HELLO, DALAI: Maria Shriver, right, has taken theWomen’s Conference to new heights since 2003 by inviting the world’s most inspiring figures to take part, including the Dalai Lama, who appeared at the conference in 2006. By design, the conference remains as affordable and accessible as possible.
imbued the conference with a similar spirit of activism. “She didn’t want it to be just an event,” DiGirolamo said, “but rather a tent-raising for a movement.” Shriver’s clout and personal network made it possible for
her to attract big names to the Women’s Conference right from the start. Oprah Winfrey made an appearance at Shriver’s first conference, in 2003, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama made his first-ever appearance at any women’s con- ference three years later. In the last seven years, the confer- ence has more than tripled in size. The 150 speakers for this year’s meeting—held on Oct. 24–26—were drawn from the very top of their respective fields, and included First Lady Michelle Obama, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, Deepak Chopra, Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz, singer and songwriter Mary J. Blige, actress Goldie Hawn, poet Mary Oliver, Nike founder
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and chairman Phil Knight, and dozens more celebrities, pun- dits, and superstars. Following the example set by Shriver, who this year spoke
openly about the pain of giving up her public career when her husband became governor, most Women’s Conference speakers—no matter how glittery their rank—drop their “stump speeches” and speak from the heart, DiGirolamo said. “We want to make it real and make it emotional,” he said, “and create a safe space for women to be candid.” Which sounds unlikely, given that attendees were literally packed to the ceiling in Long Beach’s 46,000-square-foot Arena. But when playwright Eve Ensler debuted an emo- tionally devastating new poem, “The Gift of Cancer,” which linked her recent battle with ovarian cancer with crimes against women in the Congo and her own experience with rape, the atmosphere in the huge venue felt completely still. The intent of the conference isn’t to convince attendees
to follow a certain agenda, DiGirolamo said, but to give women access to thought leaders with whom they otherwise wouldn’t come into contact. There are any number ofother big-idea gatherings where the upper tier is invited to come talk amongst themselves—theWorld Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for example, or the ultra-exclusive Ren- aissanceWeekends—but theWomen’s Conference is delib- erately accessible. It’s open to the general public, and costs