The programming for our 2023 #WPLNSummit was built around the knowledge and skills that any woman on the trail or in office would need. 

We kicked off the Saturday morning of our weekend with a panel on economic and community development, featuring the following leaders and experts:

• Former California Assemblywoman Catharine Baker (@CBakerAD16 on Twitter)

• San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones (@RebeccaJ516 on Twitter)

• Yorba Linda Mayor Pro Tem Tara Campbell (@tarapcampbell on Twitter)

• Darian Z. Harris from Advantage Capital (Darian’s LinkedIn profile)

Our speakers on this panel spoke about serving in office, helping communities grow and thrive, and building relationships.

While people often use the term “women’s issues” in reference to social issues, the truth is that all issues are women’s issues, and women care about the issues that affect not just their families but their pocketbooks, communities, and local businesses.

San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones noted that “a well-rounded city is a bunch of different things,” so leaders need to be “thinking of everything, if possible.”

Darian Z. Harris, an associate at Advantage Capital, emphasized that leaders must prioritize economic and community development. “We cannot survive if our cities aren’t growing, if our populations aren’t growing,” he said.

One way to help ensure that? “Have a good relationship with the business owners,” Mayor Jones said. To learn more about their needs, she recommended asking them questions like “how can we serve you? How can we better your local business in our community?”

“Providing jobs is a very important part” of a thriving community, said Mayor Jones. “You want [residents] to work locally and not have a lower quality of life because they are having to travel an hour or more to get to their jobs."

Yorba Linda Mayor Pro Tem Tara Campbell echoed the need to support the business community, saying, “We want to see businesses in our town growing and thriving.”

“When I am looking to go into work with local leaders,” Darian added, “there are two things I’m looking for: Openness and leadership.”

Former California Assemblywoman Catharine Baker served as moderator on the panel and highlighted the bipartisan nature of economic and community development, saying, “I’ve never met a Democrat pothole or a Republican pothole.”

Darian agreed, emphasizing the need to collaborate to solve problems and improve residents’ lives. “A lot of these issues are bipartisan, and once people recognize this, they are more likely to work together and reach across the table.”

And Mayor Jones urged leaders to have patience, since economic development projects can take a long time.

Our speakers also pushed for women to lead and discussed their own paths to office, some of which involved breaking glass ceilings. Mayor Pro Tem Campbell was the youngest female mayor in California history, and Mayor Jones was the first woman to serve as mayor of San Marcos.

“I ended up seeing tumultuous politics in my community, and I wondered why no one was doing anything about it… why not me?” said Mayor Pro Tem Campbell.

“If you want to see a change, why not be part of that change that you want to see?” she continued.

Mayor Pro Tem Campbell later referred to the statistic that women must be asked several times to run for office before they do so, and she became the first — but not only — speaker of the day to urge the women in attendance to run for office.

Mayor Jones also encouraged attendees to lead. “If you find that there is something you might be interested in,” she said, “even if it’s terrifying, you really need to push through that.”

And former Assemblywoman Baker emphasized how women can play a role in empowering other women, saying, “You can be the woman behind the woman. Encourage other women to push through and become leaders.”

Stay tuned for more details, photos, and posts from our 2023 #WPLNSummit!

To see even more photos from the weekend, click here for our Facebook group. (If you're not a member of our Facebook group, click here to join!) 

Want to follow up with our speakers? Here’s a list of our panels, the speakers, and their social media information:

• Economic and community development, featuring the following leaders and experts:

• Former California Assemblywoman Catharine Baker (@CBakerAD16 on Twitter)

• San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones (@RebeccaJ516 on Twitter)

• Yorba Linda Mayor Pro Tem Tara Campbell (@tarapcampbell on Twitter)

• Darian Z. Harris from Advantage Capital (Darian’s LinkedIn profile)

• Diversity on the trail, featuring the following leaders and experts:

• WPLN President Larissa Martinez (@LMart939 on Twitter)

• Monet Bacs from the LIBRE Initiative (@MonetBacs on Twitter)

• Nikita Pearson (@MsNikitaPearson on Twitter)

• Lorenda Overman from the American Farm Bureau Federation

• Angel Fimbres Barcelo from Big Fish Recruiting (@AngelFBarcelo on Twitter)

• Voter outreach and community engagement, featuring the following leaders and experts:

• Arkansas Republican Party Communications Director Amber Crawford (@AmberRowlett1 on Twitter)

• Sara Marie Ridley from Majority Strategies (@SaraMarieK on Twitter)

• Former California congressional candidate Tamika Hamilton (@TamikaGHamilton on Twitter)

• Chris Lane from Cygnal (@ChrisLaneMA on Twitter)

We also offered more intimate panels on two important issues:

• The future of the workforce, featuring

  • Cheryl Jaeger from Crossroads Strategies (Cheryl’s LinkedIn profile)

  • Pennsylvania Representative Kristin Marcell, also of HBW Resources (Kristin’s LinkedIn profile)

  • Rachel Michelin from California Retailers Association (@RachelEMichelin on Twitter)

  • WPLN Board Member Matt Ralston, from Troutman Pepper Strategies (@MD_Ralston on Twitter)

• Secure and sustainable energy solutions, featuring

  • WPLN Board Chair Joel Noyes, from Hess Corporation (@JPNoyes on Twitter)

  • Emily Haggstrom from HBW Resources (@emilyhaggstrom on Twitter)

  • Kristin Westmoreland from American Petroleum Institute (@Kangus10 on Twitter)

  • Molly Determan from Energy and Technology Workforce (@molly_smart on Twitter)

And our skills building workshops centered around 3 skills critical for any candidate or lawmaker:

• Speaking with confidence, led by Jenifer Sarver from Sarver Strategies (@utsarver on Twitter)

• Building your brand, led by Madeline Fetterly of Be the Brand (@m_fetterly on Twitter)

• Fundraising, led by June Cutter of Highland Illuminate (@junecutter on Twitter)

In addition, Maria Giannopoulos (@greekmaria) and Erica Arbetter (@ThatsErica) from Google gave a presentation on the importance of digital security (“Keeping Yourself Secure with Google”).

Thank you to our 2023 #WPLNSummit sponsors!

Lastly, have questions about our national summit? Learn more here.