The Duluth Chamber is proud to present the fourth annual Women in Leadership Conference on September 14, 2026, at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. This event brings together women from across our region to learn, connect and grow – no matter where they are in their career.
This year’s conference will feature local women leaders sharing their personal stories, including the challenges they’ve overcome, the lessons they’ve learned and real-world leadership strategies participants can put into practice right away.
Attendees can expect a mix of keynote talks, hands-on workshops, breakout sessions and panel conversations designed for a range of career stages. The event also includes an after-party and a women-owned business expo, highlighting the people and organizations shaping our community.
Whether you come on your own or with your team, it’s a day built for learning, connection and inspiration. All proceeds support the Fuse Duluth young professionals program.
Announcing Our Closing Keynote
The Duluth Chamber is thrilled to announce nationally renowned Duluth-based speaker Sharon McMahon as the closing keynote for the Women in Leadership Conference, bringing an inspiring close to an already powerful day of connection, learning and leadership.
Sharon McMahon is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Small and the Mighty, founder of The Preamble, a weekly magazine that reaches more than 360,000 readers with fact-based, nonpartisan insights on history, government and current events.
A nationally recognized educator, Sharon became known as “America’s Government Teacher” for her viral efforts to explain civic processes during the 2020 election. Her unique ability to bring clarity to chaos — rooted in historical context, constitutional grounding and calm authority — has built a devoted following of more than 1.5 million people, who call themselves Governerds. She also built Governerds Insider, one of the largest and most engaged online book clubs in the country, where tens of thousands of members dive deeper into history, law and public life through live conversations, workshops, and intimate interviews with prominent guests.
Sharon has conducted in-depth interviews with prominent leaders across the political spectrum, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Antony Blinken, and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Her work has earned widespread acclaim, including a Jefferson Award for Public Service, Freedom Forum’s Free Expression Award, a Webby Award for Best Podcast and PR Week’s Communicator of the Year.
Through her platform, Sharon has also raised more than $13.2 million for charitable causes — ranging from disaster relief to medical debt forgiveness — and continues to champion civic engagement as a path to meaningful change. Her message is simple but urgent: truth matters, facts don’t require your approval and small actions can shape the future.
View the conference agenda at duluthchamber.com/womeninleadership. Early bird pricing is available through Aug. 2.
