GOING BEYOND DIVERSITY & INCLUSION ‘The CLIMB’ PRESENTS A Virtual Career Summit for Ambitious Black Women Professionals

Chicago, Illinois, (September 1, 2020) – Do you want to move your career forward but cannot figure out the best approach to advocate for yourself?

For black women who choose the corporate ladder, look no further than an action-oriented and strategic career summit, The Climb, with the ultimate goal to prioritize and navigate Black women in the workplace. 

Produced by I Choose The Ladder, a career consulting company that aims to bridge the gap between ambitious Black women who want to climb the corporate ladder, and the corporations that understand the importance of attracting and retaining this group, the one-day career summit is an immersive experience for all professional women. Guests will virtually rub shoulders with leading Black women executives tapping into the tools needed to elevate their corporate careers and personal blueprint to achieve success. 

This amazing summit will take place virtually on Saturday, September 26, 2020, from 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM CST


The one-day career summit will be an immersive experience designed with BlackMillennials, Xennials, and Gen X professional women in mind.

Created to be more than your average conference, attendees will virtually rub shoulders with leading Black women executives. Tapping into the tools needed to elevate their corporate careers, guests will walk away with tangible results and a personalized blueprint to be used at their current places of employment or throughout their careers.


According to CNBC and SurveyMonkey’s Women at Work survey, of C-suite leaders today, 21% are women and just 1% are Black women. Despite 75% of Black women view themselves as very ambitious towards their career, with 40% hoping to make it to a management position within the next five years.

In 2018, Black professionals held just 3.3% of all executive or senior leadership roles even though Black people are 12% of the population.

“We aim to demystify what it takes to succeed as a Black woman in a corporate environment, create a community for ambitious Black women who want to excel in their career, and champion our attendees experiences, which we believe will lead to corporate success, says Watchen Nyanue, Founder of I Choose the Ladder. “My hope is that by attending this event, Black women can begin to find their voices in the workplace, to begin to be heard, and find opportunities to connect with executives who they can learn from and network with.”

Powered by Weber Shandwick, the goal of The CLIMB is to prioritize Black women! The summit will strategically approach navigating career success and will create the stage for an open and honest dialogue regarding the experiences that Black women face in their journey to the top of the corporate ladder. Curated for corporate Black women by corporate Black women, The CLIMB will bring together 17 Black female executives from the nation’s top companies and organizations, to lead 11 engaging and action-oriented workshops and panels.

Topics include: Your Personal Brand Audit, Finding Your Personal Board of Directors’, Racism: Silent Killer of Careers? and Structured Networking.

Featured speakers for the sessions include:

Gabby Sagers, Vice President, Weber Shandwick; Amelia Hardy, VP of Inclusion and Diversity Strategic Initiatives, Best Buy; and Connie Lindsay, Executive Vice President, Northern Trust.


All attendees will receive a personalized summit swag box filled with surprises that support several Black women-owned businesses, as well as an opportunity to submit professional resumes to corporate partners.

The summit will close with a celebratory session, #BlackJoy, to jump start a renewed path of ‘Climbing the Corporate Ladder’.

Additional partners include: Best Buy, BMO, Chicago Sky, GCM Grosvenor, Reverb, Walgreens.

For more information on The CLIMB or to register to attend, visit www.theclimbsummit.com.

For Media inquiries:
Nicole Newsum
646.642.3097
nicole@ndotnpr.com

All images courtesy of The Climb Summit.

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