PWIA Celebrates 10 Years!

Last week, Women in Government Relations' Professional Women in Advocacy (PWIA) Conference celebrated its 10th anniversary! Over 200 attendees came together in person at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and dare we say—it was so great to be back in the company of such amazing Government Affairs professionals!

Attendees came together for a kick-off networking reception held on the evening of Sunday, October 2, followed by the next two days filled with content from three learning tracks focused on Government Affairs, Outreach & Engagement and Professional Development. Each track was complete with dynamic speakers who offered great insights and real-time “tips and tricks” that attendees could begin utilizing immediately.

Scenes from PWIA | Jack Conroy Photography

In addition, the conference included six general sessions where speakers addressed the attendees on such topics as: The 2022 Midterm Elections; Owning Your Power and Voice; Women Firsts; Powerhouse Women in the Media; DEI in Advocacy; and Life Lessons Learned. Attendees also had the opportunity to take advantage of 25 minutes of free one-on-one coaching offered by WGR’s network of leadership development experts.

PWIA’s 10th anniversary conference would not have been complete without the inclusion of the Excellence in Advocacy (EIA) Awards, where we honored the greatest amongst those in the Government Affairs & Advocacy professions—congratulations to all the awardees! WGR also recognized its two distinguished members for 2022—Lauren Colicelli (National Association of Realtors) and Shannon Patrick (Centurion Group DC, LLC)—for their outstanding service and commitment to the organization!

On behalf of the planning committee for this year’s PWIA 10th anniversary conference, we would like to extend a very special thank you to all of the conference attendees, speakers and sponsors who helped to make this year’s conference a huge success! Thank you also to the WGR staff for their fantastic support of this conference, as well as to LeeAnn Petersen, PWIA’s creator, for her wisdom and guidance—we are looking forward to what’s ahead for our profession in the next 10 years—and we look forward to celebrating with you for our 20th anniversary!

Sincerely,

Lauren Colicelli and Gamble Hayden
PWIA Conference Co-Chairs