Calling all innovators, entrepreneurs, and business scalers big and small—one of the biggest events of the year in the local ecosystem is almost here.

The DEC Network’s flagship event—Dallas Startup Week—kicks off on August 7 and runs through August 11. The multi-day event, sponsored by Capital One, will be in person at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business and virtual on Brushfire.

Lisa Tran

It’s an intersection of business, education, and the startup community in Dallas that’s essential, says SMU’s Lisa Tran. The event brings together innovative leaders across sectors to support the growth and success of the startup community—and creates potential for partnerships, said Tran, SMU Cox Managing Director of Corporate Engagement & Strategic Partnerships.

Billed as “5 Days, 100+ Events, 200+ Speakers,” this marks the eighth year for Dallas Startup Week, North Texas’ largest event focused on driving entrepreneurial success, economic impact, and innovation.This year’s DEC Network-hosted festivities include three summits, each targeted at specific groups. In anticipation, The DEC has unveiled details for one of those three: the Women of Innovation Summit.

Setting women up for success

The Women of Innovation summit features a day-long slate of seminars and speakers that celebrate women leaders who transform their ideas and ambitions into a reality. The summit, powered by Toyota Financial Services, will inspire and connect changemakers across industries. This unique summit is designed for entrepreneurs, established professionals, and students from diverse backgrounds across all industries. A dynamic group of leading visionaries will provide all women in business with greater insights and knowledge into the trends and possibilities of the future.

The summit’s goal is to set up women leaders for success, says Stacey Gee-Miller, TFS National Manager Strategic Innovation at Toyota North America.

Stacey Gee-Miller

“The power of the Women of Innovation summit is to connect participants with like-minded individuals and allows the perfect opportunity for participants to gain expert insight and create new networking channels,” she said. “We should not underestimate the power of new business exposure opportunities.”

Gee-Miller says female entrepreneurship is as vital as ever.

“Women in business are necessary for economic growth and—in our case—for the economic development of Dallas. Through allyship, supporting the growth of women-owned enterprises helps to close the gender inequality gap. Women have untapped potential, and statistics show that women who founded and co-founded start-ups tend to perform better. Women leaders excel in teamwork, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving,” Gee-Miller said.

Here’s what to look forward to at the summit:

Women of Innovation Summit

The theme? Renew, Rethink, Renegotiate and Reinvent.

2022 Dallas Startup Week
Women of Innovation Summit
August 10
Register now

Slated for August 10 at SMU, the Women of Innovation summit, presented by Strategic Innovation and powered by Toyota Financial Services, will be a day-long slate of seminars and speakers. The summit will recognize, encourage, and advance women leaders who have the courage and passion to transform their ideas and ambitions into reality.

Featuring a dynamic group of leading visionaries, Women of Innovation will celebrate, inspire, and connect change-makers across markets and industries to provide all women in business with greater insights and knowledge into the trends and possibilities of the future.

Here’s a look at the Women of Innovation schedule and speaker list: 

9:00 a.m. HER Texas Networking + Coffee

Tiffany Pham

10:00 a.m. Women of Innovation opening keynote
Tiffany Pham, founder of Mogul, a global diversity recruitment company backed by SoftBank and Hearst.

Nia-Tayler Clark

11:00 a.m. Rethink: Lightning Talk
Don’t Let Your Past Punk You
Nia-Tayler Clark, Founder + CEO

Andrella Thomas

11:30 a.m. WEDallas Mini Masterclass
with Andrella Thomas

Sarah Allen-Preston

12:30 p.m. Renegotiate: Lightning Talk
Sarah Allen-Preston, founder, afloat

Tashara Parker

1:00 p.m. Reinvent: Lightning Talk
Emmy award-winning journalist Tashara Parker talks about speaking up and being loud about your ambitions, goals, and expectations. Parker share how to tell your story and create content that will engage, inspire and spark a movement.

From left: Jasmin Brand, Bessy Martinez, Christina Olivarez, Heather Gregory, and Lagina R. Harris

1:30 p.m. How to Build a Bad@$$ Community
Building Community, Sharing Space, Sisterhood in 2022
Panel: Austin Latinas Unidas’ Bessy Martinez, Hustle + Socialize’s Christina Olivarez, Stoke’s Heather Gregory, and The US Space’s Lagina R. Harris
Moderator: Jasmin Brand, director of innovation at Frisco Economic Development Corporation and founder of Her Texas

2:30 p.m. In-person podcast: The Plug Effect LIVE

Anne Chow

3:00 p.m. Women of Innovation closing keynote
Anne Chow, CEO, AT&T Business 

Countdown to Dallas Startup Week

If you missed out on what’s in store for the Disrupt Dallas Summit, check out more here. And if you’re interested in the Corporate Startup Innovation Summit, check out more here.

How to register

Dallas Startup Week is free. For more information or to register, go here.

Be sure to sign up for the Dallas Innovates newsletter to get our updates throughout the week. 

Dallas Innovates is a media sponsor of Dallas Startup Week and a DEC Network partner organization. Quincy Preston, Kevin Cummings, and Leslie Barker contributed to this report. The story was updated with additional comments from Toyota’s Stacey Miller on July 19, 2022, at 1:20 p.m.

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