- California Governor & First Lady's Conference on Women
The California Governor & First Lady's Conference on Women (also known as
The Women's Conference ) was established by California GovernorGeorge Deukmejian in 1985 as a non-partisan forum for women small business owners. At that time, women-owned businesses were failing at a high rate and the conference was created to provide support to this growing sector of the economy and help women access funding and resources.In 1989, the conference was established as a non-profit public interest organization with a bi-partisan Board of Directors, which ensured that it could continue without interruption during changes in administrations.
Under California Governor
Pete Wilson 's administration, the focus of the Conference shifted to include the needs of a wideraudience, including corporate women. An educational scholarship program was added to the conference during Wilson's term.The conference continued to grow its attendance and expand its outreach during the administration of Governor
Gray Davis . A youth leadership program was added to the conference during Davis's term.Under California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger and First LadyMaria Shriver 's leadership, the California Governor & First Lady's Conference on Women, re-namedThe Women's Conference , has reportedly become the largest one-day conference for women in the nation [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-women26oct26,0,7619448.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail Maria Shriver's job - Los Angeles Times ] ] . Since 2004, conference participants have included such high-profile speakers as His Holiness the Dalai LamaTenzin Gyatso , [Dalai Lama To Speak At Shriver's Women Conference, http://cbs2.com/local/Dalai.Lama.Maria.2.521216.html]Oprah Winfrey , former British Prime MinisterTony Blair [ [http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_6392221?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com Blair to speak at Women's Conference - Press-Telegram ] ] , the Duchess of YorkSarah Ferguson ,Barbara Walters ,Jane Fonda ,Queen Noor of Jordan ,Martha Stewart ,Tyra Banks [ [http://tyrashow.warnerbros.com/show_recaps/show_recap_fri70.html The Tyra Banks Show ] ] ,Tim Russert ,Tom Brokaw ,Queen Rania ,Maureen Dowd ,Sandra Day O'Connor ,Thomas Friedman ,Anna Quindlen , andBillie Jean King .The conference has been located at the
Long Beach Convention Center inLong Beach, California since 1993.References
External links
* [http://www.californiawomen.org The Women's Conference: Official website]
* [http://www.firstlady.ca.gov First Lady Maria Shriver: Official website]
* [http://gov.ca.govGovernor Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: Official website]
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