Newark, Del. — This year’s Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference will motivate and inspire attendees at all career levels when it convenes April 23-25 in Miami, Florida, USA. Coach, author and CNN commentator Mel Robbins will keynote this women-only event from Center for Growing Talent by PMA (CGTbyPMA), which is celebrating its landmark five-year anniversary this year.
“Having a strong support network is important to any professional, however this program is so much more than a women’s networking event,” said Alex Jackson Berkley, senior account manager for Frieda’s Specialty Produce and co-chair of CGTbyPMA’s Women’s Fresh Perspectives advisory group. “This is a professional and leadership development program that is unique to our industry, as it has been specifically developed from research conducted with fresh produce and floral industry leaders, supervisors and potential participants.”
The year-long theme for all Women’s Fresh Perspectives offerings, including this conference, is “Own It”. The 2017 conference agenda combines education and networking in a packed agenda.
This year’s keynote speaker is Mel Robbins, an attorney, business entrepreneur, author, coach and CNN commentator and opinion writer. Robbins’ Tedx Talk, “How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over,” has been viewed more than 10 million times. Her book on the brain and productivity, Stop Saying You’re Fine, is a business bestseller.
General session speaker Juliet Funt will teach attendees about the importance of “white space” – hard wiring strategic pauses between activities to increase productivity. Attendees will personalize their path forward by customizing a road map to achieve more white space at individual, team and organizational levels.
Conference general sessions are followed by workshops that then tailor those topics to attendees’ particular career stages: emerging, middle-level and executive.
CGTbyPMA Vice President, Talent Portfolio Alicia Calhoun reports that attendees will learn enhanced strategic, negotiation and communications skills, to help them achieve better business results. They will learn to strengthen their leadership styles, to lead and motivate their staff teams to be higher performing. They will also learn to create and use meaningful business relationships to enhance their own performance – both professional and personal.
Program is part of CGTbyPMA’s Develop mission
CGTbyPMA is a nonprofit, charitable organization that was created specifically by its industry to attract, develop and retain talent for the global fresh produce and floral industry. CGTbyPMA fulfills the “Develop” component of its mission by offering leadership development solutions that span the career continuum. Those offerings are tailored for young professionals, middle-level managers, emerging leaders, senior executives and women. All of CGTbyPMA’s development programs are designed specifically for the fresh produce and floral industry
The Women’s Fresh Perspectives suite of offerings is topped by the annual conference, and includes networking receptions at key industry conferences throughout the year, as well as a Leadership Breakfast at PMA’s annual Fresh Summit Convention & Exposition.
“This event is celebrating its five-year anniversary because recognition is growing that women leaders are good for business,” said CGTbyPMA’s Calhoun. “In fact, half of our attendees are sent by their supervisors.” Calhoun noted that attendees from year to year hail from across the industry supply chain, and from across career stages.
Presenting Sponsors of this year’s Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference include Sunkist Growers and Sysco Produce. In addition to sponsorships to support specific programs, CGTbyPMA’s overall work is made possible by annual charitable gifts from visionary companies from across the industry supply chain. To learn how you can support and benefit from CGTbyPMA’s work, visit www.growingtalentbypma.org/get-involved.
Register early to avoid disappointment
Registration for the 2017 Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference is now open. The event is open to PMA members and non-members alike; the member registration rate is $2,750, the non-member rate is $5,500. Discounts are available to returning attendees, and to companies sending two or more attendees. Registration does not include lodging, a change from previous years, or transportation.
The deadline to register early and save for this event is March 17; registration closes on April 20 or when the conference sells out. Interested women are urged to register early, as this event typically sells out. This year’s registration is already well ahead of last year’s pace, reports CGTbyPMA’s Calhoun.
For more information and to register, visit www.growingtalentbypma.org/programs-and-events/womens-fresh-perspectives.
About Center for Growing Talent by PMA
Center for Growing Talent by PMA was created by the produce and floral industry to grow the people across our industry. We help attract, develop and retain the talent needed to feed our industry’s growth, including educational programming and networking events. We offer a variety of industry-specific solutions across the career continuum, for university students, young professionals and women, emerging leaders, mid-level individuals and senior executives. We were created December 2005 as the PMA Education Foundation and later became PMA Foundation for Industry Talent; we evolved into Center for Growing Talent by PMA in 2016. For more information, visit GrowingTalentbyPMA.org.
About Produce Marketing Association (PMA)
Produce Marketing Association is the leading trade association representing companies from every segment of the global produce and floral supply chain. PMA helps members grow by providing connections that expand business opportunities and increase sales and consumption. For more information, visit www.pma.com.
Source: Produce Marketing Association (PMA)