The 4th Annual Women Driving Excellence at the Chicago Auto Show was a full day event held on February 16,2016 title sponsored by Nissan.
This year’s #WDE16 honored five trailblazing women who start, accelerate, fuel and steer others to excellence:  Kathleen Henson, Founder of Henson Consulting, Dominique Jordan Turner, President and CEO of Chicago Scholars, Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois, Dee Alexander, vocalist and songwriter, and Marilynn Kelly Gardner, President and CEO of Navy Pier, Inc. Each honoree shared their inspirational stories and tips as they received recognition for their outstanding efforts. ABC-7 Host, Janet Davies emceed this event.

The festivities were kicked-off with with an opportunity to Jumpstart Your Network with Women with Drive, Impact 100 Chicago, and EPWNG. Attendees were given an opportunity to connect, network, and learn about fellow attendees while gathering valuable tips for maintaining professionalism and growing their business. Women attendees were also encouraged to share their story!

After the Honorees were given the opportunity to share, we heard from Leading Women in Tech, including Katy Lynch, Techweek CEO, Yana Nirshberg, ParadigmNEXT, CEO, and Elisa All, 30Second Mobile CEO. The #ChicagonistaLIVE show broadcasted live in collaboration with the Chicago Tribune and highlighted the day spent at the Chicago Auto Show.

To round out the full day, Women Driving Excellence hosted an Entrepreneurial Elevator Pitch Competition by Inventorz Network with special guest judges, Jimmy Lee, Debi Lily, and Dahlia Saper.

Full press coverage forthcoming, but you can see same day coverage by CBS and NBC here.