Redefine
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Empower
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Celebrate
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#BTGCD
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Redefine 〰️ Empower 〰️ Celebrate 〰️ #BTGCD 〰️
On May 15th, we are taking back the term “Breaking the Glass Ceiling.”
It’s time to Break the Glass Ceiling. The often-invisible systemic barriers that exist to keep women and underrepresented communities from professional advancement.
World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Report estimates that it will take an average of 135.6 years for women and men to reach parity on a range of factors worldwide.
That’s why Break the Glass Ceiling Day is on May 15th, the 135th day of the year. And that’s why we need to do more than just break through.
We are dismantling outdated definitions of success. For all people who identify as women, for all historically marginalized communities. We are championing living by your own values and achieving them by your own standards. Because there’s more than one way to break the glass ceiling.
Let’s celebrate the first-ever #BTGCD and redefine success on our own terms.
Attend the Event
Create Your Own Pledge
Host a Meetup
Meet Your Panelists
Jackie Caldwell
Jackie Caldwell is the Head of Content at Just Women’s Sports, where she oversees JWS’ content across all platforms and channels. Under her leadership, JWS’ social audience has grown 300% YoY. Previously, Jackie spent five years at Bleacher Report, where she helped build the BR App and streamline cross-channel content distribution. Jackie played basketball at UCLA, where she met her husband, a volleyball player for the Bruins.
Kaleeta McDade
Kaleeta McDade is celebrated for her proven ability to drive impact for brands, helping them shape a strategy and vision that deepens the customer relationship across every stage of the engagement life cycle. Throughout her career, Kaleeta's influence and leadership have informed how customers around the world experience some of the largest brands in retail, sports, beauty, and health.
As VML’s Chief Experience Design Officer, Kaleeta bridges creative storytelling, technology, design, and user experience for clients across VML’s client portfolio.
Rupal Patel
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Rupal is a born-and-bred New Yorker now living near London. Her high-octane career as a CIA officer turned serial entrepreneur has taken her from military briefing rooms in jungles and war zones to corporate boardrooms and international stages. After a thrilling career at the CIA, she earned her MBA from London Business School – where she has been Entrepreneur in Residence since 2018 – and started her first business venture, a real estate investment and development group, over ten years ago.
As a CEO, leadership consultant, strategic advisor, coach and mentor, she now helps founders, leaders, and next-generation change-makers rewrite the rules of success and become unstoppable.
Julie Potash Slavin aka DJ Hesta Prynn
Hesta Prynn is a prominent figure in the music and mental health space, a NYC-based DJ and radio personality that blue chip brands and celebrities turn to for her ability to create unforgettable events. She DJs globally for clients like Salesforce, Meta, Spotify, PWC, Netflix, Google, Morgan Stanley, Rolls Royce and privately for celebrities from Amy Schumer and Jimmy Fallon to Questlove, who taught her to mix records on vinyl from the get-go.
After an eye-opening pandemic experience, she became committed to exploring the powerful connection between music and emotional wellbeing, pursuing a masters in clinical therapy and obtaining New York State licensure (LMFT). Her unique blend of music and mental wellness has earned her regular speaking slots at global leadership summits and other high-profile events and as on-air talent at SiriusXM. Her Inner Mix Live wellness infused dance parties bring together the power of the therapy room and the magic of the dancefloor.
Meet Your Moderator
Amy Shoenthal
Amy Shoenthal is a USA Today bestselling author, journalist and marketing consultant. Throughout her career, she has worked with some of the world's largest brands, from Procter & Gamble to Google, providing strategic marketing guidance and helping shape their brand narratives.
Blending her marketing expertise with her formal journalism training, Amy approaches storytelling as sense making. As a top contributor to ForbesWomen and Harvard Business Review, she shines the spotlight on those who have been historically underestimated yet are doing the work to solve society’s biggest problems.
Years of interviewing hundreds of leaders, from politicians to Peloton instructors, fashion icons to founders just starting their journeys inspired her bestselling book, The Setback Cycle, which offers a framework to help people persevere through and triumph over setbacks.
Amy is also a sought-after speaker. She recently did a TEDx talk about how setbacks set the stage for reinvention. She has been a keynote speaker, moderator and panel discussion participant at conferences like Social Media Week, Weekend at the Pitch Club, the Mom 2 Summit and more.
Amy has also worked with organizations like Google, Royal Bank of Canada, KeyBank, Microsoft and others to lead professional development trainings, workshops and team building sessions to help employees navigate tumultuous times and emerge with a sense of connection, creativity and motivation.
To encourage #BTGCD buzz across social, the official VML social channels will share a series of “pledge” posts that audiences can repurpose and re-share from their own handles.
The purpose of these pledges is to make a public promise to yourself — committing to an action or way of thinking that will help you Break the Glass Ceiling YOUR WAY while inspiring others to do the same.
How will you break your glass ceiling today?
Share one of our pre-crafted #BTGCD pledges today or create your own!
Looking to connect with other likeminded individuals in your area to help break their glass ceilings? Host your own meet to foster in-person or virtual connections! To assist in hosting your meetup, download the toolkit below for additional activities.