Empower '26: A Networking and Professional Development Conference
Presented by the Graduate Women in Science
February 7, 2026 @ 08:15 am to 05:00 pm
Heritage Hall, 288 Pollock Rd, University Park, PA 16802, USA
University Park
Featuring:
Giana Amador
Carbon180, Carbon Removal Alliance
Kristin Dreyer
Penn State University
Jillian Goldfarb
Cornell University
Empower is a professional development conference hosted annually by the State College Graduate Women in Science (GWIS) for students, post-docs, faculty, and professionals in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fields.
Since 2005, Empower conferences have provided participants with opportunities to interact with others from different backgrounds and experiences, as well as provide them with information to help achieve their academic goals and have a successful work-life balance. Participants have the opportunity to find out how various individuals in the STEM fields handle their education, career, and personal life through discussions about ideas, successes, and struggles with each other. There are several types of sessions throughout the day: session, wellness, workshop, and keynote. Sessions speakers share various stories, experiences, research, and advice with attendees. The wellness speaker is one who provides a moment in the conference for attendees to reflect internally through an activity/exercise and often provide resources for mental health, finance, education, etc. The workshop speaker is one who provides a unique perspective to the conference to show attendees that there is more than one path to life. The keynote address is our marquee address, used to bring together the theme and underlying message each year.
