Interview with Michelle Patterson President of California Women’s Conference

OPM talks with Michelle Patterson who is known as the Founder, President and CEO of Women Network LLC, a digital media company giving women a voice, resources, tools and advice to achieve their full potential.

In 2012 Michelle took over the reins of the well known California Women’s Conference continuing it’s 28 year tradition as the nation’s preeminent conference for women.

The California Women’s Conference. Somewhere around 200 speakers and 4 to 5 thousand women in attendance at the event.

Michelle Patterson invited On Purpose Magazine to come and interview the various speakers at the conference and I will forever be thankful. At On Purpose Magazine we strive to bring you content with meaning. Stories and interviews that can touch the lives of our readers and hopefully help a few folk out.

It was an incredible weekend where women from around the world came to learn, to share, to discover, their full potential.

Michelle has done a remarkable job of keeping this historic conference alive and making sure that it really packed a punch by inviting some of the greatest speakers and professionals with a huge variety of talents so that women could go to breakout session after breakout section, gaining a variety of useful tools and strategies for going forward.

There was a room set up so that attendees could meet the speakers, get their books signed and find resources and tools to further help them.

It was also a coming together of a mass of some of the most powerful women in the country to network and share each others brilliance.

The conference was full of music, inspiriring speakers, events and so much more. It was one of my favorite events ever and I am a guy. Thank you Michelle, you and your conference were full of heart. – JW

California Women’s Conference

The spiritual predecessor of the California Women’s Conference, namely the California Governor & First Lady’s Conference on Women, was an annual non-partisan event, and was created in 1985 by then-Governor George Deukmejian, to address the high failure rate among women-owned businesses by giving women entrepreneurs greater access to funding and other helpful resources.

Selecting the city of Long Beach as the event’s host, city officials and businesses quickly became enthusiastic supporters.

Then-First Lady Gloria Deukmejian assumed responsibility for the conference, which became known as the California Governor and First Lady’s Conference. In the recent past, this conference became a star-studded event.

Past speakers have included: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, Barbara Walters, Jane Fonda, Queen Noor of Jordan,Tyra Banks, Martha Stewart, Madeline Albright, Condoleeza Rice, and many others.

Today, the tradition of enthusiastically serving women-owned businesses continues under the stewardship of Michelle Patterson, Director of the Global Women Foundation who took over the conference in 2012 thus continuing its 28-year tradition as the nation’s preeminent conference for women – a perfect example of the objective Governor Deukmejian set out when he first started the Conference.

The California Women’s Conference offers its attendees inspiration, resources, and connections to take the next step in business, personal development, health and wellness, or philanthropic endeavors. Featuring widely respected thought leaders, talented entertainers, and a marketplace of ideas, exhibits, networking and panel discussions, the conference is designed to benefit women from all walks of life.

The California Women’s Conference , an industry leading network event for women and men, provides transformation, global impact, entertainment and the opportunity to give back to the community. The Conference has a 28-year legacy and is the longest running women’s event in the United States. Its primary focus is personal growth and professional development. The Conference is dedicated to providing individual women, women entrepreneurs and corporations with the education, training, and mentoring to eradicate those issues most isolating to women on a global basis. It does this by identifying, prioritizing and presenting topical speakers to expose, motivate and educate attendees on matters most important to women.

These subjects may range from:

●         Basic Human Rights
●         Violence Against Women
●         Poverty
●         Human Trafficking
●         Pay and Position Equality
●         Financial Literacy
●         Educational Literacy
●         Family and Work Balance
●         Personal Development
●         Racial and Gender Diversity

Michelle Patterson

Michelle Patterson is the President of the Global Women Foundation, a 501(c) (3) public charity that serves to provide support, leadership and advocacy for women’s initiatives around the globe.

The charity, which started almost ten years ago as a local festival supporting 22 charities, has grown into a global movement for women.

Michelle Patterson is also the Founder, President and CEO of Women Network LLC, a digital media company giving women a voice to share their message. Women Network’s “umbrella platform” shines a light on organizations and corporations who empower women and bring them together as a community to experience “We are Better Together.” The online digital network provides women resources, tools and advice to achieve their full potential.

Ms. Patterson is driven by the belief that everyone has something significant to contribute and when people (male or female) come together and support one another; “We are truly Better Together.” She is committed to helping individuals discover their talent and connect to the right circle of people to live out their purpose.

A successful event promoter (Taste of Ladera); a lauded business accelerator (youngest Regional VP and National Sales Trainer for Robert Half, the world’s largest specialized recruiting firm); a sought-after media commentator (The Huffington Post, CNBC, Fox Business News, Bloomberg and dozens of California TV stations); an energetic and engaging public speaker; host of a weekly radio show on Women Network Talk Radio.

Michelle Patterson is also the headlining author for a women’s anthology featuring notable celebrity contributors to be released by Ben Bella Books in Fall 2013. It will be her third book.

Michelle Patterson is also the president of the California Women’s Conference.

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