Insights Unveiled in New Report, Confronting the Elephant in the Board(Room)

Two influential organizations—Women Corporate Directors (WCD)-Chicago Chapter and the Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay (WLC)—collaborated to produce a groundbreaking new report: Confronting the Elephant in the Board(Room). The report debuted at the WCD Global Institute & Visionary Awards, held in Chicago on October 5–7, 2025, and is available for download here. Universally, Board leaders...

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We’re Growing Up! Landscape Architecture Update…

Since Day One, harmonizing with the natural beauty of our site has been a core value. We’ve made every effort to live up to that, including using a tower crane during construction so that we could lift material in and out without disturbing the trees.  As hardscaping completes in each section of campus, we’re landscaping...

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Follow Along As the Journey Unfolds

We are pleased to share that the the Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay now has its own dedicated social media presence! Please follow us on LinkedIn at @womensleadershipcenteratwilliamsbay and on Instagram @womensleadershipcenter for updates that highlight the vision, people, and purpose driving this inspiring new initiative. Join us as we build momentum toward advancing women’s leadership—one story, event, and connection at...

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Building Progress Update September 2025

In July, we hosted a “hard hat tour” for members of our advisory board and community leaders from Williams Bay. They clambered through the three buildings under construction; at this point, all are fully enclosed, with roofs and windows and skylights and utilities installed. As we welcome Fall, we’re busy putting up wood siding on...

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RAISING a New Generation of Venture Capitalists

Money has no gender. However, the world of investing money does. And it’s male. There are many paths to growing wealth via investing; one of those paths leads through venture capital. The task of the venture capitalist is to spot a startup with promise, then put together the financing to fund its growth. It’s a...

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The Krukowski Stone Story

One way to operate sustainably is to use locally sourced materials as much as possible. That’s one reason why you’ll see lots of a beautiful Wisconsin sandstone all over our campus. Called Krukowski Stone, this quartz-rich, cream-colored stone comes from a family quarry in the northern part of the state. Krukowski Stone is a newcomer...

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Two Stars Align at Yerkes Observatory Presentation

What does it take to make an icon? A sold-out crowd gathered at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI the evening of Thursday, July 17, 2025, to hear the answer. As part of its summer Speaker Series, the Yerkes Future Foundation hosted Jeanne Gang, MacArthur Fellow and award-winning architect, to talk about her work as...

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Women’s Mission to Lead Headlines 36th Annual Women in the Forefront Luncheon

In space, no one can hear you laugh. Yet naturalness, warmth, and collaboration—over power and control—can be exactly the way to lead a high-stakes team to success. This and other leadership lessons were shared with nearly 1,500 women at the 36th Annual Women in the Forefront luncheon, hosted by The Chicago Network. The annual event...

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Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay Debuts First ‘Bold Ideas’ White Paper: Balancing the Benefits of AI & the Health of Our Planet

The Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay released its inaugural ‘Bold Ideas’ white paper, Balancing the Benefits of AI & the Health of Our Planet. The paper explores how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to enhance both operational efficiency and environmental sustainability. Drawing insights from a range of women experts across the fields of business,...

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Building Progress Update June 2025

We’re at a point now where you can truly feel and see how the Center will look. On the Council building, walls are up, the roof is on, and windows are being installed. The Lodge is still getting framed out as crews assemble the special “treehouse” section at the top of the structure. The Cabin...

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Building a Bright Future

Meet “The Women in the Trailer” who are guiding construction of the Women’s Leadership Center at Williams Bay. Hard hats. DayGlo vests. Blue jeans. Steel-toe boots. In a video recently released by Pepper Construction company, the people surveying progress at the site of the Women’s Leadership Center look like construction workers everywhere. But they aren’t...

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Foundations of Change: Empowering Women in Construction

With a shared passion and commitment to advancing women leaders, we were delighted when Pepper Construction invited AWESOMELeaders CEO Michelle Dilley for a fireside chat highlighting lessons from her career journey during Women in Construction Week, which celebrates and promotes the role of women in the construction industry. Michelle is overseeing operations plans for the...

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