

  • Strengthen self-trust and embodied confidenceby reconnecting with their instincts, voice, and inner authority.

  • Disrupt the narrative of their inner criticthat keeps them second-guessing themselves instead of claiming their own power.

  • Lead more boldly and collaborativelyby showing up without apologizing, shrinking, or waiting for permission to take up space

Women of Wisdom: Leading with Heart and Purpose features three accomplished executive leaders in a candid dialogue about leadership, mentorship, and calling. Grounded in reflection and experience, this conversation explores how purpose-driven leadership creates lasting impact in organizations, communities, and lives.

Anna Franklin, Executive Director of Health Equity and Environmental Stewardship for Providence Central Division

Anna Franklin is the Executive Director of Health Equity and Environmental Stewardship for Providence Central Division, with over three decades of healthcare leadership. A passionate advocate for racial and social justice, Anna focuses on addressing health inequities and empowering underserved communities. She serves on multiple boards and is the founder of Maji Rising, a nonprofit focused on opportunity and equity. Her extensive credentials include an MBA, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and executive education from Harvard Business School.

Charlotte Nemec, CEO Canopy Credit Union

Since 2018, Charlotte Nemec has served as the President/CEO at Canopy Credit Union in Spokane. Since starting at the credit union in 1995, her roles have included managing HR and serving as the VP of Administration. Charlotte cares deeply about giving back to the Spokane community and serves with the Greater Spokane Incorporated Finance Committee, Whitworth University Institute of Leadership, and the GoWest Foundation. Charlotte is also passionate about cooking, hiking, and spending time with her cat and dog.

  

Megan Fouty

Megan Fouty is the General Counsel and Head of Global Expansion at Tin Can, a Seattle-based technology start-up that provides phones for families and kids as an alternative to smart phones.  Previously she was the General Counsel and CHRO at Glowforge, Inc., a Seattle-based technology start-up that designs and produces 3D laser printers where she oversaw the Legal, HR, customer support organization, recruiting, and the facilities team. Before Glowforge Megan came from heading up the legal team at Convoy, Inc. another Seattle-based technology start up that was seed funded by Bezos and Gates and got its unicorn status. In addition to her day job, Megan founded and runs Diversity University, a company that provides diversity, equity, and inclusion tools such as trainings, project management, or assists in career coaching or investigations for companies, law firms, and organizations. Megan's background includes both law firm and in-house experience with previous senior legal positions at Moss Adams, one of the country's largest public accounting firms and Expeditors International, a Fortune 500 international logistics company.  Megan attended Gonzaga University for undergrad and went to Seattle University school of Law. 

Megan serves on the board of directors for Providence Pediatric Hospice of Seattle. Recently she was awarded the top ten 30 somethings by ACC national, received the Legal MVP Award by SimpleLegal, she was listed in Marquis 2022 Who's Who in America, was featured on the International  Counsel Podcast, and was recognized by Women, Influence and Power in Law for Championing Diversity in-house and for Innovative Leadership. She has spoken around the country on a wide range of topics and is seen as a prominent leader in the legal community. She recently published her book The Art of Networking, providing anyone looking for career progression or to grow a more robust network with tangible tools and advice to do so.

Session Description

Take your own path into your hands. You are your own PR agency. Talk through actionable steps to crafting your own brand, developing a robust network, and leading with authenticity and intentionality.

  

Beck Burson, M.D.

Dr. Beck Burson is a board-certified psychiatrist, physician and creative with a master's degree in organizational leadership (Gonzaga). She loves engaging with “neurons and narratives”, knowing what we tell ourselves matters. She is the CEO of Alpenglow Mental Wellness. More recently, she founded Flamelight Creative, where light grows when community and creativity ignite. A former U.S. Air Force officer, she has worked in the VA, private practice, and research, including serving as a site principal investigator on a Yale-led study on ketamine. She lives in Spokane, Washington with her family, grateful to be rooted again in the Inland Northwest.

Workshop Description

This workshop explores two fundamental modes of attention that shape human experience: defensive attention, which prioritizes prediction, control, and survival, and discovery-oriented attention, which opens us to curiosity, trust, and meaning. Drawing on neuroscience, attachment theory, and lived experience, participants will examine how these modes develop, how they become imbalanced, and why neither is sufficient alone. The focus of the workshop is integration - learning how defense and discovery can work together to support resilience, creativity, and relational depth as we grow as leaders.

Workshop Learning Objectives

• • A clear, neuroscience-informed framework for understanding defense and discovery as adaptive attentional modes rather than personality traits or moral positions

  • Greater awareness of their own default attentional patterns, especially under stress or threat

  • Practical insight into integration, including how to soften excessive defense without abandoning protection

  • Language and concepts that support leadership, and personal reflection around these two modes of attention

  

Heather Davis

Heather Davis is an AI transformation leader and artist who unites creativity with organizational change. At Slalom, she shapes enterprise AI adoption with a human-centered approach that strengthens culture and equips teams to lead through uncertainty. As founder of PaintedLove, her abstract art practice explores transformation and connection, themes that echo in her leadership. Heather helps organizations imagine new ways of working and champions the idea that creativity is a strategic advantage for leaders navigating the AI era.

Workshop Description

This experiential session invites participants to explore leadership through the lens of creativity, perception, and identity. Using original artwork, reflection prompts, and a guided “art walk,” attendees will examine how they show up as leaders, what they need to release and cultivate, and how creativity can strengthen their courage and adaptability in an AI-driven world. Participants leave with practical tools to cultivate harness leadership intelligence, diagnose their team’s “human pulse,” and design a 60-day micro-experiment to expand their creative leadership practice. 

Workshop learning objectives

 

Elle Christensen, M.A.  

Elle Christensen is the Training and Development Manager at OrePac Building Products, where she supports leadership development across the organization. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College (Class of 2015) with a degree in Critical Social Thought, Elle brings a strong foundation in systems thinking and human behavior to her work. She is also an alumna of Gonzaga University (Class of 2018), where she earned a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership. Elle’s work focuses on building leadership capability by helping people understand the neuroscience behind predictable human reactions and apply that knowledge to stay calm, clear, and connected.

Workshop Description

This workshop supports women leaders in navigating difficult conversations with confidence by understanding how the brain responds to stress and perceived threat. Participants explore the neuroscience of emotional regulation, reflect on their personal stress and safety cues, and practice practical tools for staying grounded, clear, and effective during high-stakes conversations.

Workshop Objectives

• • Normalize emotional reactions – Understand that stress responses are a natural biological reaction, not a personal failure or lack of capability.

  • Increase self-awareness – Learn to recognize personal signs of being in a stress state versus a safe state, and how each impacts communication and problem-solving.

  • Build regulation skills – Leave with practical tools to shift from a stress response into a calm, productive “safe zone” during challenging conversations.

 

Gena Hoxha, Ph.D. 

Dr. Gena Hoxha is an executive and organizational strategist helping companies navigate change and transformation. As a Chief of Staff, Ph.D. in Leadership Studies, and trusted advisor to senior leaders, she is passionate about empowering executives to lead with clarity and confidence through disruption. She has built and led cutting-edge leadership development programs, designed executive education experiences, and launched AI-informed solutions that drive business results and cultural alignment. In her work, Dr. Hoxha focuses on what leaders need most right now: clarity, fluency, and the strategic tools to lead through transformation with confidence.