A Private Invitation
A Dream Built
From Vision to Reality
↓
A Private Invitation
From Vision to Reality
The Countdown Is On
You have been an important part of the mission.
Now experience and enjoy…
A dream built.A future imagined.
Celebrating the Journey
Friday, October 2
📍 Women's Leadership Center
333 Constance Boulevard, Williams Bay, Wisconsin
All tour goers will park at the Lodge Geneva National hotel (not to be confused with the Geneva National clubhouse) located at W4240 WI-50, Lake Geneva, WI. Shuttles will be provided from the hotel to the Women's Leadership Center and then to Ann's home.
Friday, October 2
📍 Ann's home
All guests will park at the Lodge Geneva National hotel (not to be confused with the Geneva National clubhouse) located at W4240 WI-50, Lake Geneva, WI. Shuttles will be provided from the hotel to Ann's home and back.
Saturday, October 3
📍 Women's Leadership Center
333 Constance Boulevard, Williams Bay, Wisconsin
Please park at the Lodge Geneva National hotel (not to be confused with the Geneva National clubhouse) located at W4240 WI-50, Lake Geneva, WI. Shuttles will be provided to the Women's Leadership Center.
A candid conversation about the experiences and friendships that shape us over a lifetime. Ann Drake, Allida Black, and a special guest will reflect on being the first, taking risks, choosing whose advice to trust, and maintaining friendships while the world around you changes. Expect stories, reflections, and plenty of humor from three longtime friends.
Chevy Humphrey, Dianna Colman, Laurin Mack, and Dorothy Terrell bring different perspectives on what gives a place staying power—and how places with rich histories can remain alive and relevant. Drawing on their experiences with museums, cultural institutions, historic places, and spaces devoted to science and discovery, they’ll explore what makes people feel connected to a place, how its history shapes that experience, and what it takes to carry its meaning forward for a new generation. At the WLC, they’ll be having the conversation inside a place just beginning to build a history of its own.
Alison Ranney has helped select leaders for some of Chicago’s most important institutions, while Anne Bodnar has spent decades developing leaders and advising on CEO succession from inside major organizations. Together, they’ll explore what makes someone truly ready for the top job—and how you recognize it when everyone in the running is accomplished, smart, and polished. Drawing on their different perspectives, they’ll consider what matters beyond the résumé, the value of unconventional backgrounds, and how their own ideas about leadership have evolved.
A candid conversation between Carol Bernick and Ann Drake about what innovative giving and real impact can look like. They’ll share specific stories about what each has built and given, what surprised them along the way, and what it might mean for how others give. Ann brings her experience turning the WLC from concept into reality, and Carol will draw on insights from her soon-to-be-released book, Innovative Philanthropy at Work.
Teresa Weintraub and Patricia A. Seitz discuss the rule of law, judicial independence, and attacks on judges’ lives. Increasingly heated, politicized social media attacks on judges and the judicial process call for educating all citizens about the role they play in protecting our Founders’ critical safeguards of fairness and decision-making based on evidence and law.
Susan Weiler offers a closer look at the landscape surrounding the Women’s Leadership Center and the thinking that shaped it. She’ll share how the team approached restoring and caring for the existing woodland, choosing trees and plantings, creating distinct outdoor spaces, and designing a landscape that changes with the seasons and creates opportunities to gather, reflect, and spend time in nature.
WLC Docent Cathy Koch and Black Point Estate lead interpreter Michael Rehberg guide a 30-minute walking tour through the site’s natural and human history, from the glaciers that shaped Geneva Lake to the Indigenous history of the area, the shore path, the arrival of the Industrialists, and the development of its renowned lakefront estates.
A conversation about how architecture and design can respond to — and work in partnership with — the natural world. Jeanne Gang, founding partner of Studio Gang; Aria Griffin, Designer II at Studio Gang; and Eva Maddox, former Design Principal at Perkins+Will, will explore how buildings and landscapes shape the way people experience a place and what it means to design with ecology and environment in mind. Drawing on their work, including the Women’s Leadership Center, they’ll consider how thoughtful design can deepen our connection to the world around us.
AI is changing the workplace while demographic shifts are making family caregiving increasingly important to employers. Gaby Toledano and Joanna Drake will explore why family caregiving must be part of how employers understand working caregivers, drawing on Gaby’s experience as a Chief People Officer at leading technology companies and Joanna’s perspective as an investor in future-of-work technology and family caregiver solutions.
Susan Weiler offers a closer look at the landscape surrounding the Women’s Leadership Center and the thinking that shaped it. She’ll share how the team approached restoring and caring for the existing woodland, choosing trees and plantings, creating distinct outdoor spaces, and designing a landscape that changes with the seasons and creates opportunities to gather, reflect, and spend time in nature.
WLC Docent Cathy Koch and Black Point Estate lead interpreter Michael Rehberg guide a 30-minute walking tour through the site’s natural and human history, from the glaciers that shaped Geneva Lake to the Indigenous history of the area, the shore path, the arrival of the Industrialists, and the development of its renowned lakefront estates.
Cady Coleman, Angela Olinto, Wendy Freedman, and Kate Rubins bring perspectives spanning human spaceflight, high-energy astrophysics, and cosmology. They’ll explore what we’re learning about space and the universe, the questions we still can’t answer, what has surprised them in their own work, and the discoveries that could change our understanding of both.
What does it take to imagine — and build — an observatory that could change what we know about the universe? Drawing on their careers exploring some of the biggest questions in astronomy and astrophysics, Wendy Freedman and Angela Olinto will take us from the history of Yerkes Observatory to the building of the Giant Magellan Telescope. They’ll explore the years of vision and work behind a project of this scale, what the GMT will allow scientists to see and discover, and what it could make possible for our understanding of the universe.
Sunday, October 4
📍 Women's Leadership Center
333 Constance Boulevard, Williams Bay, Wisconsin
Please park at the Lodge Geneva National hotel (not to be confused with the Geneva National clubhouse) located at W4240 WI-50, Lake Geneva, WI. Shuttles will be provided from the hotel to the Women's Leadership Center and back.
Getting There
The nearest major airports are Chicago O'Hare (ORD), about 75 minutes south, and Milwaukee Mitchell (MKE), about 60 minutes northeast.
Lake Geneva is roughly a 90-minute drive from downtown Chicago and 50 minutes from Milwaukee. Please park at Lodge Geneva National for all weekend events.
For all weekend events, please park at Lodge Geneva National hotel (not to be confused with the Geneva National clubhouse) located at W4240 WI-50, Lake Geneva, WI. Please plan to park at the hotel even if you are not staying overnight there. Complimentary shuttles will run continuously throughout the weekend, allowing you to return to your car whenever needed. A detailed shuttle schedule will be shared closer to the event.
Open in Maps →The Campus
A beautiful 8.6-acre campus on the shores of Geneva Lake, set on pristine woodlands that adjoin Yerkes Observatory — considered the birthplace of modern astrophysics — and the former campus of George Williams College.
Planned in harmony with land, water, and sky, the design preserves 81% of the natural landscape, adds 220 trees, and restores the grounds with native vegetation.
8.6 acres on Geneva Lake
Between Us
Think elevated ease: polished, yet practical. Friday calls for an evening at the Cabaret: slightly elegant with a bit of sparkle and drama. Comfortable shoes are recommended for the lawn. Saturday spans morning through evening, so wear one versatile outfit. Stylish sneakers are encouraged, and since much of the day is spent exploring, leave the heels at home. Sunday brunch is laid-back. Wear what makes you happy.
Dress comfortably and wear shoes you can walk in; we’ll be moving between indoor and outdoor spaces throughout the weekend. On Friday evening, you’ll receive a canvas tote bag for carrying all your essentials to the Center on Saturday. This tote is designed to fit neatly into your cubby at the Center, so pack it with everything you’ll want to have on hand throughout the day. We suggest packing: toiletries, sunglasses, a hat, sunscreen, your phone and charger, and a warmer clothing option like a shawl or light jacket.