Thursday, October 23rd
You’re the Boss: How Bosses and Employees Can Have Each Other’s Backs Instead of Getting on Each Other’s Nerves
Time: 12:30 – 1:30 PM Central Time
Speaker: Sabina Nawaz (She/Her)
Learning Outcomes
- Differentiate between power and pressure in the context of the employee-boss relationship.
- Describe how pressure corrupts actions and erodes the employee-boss relationship.
- Apply two specific tools to navigate power (whether they have a boss or are the boss) and manage pressure.
Session Description
Why does the boss-employee dynamic always feel destined for dysfunction—a cycle of bad-boss jokes and disgruntled-worker memes? In real life, it’s painful.
When work generates more frustration than fulfillment, when people feel more like adversaries than allies, it drains productivity and wears down morale. No one wants to struggle. Bosses want to manage well. Employees want to contribute and grow.
Sabina Nawaz reveals how the twin forces of pressure and power shape every workplace interaction:
- Pressure can corrupt good intentions into bad behaviors.
- Power can unintentionally create distance and misunderstandings.
Speaker Bio
Sabina Nawaz is an elite executive coach who advises C-level executives and teams at Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, nonprofits, and academic institutions around the world. She delivers dozens of keynotes, seminars, and conferences annually and teaches faculty at Northeastern and Drexel University.
During her fourteen-year tenure at Microsoft, Sabina went from managing software development teams to leading the company’s executive development and succession planning efforts for over 11,000 managers and nearly 1,000 executives, advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer directly.
Her work has been published or featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, NBC, Nasdaq, and MarketWatch. She is the author of You’re the Boss, Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need), Simon & Schuster, 2025.
CEU
This session offers 0.1 CEU or 1 PDH.
With the right tools, both forces can drive growth. Sabina shares stories and strategies that transform pressure into clarity and power into genuine connection—helping build healthier relationships, happier teams, and more productive companies.
Friday, October 24th
Responsible AI: Building a Future of Ethical Innovation
Time: 12:30 – 1:30 PM Central Time
Speaker: Lisa Thee (She/Her)
Learning Outcomes
- Apply a framework for integrating Responsible AI into your workflow.
- Describe how to lead with purpose in an AI-powered world.
- Recognize tools for identifying and mitigating risk in AI deployments.
Session Description
Artificial intelligence is reshaping everything from work to daily life. The question isn’t if we’ll use AI, but how responsibly we’ll use it.
Lisa Thee will share strategies and case studies from deploying AI to tackle global challenges—from protecting children online to advancing equity in healthcare. She’ll demystify bias, transparency, and accountability in AI, equipping attendees with tools to drive both innovation and responsibility.
Walk away with:
- A clear framework for integrating Responsible AI.
- Tools for identifying and mitigating AI risks.
- Inspiration to lead with purpose in an AI-powered world.
Speaker Bio
Lisa Thee is an international keynote speaker and leader in AI ethics. She is the CEO and Co-Founder of Minor Guard, an AI software company dedicated to online safety.
Her achievements include:
- “2023 International Impact Book Award” for Go! Reboot Your Career in 90 Days.
- 2023 Gold Viddy Award for Long Form Series: Navigating Abroad.
- 2023 Stevie Award for Women in Business, Executive of the Year.
Her TEDx talk, Bringing Light To Dark Places Online: Disrupting Human Trafficking Using AI, highlights her dedication to using technology for social good. She also serves on advisory boards at the intersection of technology, ethics, and human rights.
CEU
This session offers 0.1 CEU or 1 PDH.
State of Women in Engineering
Time: 1:45 – 2:45 PM Central Time
The State of Women in Engineering session presents an overview of research on the issues affecting women in engineering. During this special event, Roberta Rincon, Ph.D., the SWE director of research and impact, will share updates on SWE’s current research projects before sitting down with Emily Knaphus-Soran, Ph.D., an author of SWE’s 2024 literature review published in SWE Magazine’s 2024 State of Women in Engineering issue. Their discussion will cover insights from recently published research on topics affecting women and girls in STEM.
Speaker(s):
Roberta Rincon, PH.D.,
Director, Research and Impact, SWE
Emily Knaphus-Soran, PH.d
Senior Research Scientist at CERSE and Affiliate Assistant Professor in UW Sociology.
Saturday, October 25th
Embrace Your Story: Turning Self-Care and Authenticity Into Career Strengths
Time: 9:00 – 10:00 AM Central Time
Speaker: Ebony Travis Tichenor (She/Her)
Learning Outcomes
- Identify at least one personal self-care strategy to support mental, physical, and professional well-being.
- Describe how aligning a career with values and lived experiences strengthens leadership impact.
- Apply one technique for balancing personal and professional demands.
Session Description
Professional success isn’t just about technical expertise—it’s about self-care and authenticity.
Topics covered:
- Self-Care as a Career Advantage: Why health and well-being are essential to success.
- Authentic Living: Aligning work with values and passions for resilience and fulfillment.
- Balancing Demands: Tools to navigate tension between personal and professional life.
Rooted in the theme Embrace Your Story, this session empowers attendees to see their personal journeys as sources of growth and leadership strength.
Speaker Bio
Ebony Travis Tichenor, Director, Global Wellbeing & Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) at a leading healthcare company, has nearly 28 years of leadership experience. Raised in a blended Black and Mexican family, she brings authenticity and resilience to every space she leads.
Her story includes:
- Career progression from entry-level to director.
- Caregiver, partner, and community voice.
- Features in Forbes, CIO VIEWS, Voyage Minnesota, and leadership podcasts.
CEU
This session offers 0.1 CEU or 1 PDH.
End of the Barrel or a New Beginning?
Time: 12:30 -1:30 pm
As global demand for sustainable energy accelerates, the oil and gas, refining, and chemical sectors face a pivotal question: Are we witnessing the twilight of a legacy industry, or the dawn of a transformative era? This panel will bring together leaders, engineers, and innovators across the energy ecosystem to explore the evolving role of oil and gas, refining, and chemicals in a decarbonizing world. Topics will include how companies are adapting to climate pressures, investing in cleaner technologies, and redefining their workforce and business models for long-term resilience. Whether you’re in the industry or shaping adjacent policies and technologies, this conversation will challenge assumptions and spotlight opportunities in what could be the sector’s greatest reinvention yet.
Learning Objectives:
- Ascertain the major drivers influencing the oil and gas, refining, and chemical industries, including climate policy, investor expectations, and technological disruption.
- Identify how companies are diversifying portfolios, adopting low-carbon technologies (e.g., carbon capture, hydrogen, biofuels), and shifting toward integrated energy models.
- Discover how the energy workforce is changing, what new skill sets are emerging, and how engineers can stay relevant in a transitioning sector.
Moderator
Inaas Darrat
SWE FY26 President and Director of Chemical Sector Services
Trinity Consultants
Speaker(s)
Emily Amaro Bergeron
Operations Manager
Toledo Refining – PBF Energy
Erica Caruso-Young
Environmental Compliance Supervisor
Nucor Steel Louisiana
Ann Colwell
USGC Reconfiguration (GOLD) Project Director
ExxonMobil
Noemie Dion Ouellet
Power Segment Strategy Executive Leader
GE Vernova
