Empowering Girls for Life is hosting its second annual convention Saturday, August 10, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.
Sports legends Jennie Finch, Natasha Watley and Kathrine Switzer will headline the event with Laura Okmin, an Emmy Award-winning reporter covering the NFL for Fox Sports, serving as emcee.
The convention is a free, inspiring and educational event that will provide a venue for girls from 7 to 17 to meet and interact with high-profile women with proven track records of success in their respective fields.
This one-day event will feature 10 female speakers from various industries with a VIP session, where attendees get the chance to meet, greet, get autographs and pictures with speakers.
“The purpose of the convention is to reach out to young women and girls and to get the message out on motivating and empowering young girls to be the best that they can be,” said convention creator Bill Conroy.
Empowering Girls for Life is powered by ComEd an Exelon Company.
To register or to get more information, go to: www.empoweringgirls.life
Below is the program schedule for the event…
*****
Saturday, August 10
Empowering Girls for Life Speakers
9 AM – Jennie Finch & Natasha Watley
Gold-medal winning Olympic softball players, both are former All-Americans and National Championship winners at Arizona and UCLA. Finch played for the Chicago Bandits and Watley played for the USSSA Pride.
10 AM – Kate Drohan & Yvette Healy
Drohan is the head softball coach at Northwestern and Healy is the head softball coach at Wisconsin.
11 AM – Alyssa Carson
Carson is an astronaut trainee and the first person to complete the NASA Passport program. She is the youngest person to be accepted and graduate from the Advanced PoSSUM Academy, officially making her certified for space travel and is earmarked to be on the first mission to Mars.
NOON – 1:30 PM VIP Session
A unique opportunity to meet, take photos and interact personally with convention speakers. This session requires the purchase of a $20 ticket, which will be available onsite at the door. VIP guests will be given a free autograph card upon entrance.
1:30 PM – Kathrine Switzer
Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as a numbered entrant. She has won the New York Marathon, was named Female Runner of the Decade and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011 for creating a social revelation by empowering women around the world through running.
2:30 PM – Elana Meyers Taylor
Taylor is a three-time Olympic medalist on the two-man’s women bobsled team in 2010, 2014 and 2018, and is a two-time world champion. In January 2019, she was named President of the Women’s Sports Foundation. She attended George Washington University on a softball scholarship and played professionally for the Michigan Ice.
3:30 PM – Jennifer Tyrell, Patricia Babcock-McGraw and Jodi Norgaard
Tyrrell is the principal at Sandburg High School, a former Division 1 softball player at Western Illinois and former high school All-American and national champion softball coach.
Babcock-McGraw is a sportswriter for the Daily Herald, color analyst for the Chicago Sky and analyst for the Big Ten Network. She is a former Division 1 basketball player at Northwestern University and was inducted into the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame.
Norgaard is the founder and creator of the award-winning Go! Go! Sports Girls dolls and books, a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, activist and consultant.