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Women in Leadership: Online Program for Emerging Leaders

Become a strategic leader by developing your key strengths and attributes.

All Start Dates

Time

11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
Length

5 consecutive Thursdays
Cost

$2,950
Programs fill quickly — free cancellation up to 14 days prior
Registration Deadline

October 15, 2025

Time

11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
Length

5 consecutive Thursdays
Cost

$3,050
Programs fill quickly — free cancellation up to 14 days prior
Registration Deadline

January 28, 2026

Time

11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
Length

5 consecutive Thursdays
Cost

$3,050
Programs fill quickly — free cancellation up to 14 days prior
Registration Deadline

July 8, 2026

What You'll Learn

This online program invites emerging leaders of all genders to attend interactive online sessions designed to foster leadership and professional growth.

Participants emerging into management roles will build their unique leadership skills through interactive exercises and powerful group discussions. You will gain the skills you need to communicate, negotiate, and lead with confidence. While the program’s content is tailored to address the experiences and opportunities often encountered by women in leadership, its strategies and insights are valuable for anyone looking to strengthen their leadership capabilities and advance their career.

Rising leaders seeking a more in-depth program and intensive, on campus experience may be interested in Women Leaders: Advancing Together.

Who Should Enroll

This program is ideal for high-performing women with 3-7 years experience and the interest to advance their career in leadership roles. It is also invaluable for any individual who is committed to enhancing their leadership capabilities and championing women’s professional development in the workplace.

Topics Covered

Bringing a Strategic Focus to Your Role:

Increasing your level of contribution
Aligning capabilities with strategy
Developing vision

Communication:

Gender and its impact on communication
Body language
Persuasive methods

Building Productive Relationships:

Becoming a trusted advisor
Identifying key players in and outside of your organization
Building confidence and credibility with those in your network

Negotiation Skills:

Creating impactful outcomes
Winning strategies for negotiations
Achieving organizational support

Note: All program content will be delivered live and will not be recorded.

Considering this program?

Send yourself the details.

Week 1

Gender and Communication

Week 2

Bringing a Strategic Focus to Your Role

Week 3

Building Productive Relationships

Week 4

Negotiation Skills

Week 5

Coaching Session

February Schedule

Week 1

Bringing a Strategic Focus to Your Role

Week 2

Gender and Communication

Week 3

Building Productive Relationships

Week 4

Negotiation Skills

Week 5

Coaching Session

July Schedule

Week 1

Bringing a Strategic Focus to Your Role

Week 2

Gender and Communication

Week 3

Building Productive Relationships

Week 4

Negotiation Skills

Week 5

Coaching Session

Instructors

Pamela Rucker

Pamela is a featured speaker at CIO events in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She brings over 25 years of experience helping executives to understand their business drivers. Pamela earned a master's degree from Harvard University.
Jill Abruzese Slye

Jill Abruzese Slye, a Harvard instructor and public speaking consultant at the Harvard Kennedy School, brings over 30 years of business experience across industries including healthcare, finance, and technology. Recognized with Harvard's Petra Shattuck Excellence in Teaching Award, she specializes in leadership communication and presentation skills, empowering leaders worldwide. Jill is also the author of Reinvesting in Your Rhetoric, a guide to enhancing professional communication.
Emily F. Epstein

Emily served as associate faculty at Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation and adjunct faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center. She specializes in teaching negotiation, facilitation, mediation, and communication skills. She is the founder of Oakbay Consulting and a lecturer of law at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
Areen Shahbari

Areen Shahbari is a global executive educator and strategist with more than 20 years of experience advancing leadership and innovation. She teaches in the Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional & Executive Development programs and at Stanford University, and has trained leaders at Apple, Nike, Netflix, and government agencies around the world. Shahbari is also principal of Cactus Int. LLC, a consulting and training firm that partners with governments, Fortune 500 companies, and mission-driven organizations to develop leaders and executives.
Madeline McNeely

Madeline teaches Non-Profit leadership and Community Engagement at Harvard Extension School and was a Coach, Facilitator and Coach Recruiter at Harvard Business School. Supporting clients to think in expansive ways and develop sustained habits to solve their most vexing people, organizational, and network challenges is her sweet spot.

Instructors

Jill Abruzese Slye

Jill Abruzese Slye, a Harvard instructor and public speaking consultant at the Harvard Kennedy School, brings over 30 years of business experience across industries including healthcare, finance, and technology. Recognized with Harvard's Petra Shattuck Excellence in Teaching Award, she specializes in leadership communication and presentation skills, empowering leaders worldwide. Jill is also the author of Reinvesting in Your Rhetoric, a guide to enhancing professional communication.
Pamela Rucker

Pamela is a featured speaker at CIO events in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She brings over 25 years of experience helping executives to understand their business drivers. Pamela earned a master's degree from Harvard University.
Emily F. Epstein

Emily served as associate faculty at Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation and adjunct faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center. She specializes in teaching negotiation, facilitation, mediation, and communication skills. She is the founder of Oakbay Consulting and a lecturer of law at the University of California Berkeley School of Law.
Areen Shahbari

Areen Shahbari is a global executive educator and strategist with more than 20 years of experience advancing leadership and innovation. She teaches in the Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional & Executive Development programs and at Stanford University, and has trained leaders at Apple, Nike, Netflix, and government agencies around the world. Shahbari is also principal of Cactus Int. LLC, a consulting and training firm that partners with governments, Fortune 500 companies, and mission-driven organizations to develop leaders and executives.
Laura Wilcox

Laura has been in academia for over three decades at the intersection of business, innovation, and education at MIT, MIT Sloan, and Harvard. She is the Director of Management and Finance Programs at Harvard University's Division of Continuing Education.

Instructors

Areen Shahbari

Areen Shahbari is a global executive educator and strategist with more than 20 years of experience advancing leadership and innovation. She teaches in the Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional & Executive Development programs and at Stanford University, and has trained leaders at Apple, Nike, Netflix, and government agencies around the world. Shahbari is also principal of Cactus Int. LLC, a consulting and training firm that partners with governments, Fortune 500 companies, and mission-driven organizations to develop leaders and executives.
Jill Abruzese Slye

Jill Abruzese Slye, a Harvard instructor and public speaking consultant at the Harvard Kennedy School, brings over 30 years of business experience across industries including healthcare, finance, and technology. Recognized with Harvard's Petra Shattuck Excellence in Teaching Award, she specializes in leadership communication and presentation skills, empowering leaders worldwide. Jill is also the author of Reinvesting in Your Rhetoric, a guide to enhancing professional communication.
Louise Keogh Weed

Louise is an instructor in the department of health management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and is affiliate faculty at the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care. She is also the owner/principal at KW Facilitation.
Laura Wilcox

Laura has been in academia for over three decades at the intersection of business, innovation, and education at MIT, MIT Sloan, and Harvard. She is the Director of Management and Finance Programs at Harvard University's Division of Continuing Education.
Madeline McNeely

Madeline teaches Non-Profit leadership and Community Engagement at Harvard Extension School and was a Coach, Facilitator and Coach Recruiter at Harvard Business School. Supporting clients to think in expansive ways and develop sustained habits to solve their most vexing people, organizational, and network challenges is her sweet spot.
Clara Angelina Diaz-Anderson

Clara Angelina Diaz-Anderson is an internationally recognized executive coach, leadership educator, and author whose mission is to cultivate authentic, confident leaders who drive systemic and sustainable change. As the founder of the ClaraFying Coaching and Consulting Institute, Clara has created a space where leaders develop with clarity, confidence, and consciousness. She is an instructor for the Authentic Leadership, Executive Leadership Coaching, and Leadership Coaching Strategies programs, and is a coach for the Women in Leadership programs at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education.
Eleanor Chin

Eleanor Chin, Founder and CEO of Clarity Partners Coaching & Consulting, brings over 20 years’ experience as a dynamic leader, executive coach, and an innovative thinker in her work with Fortune 1000 corporations, not-for-profits, healthcare, educational institutions, and start-up ventures. She works with clients both privately and through Executive Education programs, including Harvard Business School and Korn Ferry International Consulting.

The Women in Leadership course helped me be more confident about speaking up. My skills in management and leadership expanded and the organization responded by promoting me.

Bernadette Boudreaux

Associate Director of Operations, The DesignLights Consortium, Atlanta, GA

Expand Your Network

With participants from more than 100 different countries and a variety of industries, Harvard Professional & Executive Development programs provide you the opportunity to gain fresh perspectives and unique insights as you learn alongside peers with similar roles who face like business challenges.

Learn More About Our Participants