Women's Leadership Summit

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize–winning presidential historian and bestselling author widely sought for her insights on leadership and American history. 

Her latest book, An Unfinished Love Story (2024), debuted at #1 on the New York Times list and is being developed as a feature film. She also published her first book for young readers in 2024 and has produced several major History Channel series through her company, Pastimes Productions. 

Goodwin's acclaimed works include Team of Rivals, the basis for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, The Bully Pulpit, and No Ordinary Time, which won the Pulitzer Prize. 

Her career began as a White House Fellow working with President Lyndon Johnson, inspiring her first bestseller. A frequent media commentator, she has consulted on numerous documentaries, earned multiple prestigious awards, and holds degrees from Colby College and Harvard University.

Judy Woodruff

Judy Woodruff is a senior correspondent and the former anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour. She has covered politics, elections, and other news for five decades at NBC, CNN, and PBS, and along the way has interviewed 8 American presidents. 

She is a co-founder of the International Women's Media Foundation.  She is the recipient of numerous awards, including both an Emmy and a Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement, along with the Radcliffe Medal. 

For the past few years, she's been traveling the country, reporting on the nation's deep political divide, and efforts to bridge it, for her News Hour series, "America at a Crossroads." 

In 2026 she will focus her work on how U.S. citizens view their role and the legacy of our founders as the United States observes its 250^th birthday. 

Anne Applebaum

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, journalist, commentator on geopolitics and acclaimed keynote, Anne Applebaum examines the challenges and opportunities of global political and economic change through the lenses of world history and the contemporary political landscape. 

Some of Anne's books include Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag: A History, Red Famine: 'War on Ukraine, and Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. In July 2024, her book, Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World was published by Penguin, it was a NY Times Bestseller. 

The book was recognized as a "Best Book of the Year" by multiple publications, including The Economist, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and The Times, indicating its significance and impact. 

For many years, Applebaum wrote a biweekly foreign affairs column for The Washington Post, which is syndicated internationally. She is now a staff writer at The Atlantic. 

Annette Gordon-Reed

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard. 

Gordon-Reed won sixteen book prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize in History in 2009 and the National Book Award in 2008, for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family. 

Her other works include Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, Vernon Can Read! A Memoir, a collaboration with Vernon Jordan, Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American History, a volume of essays that she edited, Andrew Johnson and, with Peter S. Onuf, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. Her most recent book is On Juneteenth.

Colleen Shogan

Dr. Colleen Shogan served as the 11th Archivist of the United States, the first woman in American history to lead the National Archives and Records Administration. 

Prior to becoming Archivist, Colleen was Senior Vice President at the White House Historical Association, worked in the United States Senate, and served as a senior executive at the Library of Congress and its Congressional Research Service. 

She is the 2024 recipient of the American Political Science Association's Hubert Humphrey Award for outstanding public service. Colleen is a Senior Advisor at More Perfect, where she leads "In Pursuit," a nationwide civics project for 2026. 

She is a Senior Fellow in Civics Education at Stand Together and an Adjunct Professor of Government at Georgetown University. She also serves as the Board co-chair of the Women's Suffrage National Monument Foundation.

Louise Mirrer

Dr. Louise Mirrer is President and CEO of The New York Historical Society, New York's first museum. 

In 2025, Dr. Mirrer successfully concluded The Historical's $175 million campaign for the expansion of its landmark building on Central Park West, the Tang Wing for American Democracy. During her tenure, TNYH has launched groundbreaking exhibitions such as Slavery in New York, Nueva York, and Chinese American. 

She has also initiated special projects on Citizenship and the Presidency and has overseen the expansion of the institution's visitorship to nearly 500,000 annually. Dr. Mirrer also guided the museum through its first-ever rebranding, helping to encourage accessibility. 

Before joining TNYH in June 2004, Dr. Mirrer was the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the City University of New York. Dr. Mirrer holds a double Ph.D. from Stanford, a graduate Diploma from Cambridge, and a BA magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Carrie Rebora Barratt

Carrie Rebora Barratt is a historian of American art and an accomplished museum and garden executive with a distinguished record of institutional leadership and transformation. 

She rose from curator of American Art to Deputy Director at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she led 27 departments and more than 400 staff, overseeing curatorial, conservation, education, libraries, publications, and digital initiatives while advancing strategic planning, governance, and visitor experience. 

In 2018, she became the ninth President and CEO of the New York Botanical Garden—and its first woman leader—guiding the 250-acre institution through major transition, climate challenges, and the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening with staff intact and finances balanced. In 2020, she founded The Solace Project, a consulting and creative studio at the intersection of art, nature, and well-being. 

From 2021-25, she led LongHouse in East Hampton through a successful transition from founder-led to public institution, expanding access, programs, and community engagement with the house, collections, and garden of Jack Lenor Larsen. 

During this period she also served as curator for the Well-Being Project, and provided consultations to the Chicago Botanic Garden, the South Bend Museum of Art, and other cultural entities wish to build art programs and enterprise level thinking.

Susan Neely

Susan K. Neely has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. She is a director on the Board of the American Bureau of Shipping, chair of the Alliance for Empathy.com. She is actively engaged in philanthropic commitments to preserve democracy and advance child welfare and education, including the Washington Cabinet.

As CEO of two major trade associations over 20 years, Neely relentlessly pursued initiatives to ensure the industries were leaders on meaningful policy solutions. She drove initiatives to address gaps in retirement security and caregiving as well as to advance financial equity and inclusion. She forged unique partnerships with the Clinton Global Initiative and First Lady Michele Obama’s Let’s Move initiative.

Neely’s government service spanned both the state and federal levels. She was Special Assistant to President George W. Bush in the White House as well as the first Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She also held senior roles with two members of Congress, and the longest-serving governor in American history.

She serves as a Commissioner on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on the American Workforce. Neely also serves on the University of Iowa foundation board. The Neely Graduate Fellowship for Creative Writing supports outstanding women writers.

Neely is recognized as one of the most influential people in association leadership. She is a two-time trade association CEO of the year, one of Washingtonian's "most influential people" and "100 Most Powerful Women in Washington." She is the mother of two adult children, Eve and Ben.

Alison Fox

Alison Fox is the CEO of American Prairie, a conservation organization working to create one of the largest nature reserves in the continental United States by building a connected landscape of public and private lands in Montana's Northern Great Plains. She has led the organization as CEO since 2018 and had various leadership and management roles with the organization since 2007. 

Under Ms. Fox's leadership, American Prairie has surpassed over 600,000 acres under the organization's management, expanded public access and education offerings, and grown the conservation team to achieve greater impact in rewilding.

Ms. Fox holds an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, where she focused on marketing and nonprofit management, and a BA in History from Dartmouth College. 

She is a member of the Big Sky Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization, Inc. and the Advisory Board of William & Mary's Institute for Integrative Conservation.

Anne "Dede" Neal Petri

Anne "Dede" Neal Petri is currently serving as the 24^th Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, Petri graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in American History and Literature and received her J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

Over the last 30 years, Petri has served as general counsel for the National Endowment for the Humanities, co-founder and president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, president of the Garden Club of America; and President and CEO of the Olmsted Network, where she led the Olmsted Bicentennial celebration. 

Allison Aboud Holzer

Allison Aboud Holzer is a Master Certified Executive Coach, leadership strategist, author, and speaker with over 20 years of experience coaching leaders across industries. 

She is known for advancing women's leadership and building emotionally intelligent, high-impact organizational cultures. Her approach is informed by her research with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, where she explored emotions as strategic sources of insight that drive courage, creativity, and connection. 

As Founder and CEO of Aha2Impact, Allison partners with organizations on transformative leadership development, helping strengthen executive capability, drive innovation, and translate vision into measurable outcomes. 

She has served as executive coach for Yale School of Management's Women's Leadership Program and Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. 

A two-time TEDx speaker and co-author of Dare to Inspire, her work has been featured on TED.com, Forbes, and Fortune. She holds the ICF Master Certified Coach credential and graduate degrees from American University.

Stephanie Bohnak

Stephanie Bohnak serves as the Director of Education & Curatorial Services at the National First Ladies Library & Museum, where she leads educational initiatives, public programs, and interpretive outreach while contributing to exhibit development and collections stewardship. 

She holds an MA in History and Public History from Bowling Green State University, where she focused on women's history and American enslavement, and a BA in History with minors in Anthropology and Classics from the University of Akron. 

Bohnak also earned an AS in Culinary Arts from Sullivan University, bringing a multidisciplinary lens to her work. Throughout her career, she has been committed to elevating underrepresented narratives and advancing accessible, inclusive historical interpretation. 

Through research-driven programming, exhibitions, and community engagement, Bohnak works to broaden public understanding of America's First Ladies and their enduring influence on the nation's cultural and political landscape.

Gloria Kenyon

Gloria Kenyon is the Executive Director of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA). Prior to joining the NSCDA, she was Head of Public Programs at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). In her decade at SAAM, she led high-quality programs, reaching over 43,000 attendees annually. 

Kenyon developed a robust series of hybrid programming that doubled SAAM’s national audience. During her time at SAAM, she built a reputation for strategic planning, financial acumen, and innovative program design. 

Earlier in her career, she held positions at the National Museum of American History and the National Gallery of Art, where she contributed to collections management, audience engagement, and preservation initiatives. Kenyon holds a Master of Arts in the History of Decorative Arts from the Smithsonian-Corcoran College of Art + Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Salem College.

Heather Wiser Soubra

Heather Wiser Soubra serves as Director of The George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon and founder of Wiser Way Coaching. At Mount Vernon, she designs and facilitates leadership programming that connects George Washington's timeless principles with contemporary organizational challenges. 

Through Wiser Way Coaching, she partners with individuals, teams, and organizations to cultivate cultures where both people and the business thrive, tapping into their inner wisdom and building upon strengths to create positive shifts. 

Heather previously served as Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff at the International Dairy Foods Association, where she focused on people development, organizational culture, and strategic collaboration. Her direct experience as a senior leader informs her approach to leadership and executive coaching. 

A graduate of George Mason University in intercultural communication, Heather holds her Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential through the International Coaching Federation and an Executive Certificate in Facilitation from Georgetown University.

Jason Zajac

Jason Zajac serves as the President and CEO of Andrew Jackson's Hermitage. 

Before working at the Hermitage, Zajac received his degree from Fordham University. He has a background in fundraising for schools, universities, and healthcare organizations. 

He led major campaigns for the National Cold War Center, the Old Faithful Visitor Center, and the Flight 93 Memorial. Zajac also serves as an advisor for More Perfect.

Lindsay M. Chervinsky

Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky is the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library and a historian of the presidency, political culture, and the government. 

She produces history that speaks to fellow scholars as well as a larger public audience. Chervinsky is the author of two books, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution (Harvard University Press, 2020), and her latest one, Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic (Oxford Press, 2024). 

She also co-edited Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture (University of Virginia Press, 2023). Chervinsky is the creator of the Audible course: The Best and Worst Presidential Cabinets in U.S. History. 

Her research can be found in publications from op-eds to books, speaking on podcasts and other media, and teaching for every kind of audience.

Ali Vitali

Ali Vitali is the host of MS NOW's Way Too Early with Ali Vitali, airing every weekday at 5 a.m. ET. She is also MS NOW's Senior Capitol Hill Reporter based in Washington, D.C. 

Vitali has been at the forefront of covering national politics for the last decade – from the halls of Congress to the Trump and Biden White Houses, and the pivotal 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections. She has also been on the campaign trail for every presidential and midterm election since 2016. 

In 2022, Vitali authored Electable: Why America Hasn't Put A Woman In the White House…Yet, a book detailing her experiences as a "Road Warrior" and investigating the double standards placed on female presidential candidates. She is a proud graduate of Tulane University.

Susan Swain

Susan Swain spent four decades in leadership positions at C-SPAN, from which she retired as president and co-CEO in January 2025. 

In addition to the network's signature coverage of Congress and national politics, she nurtured its coverage of nonfiction books and American history and launched its educational outreach. 

She helped lead the network into the digital age, oversaw its expansion into audio and streaming platforms and fostered the use of its vast archival collection. 

Susan was also a principal on-camera interviewer for the network, with more than 5300 interviews posted in C-SPAN's archives.  She has served as a corporate director and continues to volunteer for nonprofit organizations and their boards. 

Ann Compton