
Executive Leadership for Women
Empowering Women to Lead With Confidence and Impact
Upcoming Dates and Tuition
May 12-15, 2026
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Tuition: $6,500
Overview
Leading effectively at the executive level presents universal challenges — but for women, additional hurdles exist in environments still shaped by traditional, masculine models of leadership. This four-day program equips women leaders with strategies to overcome these challenges, redefine leadership norms, and thrive at the highest levels.
Registration will formally open in mid-August. Please fill out the interest form below for more information.
Who Should Apply
- Senior leaders with 10-plus years of management experience who currently hold or aspire to roles such as Director, Vice President, or C-suite executive
- Entrepreneurs and business owners seeking to grow their organizations and expand their strategic influence
- Rising executives at an inflection point in their careers who are preparing for greater authority, board service or enterprise-wide responsibility
- Leaders from corporate, nonprofit and public sectors who are shaping organizational culture, strategy and talent development
Program Outcomes
- Strengthen executive presence. Navigate gender-based challenges with confidence and authenticity at the highest levels of leadership.
- Reframe leadership norms. Move beyond traditional leadership stereotypes by embracing collaborative, learning-focused leadership models.
- Master high-stakes influence. Develop tools to protect and enhance personal and organizational reputation, especially in moments of crisis.
- Negotiate strategically. Apply effective, bias-aware negotiation techniques to advance initiatives, influence stakeholders, and close leadership and compensation gaps.
- Advance career impact. Position themselves for expanded responsibilities, enterprise-wide influence, and board-level opportunities.
FOUNDING BOARD
The founding board of advisors selected by Rice Business to prepare, launch, and lead this program, is an elite and distinguished group of accomplished executive women with longstanding connections to each other. The board consists of Rice Business alumni, staff and community members who have each transcended barriers, developed insights, and gained a following and reputation for their contributions to empowering other women to prepare for successful careers and advancement into executive roles. Our board is also honored to include the student President of the Rice Business Women in Leadership Conference.

Message From the Founding Board of Advisors
September 2024
Our story begins when… over the past couple of years, our founding board members served as senior advisors to the Jones School of Business, as we cultivated ideas, acted with persistence, contributed energy, and built necessary preparations for the program we named Executive Leadership for Women.
In keeping with our purpose, we are creating opportunities for women executives, senior leaders, and mentees to experience community, to learn real-world strategies of other successful women, and to strengthen their resolve toward actionable steps that can propel their career forward.
With great enthusiasm, we are proud to have reached the launching point of the program and are dedicated to continue leading the evolution. As we continue working together, we envision, our ties together strengthening, as we inspire each other to leverage the beauty and pain from our own success and lessons learned.
For our inaugural event, we are incredibly proud to have author Ellen Taaffe as our keynote speaker. In preparation for the event, she has become a friend, an ally, and an inspiration to the cause. We are confident the participants will gain valuable insights and enjoy the program immensely.
We have considered it a pure honor to serve and support the team in preparation with Rice Business over this last couple of years. And now we look forward to your support of “Women Breaking Through,” our additional future events, and to engaging, informing, and inspiring women during the journey forward together!
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