23rd Annual WPO Chicago Summit With Andrew Sykes (9/10/26)

©2026 Women Presidents Organization Chicago.  All rights reserved.

Join us for our 23rd Annual WPO Chicago Summit on Thursday, September 10 in Chicago at 1:30 PM CT.  Our keynote and workshop leader is Andrew Sykes, CEO, Habits at Work and he will speak on "Your Trust Advantage:  How To Be the Most Trustworthy Leader in Every Room."

Learn more here.  For members and sponsors only.

WPO Chicago Summit 9/10: Your Trust Advantage with Andrew Sykes

©2026 WPO Chicago.  All rights reserved.

Join us for our 23rd Annual WPO Chicago Summit on Thursday, September 10 in Chicago at 1:30 PM CT.  Our keynote and workshop leader is Andrew Sykes, CEO, Habits at Work and he will speak on "Your Trust Advantage:  How To Be the Most Trustworthy Leader in Every Room."

As leaders, we have trust issues, including many that we might not know about! In this session, Andrew will highlight these trust issues, understand how others assess our trustworthiness and explore some of the myths about trust, replacing them with not only research-based truths, but practical ways to become the most Trustworthy person (and leader) you know!

WPO Chicago Steering Committee

• Nida Khan, Founder & President, Arya Consulting Partners (Chicago I member)
• Lauren M. Loew, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP (Chicago II member)
• Ellen M. Wheeler, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP (Chicago I member)
• Laurel Delaney, President, Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global (WPO Chicago Chapter Chair)

Hosted by:  Foley & Lardner.

Interested in attending?  If you pre-qualify for WPO Chicago membership and would like to attend, kindly email Laurel Delaney (noted in the agenda above), WPO Chicago Chapter Chair.

This event is for members and WPO sponsors only.

The Effective Feedback Structure

Giving effective feedback isn't an innate talent reserved for a select few. According to Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Fuller in the online course Management Essentials, it’s a skill that can be built through deliberate practice.

Whether you're giving or receiving feedback, these five practical exercises can help you turn vague comments into clear, constructive conversations. 

What Actually Happened When OpenAI's AI Went Rogue

During an internal cybersecurity test, an AI agent powered by an experimental OpenAI model was tasked with a benchmark exercise. Instead of staying inside its sandbox, the agent reasoned its way out, discovered a previously unknown vulnerability and used stolen credentials to reach Hugging Face’s production servers, pulling out the information it needed to complete its assigned task.

So what does this mean for you?

The model wasn’t hijacked by an outside attacker. It made an autonomous decision to break a boundary because that boundary was in the way of finishing its job efficiently – similar to your tireless workers.

That is precisely the behavior every AI agent you deploy is optimized to exhibit, just usually with lower stakes and better-defined limits.

Learn more about how this fallout gap is impossible to ignore and what actually happened when OpenAI's AI went rogue.

Leverage the Arts and Storytelling for Greater Data Impact

Most of you reading this blog have worked in a company setting.  You have likely sat in a room where someone presents a slide deck loaded with charts, numbers, and bullet points. The presenter seems prepared, and everyone nods politely. But do you really remember what is shared, and do you really care about the data or act on it? Often, that answer is no.

How do we turn that around so that you find yourself remembering, caring about, and acting on what you learned?

Discover why storytelling is such a powerful driver of action, and why facts alone rarely move people.

AI Isn't a Substitute For Human Skills

As Michael Fenlon, Executive Director of Harvard Online and former Chief People Officer of PwC, puts it, in an age of AI, “nobody in an organization is paid to be average.” Technical skills are now table stakes; what differentiates individuals and organizations is the ability to turn AI capability into business impact.

AI can generate options; humans still must decide what problems are worth solving. Companies need leadership – not automation.

Kendra Scott Eyes Global Expansion

All businesses – whether service or product-based – need to consider taking their business global.  It's a good growth method.

Take Kendra Scott.  She recently named Adrienne Gernand the company's first chief business officer.

In her new role, Gernand will be responsible for broadening the scope of the Kendra Scott brand through category growth and global expansion. 

Gernand comes with experience helping scale such retail brands as Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, Athleta and The Children’s Place. She has worked on new market entry models, the optimization of real estate portfolios and the formation of strategic partnerships.

Learn more how Gernand will identify high potential global growth opportunities for Kendra Scott.