Gymnast Simone Biles, Oscar-winning actor and activist Jane Fonda, WNBA star Brittney Griner and Meals Community host Padma Lakshmi are among the many completed and well-known girls delivering keynote speeches on the fifth Annual California Convention for Girls in San Jose on Feb. 12.
Simply weeks earlier than March Girls’s Historical past Month, some 5,000 feminine leaders in enterprise, nonprofit and different organizations will collect for the one-day occasion at San Jose’s McEnery Conference Middle. The day includes a line-up of speeches, panel discussions and different occasions on a variety of matters, associated to “connection, motivation, inspiration and skill-building” for girls of all ages and in any respect phases of their careers.
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 24: Jane Fonda, sporting Max Mara, attends the 2024 WIF Honors Offered by Max Mara with Visionary Sponsor ShivHans Photos, and extra help from Amazon MGM Studios, Lexus, M&M’s, Netflix, And STARZ #TakeTheLead at The Beverly Hilton on October 24, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photograph by Presley Ann/Getty Pictures for WIF)
The spotlight of the day, after all, would be the keynote speeches. Biles, probably the most adorned gymnast in historical past, with 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals, will converse on resilience, longevity in sports activities, remodeling gymnastics tradition and whether or not she’ll compete within the 2028 Olympics on the age of 31 — historically gone when prime feminine gymnasts are inclined to retire.
Biles additionally has grow to be an advocate for safeguarding the psychological well being and security of younger athletes, after she was among the many scores of gymnasts who alleged that USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulted her and that USA Gymnastics helped cowl it up. Biles additionally modified the dialog about athletes taking a break from competitors to protect their psychological well being, when she withdrew from the Olympic Video games in Tokyo in 2021 however triumphantly rebounded. She received the all-around competitors on the World Championships in 2023 and the all-around gold medal on the 2024 Olympics in Paris, along with two gold medals and a silver within the group, vault and floor-routine competitions.
The 87-year-old Fonda will converse on her newest trigger, local weather change, in addition to find out how to redefine wellness as one ages. Fonda is thought for her lifetime of activism that started within the Sixties counterculture, in addition to her 64-year profession in Hollywood that included hit comedies and dramas, finest actress Oscar triumphs in “Klute” and “Coming Home” and her empire of Jane Fonda exercise movies.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 04: Brittney Griner #42 speaks to the media throughout a press convention after being launched as one of many new free agent signings for the Atlanta Dream with Shatori Walker-Kimbrough #32 and Brionna Jones #24 at Ventanas on February 04, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: Consumer expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or utilizing this {photograph}, Consumer is consenting to the phrases and situations of the Getty Pictures License Settlement. (Photograph by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Pictures)
Griner, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, grew to become an unwitting pawn in Russia’s rising hostility to the USA when she was arrested in that nation on drug smuggling fees in February 2022, simply forward of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She had been enjoying basketball with the Russian Premier League through the WNBA low season when Russian customs officers say they discovered lower than a gram of medically prescribed hash oil, unlawful in Russia, in her baggage.
After being sentenced to 9 years in jail, Griner, 34, spent 10 months in a Russian penal colony earlier than being launched in a prisoner change. Griner has since returned to the WNBA and continues her advocacy for LGBTQ+ causes. In dialog with journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Griner is prone to discuss braveness, perseverance and rebuilding after adversity.
In the meantime, Lakshmi, additionally a New York Occasions best-selling cookbook writer, is scheduled to discuss utilizing meals to bridge cultures, in addition to championing equality, immigrants’ rights, and ladies’s empowerment in her work as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and ACLU Artist Ambassador.
