2026 is the year to move beyond conversation and begin redesigning work for the realities of modern life.

This year's Summit treats women not as a category to be supported, but as the workforce signal that reveals where modern organizations are quietly breaking. The arc of the day is built around a single premise: most organizations are misreading the signals they are already seeing. The retention problem isn't a retention problem. The pipeline isn't a pipeline problem. The benefits gap isn't a benefits gap. Diagnose correctly, and the levers for change become operational and immediate.

In a climate of policy pullbacks, DEI rollback and economic pressure, the cost of misdiagnosis is no longer abstract. It shows up on the balance sheet in attrition, in productivity, and in the leadership pipeline that never quite arrives.

This year’s agenda reflects that evolution

I. Setting the Stage