Schedule

Opening Session:
Your Personal Eco-System with Tracy Spears

Tracy Spears, founder of the Exceptional Leaders Lab, will kick off our Conference with a presentation from her Oxford Talk, “Curating Your Own Personal Eco-System.” From how you preserve and protect your resources to how you develop connections that will support your pursuit of professional and personal goals, Tracy’s talk will share essential insights and help set the stage for and deepen the meaning of many of the topics we’ll be discussing in our days together in Orlando – from sustainability to advocacy to mentoring to networking and building confidence.

Tracy Spears
Keynote Speaker and Founder
Exceptional Leaders Lab

Post Session Wrap-up & Conference Icebreaker:

After Tracy’s presentation, we’ll look at our Conference schedule for the next 2 days, share ideas for how to get the most out of the upcoming workshops and presentations, and go over the topics that are coming up through keynotes, workshops, and team-building activities. We’ll close out this wrap-up with an activity designed to help people start to feel connected to one another by engaging in a fun, physical, and mental creative exercise entitled, “Building a Story.” Don’t miss this great way to get to know the fantastic women gathered for WFPC 2024!

Making Connections: WFPC Welcome Reception

Join us for cocktails and great food as we reconnect with old friends and forge new connections with bright, strong women in the fresh produce and floral industries.

Networking Breakfast

Morning Keynote: 
Finding Your Purpose at Home, At Work, and In the Community with Dr. Bertice Berry

Author, sociologist, and storyteller Dr. Bertice Berry kicks off the Conference, helping us see the "Why?" for everything we do personally and professionally. It can't all be about just getting through or getting by, because that mindset leads to burnout, boredom, and inertia. By finding a purpose for our busy days, we are energized, focused, and can achieve the balance we all seek between our passions and our practical needs, and therefore better serve all of our pursuits. Dr. Berry’s fantastic presence and message will energize us all for the Conference and beyond!

Dr. Bertice Berry

Transition Break

Workshop Block 1A:
Making Better Use of Your Time & Energy with Henna Pryor

The workplace has changed in so many ways – including when, where, and how many of us work. At the same time, we’re being told that finding a “work-life balance” should be our goal – often with little support to actually achieve that. Now that women have more seats at the corporate table, we feel compelled to keep proving our worth at work, and yet we have personal responsibilities, passions, and priorities, too. How do we juggle it all? Executive coach and workplace performance expert Henna Pryor will share strategies for achieving our goals without burning out, give us great ideas for enjoying our successes, large and small, and never losing sight of the need for women to support and empower each other along the way.

Speaker

Henna Pryor

Block 1B:
Living and Working Sustainably with Sustainability Thought Leaders

Sustainability in our industry means practices that are gentler on the earth – that protect our human and financial resources, and that can be maintained into the future without doing harm to the “Triple Bottom Line” – people, planet, and profit. It’s a mindset that has meaning for our own lives, too – because each of us has a finite supply of time, energy, and resources we can bring to our professional and personal lives. For this unique workshop, Tamara Muruetagoiena, IFPA’s Vice President of Sustainability will be joined by Nikki Cossio, founder and CEO of Measure To Improve, to talk about how you can advocate for these practices for your company and in your own lives. Don’t miss this! 

Speaker

Nikki Cossio
Founder & CEO
Measure to Improve, LLC

Tamara Muruetagoiena
Vice President, Sustainability
International Fresh Produce Association

Transition Break

Workshop Block #1 Repeats; Attend a new session!

Networking Lunch and Professional Photos

Interim Session: Empowered Women Empowering Through Mentoring 

• WFPC’s Mentoring Program – How it Works: What can mentors and mentees expect from the program and the relationships they’re building? Find out here.
• Giving Back & Sharing Wisdom: Join Christy Petit, from Pollinate Networks, to talk about the benefits of mentoring programs for everyone involved.
• Mentoring: What’s Next? Discover next steps and ideas for growing mentorship relationships within the WFPC Mentorship program.

Not a part of this year’s mentoring program? This session is for you!  

Building Belonging
For those attendees not engaged in our Mentoring program, we'll gather to discuss what belonging means to us as individuals and how organizations can help foster a sense of belonging within their workforce. Learn how to make your meetings into safer spaces, how to create policies that support that. 

Speaker

Madelyn Flores
Global Programs Manager
Lean In

Christy Pettit
CEO
Pollinate Networks Inc.

Take a Break

Workshop Blocks #2:

45 minutes each, they’re repeated immediately following a break, so you won’t miss a thing!

Block 2A:
Advocating for Yourself and Your Industry

Get comfortable speaking up – for yourself and for the Fresh Produce Industry. Whether you’re making that “elevator pitch” to a new client or in a meeting on Capitol Hill, speaking with confidence about you, your company, and your goals for our industry is a skill that needs continuous development. This doesn’t mean becoming a polished public speaker – it means becoming accepting of and confident in communicating as yourself, in your voice, with your style. Through role-playing, attendees will learn to show up, speak up, and stand up with greater confidence and self-acceptance.

Moderator

Miriam Wolk
Chief Membership Officer
International Fresh Produce Association

Speaker

Sara Neagu-Reed
Director of Production & Environmental Policy
International Fresh Produce Association

Carrie Mack
Senior Sourcing Manager
Walmart

Block 2B:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Where Are We Now?
Dr. Bertice Berry Returns

Diversity – and the Equity and Inclusion that are required to make it work – are priorities for the workforce, as a significant percentage of workers, at all levels, have indicated it’s something they expect from their employers. The impact of a diverse workforce that includes women and people of multiple ethnicities, religions, orientations, and abilities is also essential for an organization to grow and prosper – studies prove this time after time. So, from intention to new policies to actual implementation, how are DEI initiatives going across organizations in the US? Are we getting anywhere? Dr. Bertice Berry shares her DEI insights on how true equity, inclusion, allyship, and belonging are achieved and helps us to identify the roadblocks we’re experiencing as individuals and within our organizations and motivate us to do more and do better.

Dr. Bertice Berry

Transition Break

Workshop Block #2 Repeats; Advocating for Yourself and Your Industry

Take a Break

General Session #3:
Women in Leadership: Unplugged

As you’ve come to expect from sessions at the WFPC, select industry leaders will join Cathy Burns, serving as moderator, to share their experiences, insights, and ideas on the issues that are challenging, taboo, or rarely addressed in a business setting. The panel will bring these issues to this safe, conversational space – and with empathy and experience, set a great example for the audience in finding solutions to the unique and universal challenges we’re all facing in our professional lives.

Moderator

Cathy Burns
CEO
International Fresh Produce Association

Panelist

Karen Caplan
Advisor
Frieda's Branded Produce

Meghan Diaz
Senior Director - Local Sourcing
Sprouts Family Markets

Elyse Lipman
CEO
Lipman Family Farms

Happy Hour: Team Building

Unleash your competitive, team spirit while enjoying cocktails and delicious eats with all the inspiring women from throughout the fresh produce supply chain.

Networking Breakfast

General Session:
Mentoring & Allyship: Making Valuable Connections

Beginning with a check-in on the Mentoring program, we connect mentorship on a one-to-one basis to a larger sense of giving back and looking out for one another by becoming allies for people who aren’t being given the same advantages that others expect and receive. Talk about empowered women empowering! It all begins with allyship – and with that in mind, we’ll share ideas for ways to be an ally – for our mentees, for those new to our industry, and to marginalized individuals and groups in need of someone in their corner, unconditionally.

Speaker

Madelyn Flores
Global Programs Manager
Lean In

Transition Break

Workshop Block #3:

45 minutes each, they’re repeated immediately following a break, so you won’t miss a thing!

Block 3A:
Can AI Make a Real Impact?

Starting with a level-set on what AI is and how it’s being used in our industry, let’s look at how is Artificial Intelligence is affecting our Industry. From production to marketing, hear from experts inside and outside of our industry to find out how you and your company can responsibly utilize all that’s good about AI and prevent its potential pitfalls. From there, let’s look at how women can use AI as an empowering tool that unleashes our voices and creativity – without speaking for us. When is it helpful and when does it reduce our authenticity and creativity? Be part of this important debate.

Moderator

Henna Pryor

Speaker

Camille Bamford
VP of Sales
Plenty

Mary Heslep
Senior Vice President
Ten Acre Marketing

Block 3B:
Nothing Artificial: Discovering Emotional Intelligence with Tara Renze

Happiness is a liquid and personal thing. Something that makes one person joyous doesn’t raise so much as a “Meh…” from someone else. When we have emotional intelligence, we’re able to see ourselves and others more clearly, more accurately, and also more compassionately. Join Tara Renze, author, emotional intelligence practitioner, podcaster, and thought leader to discover how we can tune into ourselves to discover what brings us real fulfillment and learn to fiercely and continuously pursue and protect it. In this session, learn to identify what brings each of us a sense of purpose, how to set realistic goals, evaluate and support ourselves and each other as we each seek our peace, and forge the kind of relationships that help us grow on the work and home fronts.

Speaker

Tara Renze

 Transition Break

Workshop Block #3 Repeats; Attend a new session!

Take a Break

Conference Wrap-Up: Conference Key Takeaways & Continuing to Lean In

What did you learn? How will you use it? Let’s look back at our days together in Orlando and talk about what we can take away from this Conference – the relationships we forged, the experiences we shared, and the wisdom presented through our keynotes and workshops. Before you head home, be sure to join us for this great sendoff.

Lunch of Convenience