March 8 marks International Women’s Day (IWD), with 2026’s theme “Give to Gain” championing mentorship, generosity, and collaboration. We’re fortunate to work with an impressive roster of women, who are driving change in their industries and beyond. They offer candid insights and actionable strategies from their own paths to help other women advance with confidence.
March is also Women’s History Month, with IWD being its flagship event. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our most requested speakers and topics that capture this year’s theme. Contact us today to book your March event and learn more about our leading female keynote speakers.
Owning Your Leadership
Women leaders face unique challenges in claiming their space and amplifying their voice. These speakers share powerful strategies for building presence, breaking barriers, and leading with confidence in any room.
Rola Dagher
Navigating Challenges: Breaking Barriers in Leadership
One of six daughters born in a culture where women were undervalued to becoming a celebrated and award-winning tech leader, Rola Dagher’s journey exemplifies the power of resilience and determination to break down barriers and succeed.
This powerful session addresses the unique challenges facing women as leaders. Central to Rola’s philosophy is the “elevator mentality” — when you rise, lift others. Discover how to measure success by impact, turn setbacks into fuel for growth, and become the mentor you once needed.
Fotini Iconomopoulos
From Conflict to Connection: Negotiation as a Leadership Superpower
Strong leaders don’t avoid difficult conversations — they use them to drive results. Fotini Iconomopoulos teaches women to master negotiation as a business-critical leadership skill.
Drawing from decades of high-stakes experience, Fotini shows audiences how to advocate effectively, manage resistance without sacrificing relationships, and turn challenging moments into opportunities for trust and alignment. She equips audiences with strategies that strengthen their voice, improve decision-making, and drive collaboration.
Zahra Al-Harazi
Lead Out Loud: How to Show Up, Stand Out, and Be Seen as a Leader
Zahra Al-Harazi teaches leaders how to own their leadership narrative and show up with confidence, clarity, and credibility. Drawing from real-world experience working with executives and entrepreneurs, she helps audiences craft a powerful presence through strategic storytelling, intentional visibility, and authentic self-marketing.
Zahra shows leaders how to transform imposter syndrome into intentional authority while developing the skills to project confidence and maximize their impact in today’s high-visibility world.
Driving Meaningful Change
Leadership at the highest levels demands courage, integrity, and resilience. These trailblazing political leaders share hard-won lessons on navigating barriers, speaking truth to power, and creating lasting systemic change from positions of influence.
The Honourable Marci Ien
Women in Leadership: Driving Meaningful Change
The Hon. Marci Ien transitioned from broadcast journalist to Minister in record time, spearheading Canada’s first Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and first 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan.
With refreshing honesty, Marci shares the challenges of balancing leadership with caregiving responsibilities, navigating political life without traditional preparation, and finding the courage to be “squeaky” and speak up. She empowers audiences to lead through vulnerability, communicate with confidence, and be kinder to themselves while driving meaningful change.
The Honourable Christy Clark
Beyond DEI: Women and Leadership
The Honourable Christy Clark is the first and only woman to be elected Premier of British Columbia, navigating unspoken rules and double standards at the highest levels of political leadership.
With candour and humour, Christy takes audiences beyond traditional DEI conversations to explore the real barriers women face once they reach the table. Drawing from her groundbreaking experience, she examines what happens after women break through and provides practical insights on the resilience and strategies required to lead effectively as a woman in male-dominated spaces.
The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould
Leadership for Today and Tomorrow
The daughter of a hereditary chief, the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould was raised in a matrilineal community that shaped her leadership from an early age. She shares how being a “first” and an “only” throughout her career taught her the courage to prioritize honesty and transparency, even under difficult circumstances.
Inspirational and thought-provoking, Jody will explore the role of integrity in speaking truth to power and how representation, consensus-building, and being steadfast in your values create meaningful change.
Building Wealth and Business
Women are rewriting the rules of business and finance. These trailblazers share how they built multimillion-dollar companies, revolutionized venture capital, and championed financial empowerment — proving that success comes from betting on yourself, challenging bias, and building wealth unapologetically.
Joanna Griffiths
The Knix Way: Building a Brand with Purpose
Joanna Griffiths built Knix from startup to a $410-million acquisition — the largest publicly disclosed private sale of a direct-to-consumer company led by a female founder in Canada. She also made headlines closing Series B financing three days before giving birth to twins, eliminating investors who questioned her ability to lead while mothering.
Joanna shares lessons from building an award-winning brand, including how to embed values across every touchpoint, leverage mission as a North Star, and build community that drives impact and growth.
Michele Romanow
Leveling the Playing Field: Equity in Business
The co-founder of Clearco and one of only 23 female unicorn fintech founders globally, CBC Dragon Michele Romanow, revolutionized venture capital by leveraging AI and data to eliminate bias from funding decisions. While female founders receive just 2% of traditional VC funding, Clearco has funded 25x more women.
Michele shares how she shattered the glass ceiling of venture capital and empowers audiences to leverage data over bias, push past rejection, and never let “no” stop them from achieving their goals.
Melissa Leong
Becoming a Wealthy Woman
One of the most powerful things a woman can do is champion her finances. Melissa Leong, bestselling author and CTV’s The Social money expert, empowers audiences through wealth-building, behavioural economics, and positive psychology.
With her signature frank and funny style, she weaves striking research and must-know money wisdom to inspire women to actively build wealth and take control of their financial lives. Melissa delivers high-energy, practical insights that help women maximize both their money and their happiness.
Transforming Workplace Culture
Silent forces are costing organizations talent and billions in productivity. These experts tackle the hidden dynamics undermining women in the workplace — from systemic patterns that cut down high achievers to the $3.5 billion cost of ignoring menopause — providing evidence-based strategies to create environments where women thrive.
Dr. Catherine Hansen
Menopause as a Strategic Advantage for Organizational Success
Unmanaged menopause costs Canada $3.5 billion annually in lost productivity, with 10% of women over 40 silently exiting organizations. Dr. Catherine Hansen, a physician and certified menopause practitioner, shows how supportive cultures achieve 3.5x productivity gains and slash turnover by 20%.
She’ll provide actionable frameworks that transform this drain into strategic advantage, helping leaders retain high-value talent in a demographic comprising 25% of Canada’s workforce through stigma-free environments and flexible work models.
Dr. Rumeet Billan
Elevating Women in the Workplace: Combating Tall Poppy Syndrome
Dr. Rumeet Billan led the first international study on Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS), revealing that 87% of respondents felt their workplace achievements undermined by this silent systemic phenomenon. Her groundbreaking research exposed how conscious and unconscious behaviours, cultural messaging, and micro-aggressions devastate women’s success, mental health, and organizational performance.
Rumeet empowers audiences with practical strategies to combat TPS, transform workplace culture, and build environments of trust where women can flourish without being cut down.
Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe
Owning Your Change: Menopause, Midlife, and Advocacy
Half the population experiences menopause, yet stigma and silence keep it in the shadows. Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe cuts through misinformation to explore what’s normal, what’s not, and how to advocate for proper care during perimenopause and menopause.
Blending evidence with lived stories, Sheila equips individuals and workplaces with actionable strategies to better support women in midlife. She myth-busts harmful misinformation and validates experiences, empowering audiences to own their change with confidence and knowledge.
Motivation and Inspiration: Blaze Your Own Path
True courage isn’t fearlessness — it’s action despite fear. These powerhouse voices inspire and empower audiences to lead boldly, live authentically, and pursue ambitious dreams even when fear, doubt, and impossible odds stand in your way.
Dr. Samra Zafar
The Power of Incremental Courage: How to Live and Lead with Boldness
Dr. Samra Zafar escaped an abusive arranged marriage, survived poverty as a single mother while earning her degree, and left a successful finance career to become a doctor — and she was terrified every step of the way. She rejects the myth of fearlessness, instead teaching audiences how to befriend fear and see it as a protector vs. roadblock.
By sharing her story, Samra empowers audiences to access their inner courage, tap into their conviction, make decisions from power instead of desperation, and live and lead boldly.
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
Leading with Courage: Women in Leadership
As the former “de facto” first lady of Canada, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau knows firsthand the barriers women face in positions of leadership. She draws on her personal experience as a leader and mother to help audiences claim their true potential and become the leaders the world needs.
Sophie will share powerful lessons learned on being the change we want to see, finding the courage to take our rightful place as leaders, and how to stay true to oneself, even when thrust into the spotlight. She’s on a mission to help people live fuller and happier lives
Julie Kim
Work-Life Balance: Balance is Overrated
One of Canada’s top comedians, Julie Kim doesn’t believe in work-life balance. Her busiest professional year was also the first year of her daughter’s life. She was juggling writing for shows like Kim’s Convenience while navigating new motherhood.
With humour and irreverence, Julie tackles the impossible question of “how do you do it all?” through fresh insights on gender, race, and the messy reality of building a career while living a full life. Expect real talk, big laughs, and a perspective that challenges everything you’ve been told about balance.
Book Your International Women’s Day Speaker Today
This International Women’s Day, invest in mentorship, collaboration, and meaningful dialogue. Contact us to explore our full roster of leading women speakers and find the perfect voice to elevate your March event.
