The Most
AWAITED
Conference of the Year
July 31, 2026 | 7:00am - 4:00pm
ELEVATE | Next Level Leadership is the most anticipated leadership experience of the year, built for leaders who refuse to plateau. This is where high-performing leaders come to sharpen their leadership, to strengthen their emotional resilience, to expand their influence, and to move with strategy, not stress.
On July 31, 2026, the most powerful entrepreneurs, executives, and emerging leaders will be at VEA Newport Beach — A Marriott Resort & Spa from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, then Party with a Purpose.
If you are ready to have bold conversations, command rooms, make powerful decisions, and elevate how you lead at work and at home, you belong here.
Last year set the standard. This year, we are raising the bar.
ELEVATE
Next Level Leadership
What is ELEVATE?
It’s a full-circle collision with your highest self. You’re not just attending, you’re STEPPING into POWER.
ELEVATE
has been described as first class, elite, life-changing, and unlike anything Orange County has experienced, because it is built with precision and led with power.
This one-day, five-star leadership experience is designed for those who lead hard, live big, and love deep, but need space to refocus, recharge, and reignite.
Born from over a decade of impact through Leadership in Heels, this conference is one of Orange County’s most explosive, best-in-class events that brings together powerful minds, bold voices, and change-agents across every industry.
Expect to Experience:
A five-star curated experience designed for leaders who expect excellence.
Unfiltered conversations from dynamic leaders who are building, scaling and deciding.
Breakthrough strategies for life, leadership, and legacy.
Breakout Sessions that deliver strategy you can execute immediately.
A dynamic panel of experts that strengthens the internal leadership most people ignore, mind, body and soul.
A keynote that will shift the trajectory of your life.
The Signature Party with a Purpose, where collaboration turns into opportunity.
ELEVATE is the culmination of over 10 years of service, transformation, and leadership through the nonprofit Leadership in Heels (LIH), a 501(c)(3) organization committed to developing high-performing leaders from every walk of life.
Here’s what the net proceeds of your ticket, sponsorship, or support help empower:
Leadership training and scholarships for underserved women and emerging leaders
Entrepreneurial and financial literacy and mastery programs
Empowerment for survivors of abuse, human trafficking, and injustice
Mental and emotional resilience workshops for youth and adults
Holistic coaching and mentorship for leaders rebuilding their lives
Confidence Camp for the next generation of leaders
Real Impact. Real People. Real Transformation. Over 10,000 lives served. And we’re just getting started!
What to Expect on the Day?
CHAMPAGNE BREAKFAST ON THE LAWN with trailblazing women and influential leaders from across the country for intentional networking, inspiration, and clarity.
Transformational Sessions that Shift lives. Every session is designed to meet you where you’re and take you where you’re destined to go. Designed to dismantle your doubts and ignite your next mov.
Hear from Powerhouse Panelists and speakers who don’t just speak to success, they embody it.
THE UNSHAKEABLE CODE | Scharrell Jackson Unleashes her brand new Keynote. There comes a moment where leadership isn’t learned, it’s embodied. The Unshakeable Code™ isn’t theory. It’s a strategy. It’s legacy. It’s the standard for how powerful women lead, live, and rise without apology.
This is executive truth-telling and full-blown personal ignition that is raw, unfiltered, and life-altering. Scharrell Jackson is unlocking the Unshakeable Code that pierces through hesitation and calls every woman to decide with clarity, lead with conviction, and live unshakably aligned. This is not inspiration. It’s a full-blown activation of the woman who refuses to shrink, settle, or stand still. Raw. Bold. Unfiltered. This keynote will shake foundations, shift mindsets, and call every woman to rise in power, own her presence, and build a legacy that cannot be erased. History doesn’t remember the silent. It remembers the Unshakeable.
Be a part of the 2nd Annual Victoria Collins Woman of Impact Awards: Power & Profit, Heart & Hustle, Love & Legacy.
Party with a Purpose | Where Purpose Meets Celebration!
After the fire of the day….We Party with a Purpose
When the conference ends, the connection begins. Join us for an elevated celebration designed for collaboration, community, and next-level relationships, featuring music, cocktails, heavy hors d’oeuvres, and the energy that makes ELEVATE legendary.
ELEVATE attendees may bring an invited guest.
BREAKOUT SESSION
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You’ve done the work. Success isn’t scripted, it’s forged in fire. This session dismantles limits and unleashes the woman who turns adversity into authority, strategy into legacy, and leads like she was built for the bold.
You’ve built the life. But this year, we’re tearing down the lies that still limit your expansion. Success isn’t always planned; it’s forged in fire. Built for the Bold will unveil how life’s hardest moments can become the launchpad to your greatest elevation when you lead with Gratitude, Unity, Trustworthiness, and Spirituality.
This session will reveal how to turn adversity into authority, pain into purpose, and breakdowns into bottom-line impact. This is your invitation to own your evolution and design the blueprint to lead strategically, unapologetically, and with excellence that multiplies.
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Martha Daniel is an award-winning entrepreneur, cybersecurity innovator, #1 international bestselling author, and keynote speaker whose leadership has created lasting impact across business, technology, government, and community service.
She is the Founder and CEO of Information Management Resources, Inc. (IMRI), a nationally recognized cybersecurity and information technology firm that has secured more than $400 million in contract awards. She also leads Cytellix Corporation, an award-winning cybersecurity company delivering patented solutions in cybersecurity, compliance, and risk management.
Martha is the author of You Gotta Have G.U.T.S., a memoir and leadership guide centered on Gratitude, Unity, Trustworthiness, and Spirituality. Through her speaking, writing, and mentorship, she equips individuals and organizations to overcome obstacles, lead with integrity, and pursue success with purpose.
Her national honors include being recognized by the White House as one of the “10 Women Veteran Champions of Change” and induction into the Black Business Leaders Hall of Fame.
Martha is also a former U.S. Navy cryptologist, an ordained minister, and a dedicated community leader.
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Adversity as leadership development
Turning personal challenges into authority
Using pain as purpose, not paralysis
Reframing success when life does not follow the script
Strategic reinvention
Courage, grit, and leadership identity
What Attendees Walk Away With
A new understanding of adversity as a leadership advantage
A framework for turning obstacles into strategy
Permission to stop minimizing their story
A stronger connection between resilience, purpose, and executive leadership
A deeper sense of courage around who they have become
A renewed ability to lead from lived wisdom, not just credentials
A signed copy of You Gotta Have G.U.T.S. for attendees who purchase the book.
Know More About: Martha Daniel
Our Impactful Speakers
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Change is not the enemy.
Staying stuck in what no longer fits is.
In The Pivot | Power, Change & the Courage to Move Different, Jocelyn King, Michelle Chen, and Janine McClintock will bring a dynamic conversation on fear, reinvention, disruption, technology, business, communication, and the courage required to move differently when the next level demands something new from you.
This is for the woman who knows something has shifted — and now she must decide whether she will resist it, fear it, or rise through it.
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Jocelyn King
Jocelyn brings the perspective of digital safety, cyber awareness, technology disruption, and the fear many leaders feel when the world is changing faster than they feel prepared to respond. Her voice helps women understand that future-readiness is no longer optional — it is part of leadership.
Michelle Chen
Michelle brings the executive and business transformation lens. She speaks into what it means to navigate change with strategy, professionalism, influence, and clarity when career, business, and leadership demands are shifting.
Janine McClintock
Janine brings the leadership execution and communication lens. She helps women move through change with greater clarity, stronger communication, and the discipline to lead intentionally instead of reacting emotionally.
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Relational and communication - penpal - Michelle
Fear and decision-making
Change as a leadership requirement
Reinvention
Courage under uncertainty
Navigating disruption
The emotional weight of transition
Leading through technology, AI, cybersecurity, and future-readiness
Professional and Personal Pivots
Moving differently when the old ways no longer works
What Attendees Walk Away With
A new relationship with fear
Clarity on how to lead through transition
Tools for making decisions when the next step is uncertain
Permission to pivot without shame
A stronger understanding that change is not failure, it is often the doorway to elevation
A clearer path for moving differently in business, leadership, technology, and life
Language to confront the internal resistance that keeps leaders stuck
Courage to stop clinging to what no longer fits
Know More About: Janine McClintock, Jocelyn King, Michelle Chen
BREAKOUT SESSION
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Your body is not separate from your leadership.
In Power Under Pressure, Dr. Kumkum Patel will help women understand why their health, nervous system, sleep, gut, emotions, and energy are not side issues — they are part of the foundation required to lead at the next level.
This session is for the high-performing woman who has been pushing through, holding it together, and ignoring the signals her body has been sending.
The next level cannot be sustained in a depleted body.
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Dr. Kumkum Patel speaks at the intersection of health, hormones, and high performance—revealing why optimizing biology is the hidden key to clarity, resilience, and sustainable success.
Women are reaching peak leadership and entrepreneurial influence at the same time they are entering perimenopause and menopause—a biological transition that profoundly affects gut health, brain function, stress tolerance, sleep, and emotional resilience. Yet these realities remain largely absent from leadership and professional development conversations. Dr. Patel brings this critical insight to the stage, showing leaders and organizations how gut health, nervous system regulation, and hormonal balance directly shape decision-making, confidence, and long-term performance.
A double board-certified gastroenterologist and women’s gut-brain-hormone health expert based in Orange County, California, Dr. Patel built a thriving concierge gastroenterology and wellness practice with three locations while navigating the demands of medical training and single motherhood. Her experience revealed that health is not a wellness luxury—it is the infrastructure for leadership.
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Nervous system regulation
Burnout prevention
Emotional resilience
Gut-brain connection
Sleep and performance
Confidence and executive presence
Biology as leadership infrastructure
Health as a non-negotiable leadership asset
Sustainable success
Performing under pressure without self-abandonment
What Attendees Walk Away With
A practical understanding of how biology impacts leadership performance
Strategies to regulate under pressure
A new framework for sustainable high performance
Tools to protect clarity, energy, confidence, and decision-making
A deeper understanding of how stress impacts the body, mind, and leadership presence
Permission to stop treating exhaustion as proof of commitment
A reframe that health is not personal maintenance, it is leadership infrastructure
Know More About: Dr. Kumkum Patel
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This is the conversation women need but rarely give themselves permission to have.
UNDAUNTED is not about burnout as a buzzword.
It is about the real pressure of carrying leadership, career, family, caregiving, parenting, relationships, community, digital noise, social media, self-talk, and the emotional weight of trying to hold everything together.
Michelle Chen, Nadra Williams, Shelby Long, and Dr. Jas Tighman will bring a powerful, honest, and deeply necessary conversation about what it means to lead without losing yourself.
This is for the woman who is still showing up — but knows something has to change.
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Nadra Williams
Nadra will bring the caregiving and family responsibility lens, especially around caring for aging parents, dementia, health decline, family systems, and the emotional labor that many women carry quietly.
She will help address the woman who is asking:
How do I lead my life while caring for aging parents?
How do I handle the grief of watching someone decline?
How do I manage family responsibility without losing myself?
How do I navigate the guilt, fatigue, and emotional weight of caregiving?
Shelby Long
Shelby will bring the parenting and youth mental health lens, especially around raising children in a time of pressure, anxiety, social media, emotional struggle, depression, and suicide risk.
She will help address the woman who is asking:
How do I parent well while carrying everything else?
How do I support children who are mentally and emotionally overwhelmed?
How do I recognize when my child is struggling?
How do I lead my family through fear, pressure, and emotional complexity?
How do I keep functioning when I am worried about my child?
Dr. Jas Tilghman
Dr. Jas will bring the therapeutic and mental health lens. She will help ground the conversation around stress, emotional overwhelm, self-talk, nervous system strain, boundaries, identity, internal pressure, relational patterns, and the psychological impact of trying to navigate everything at once.
She will help address the woman who is asking:
Why am I so overwhelmed?
Why can’t I shut my mind off?
Why do I keep pushing when I know I am depleted?
How do I stop carrying everything emotionally?
How do I ask for help before I break down?
What support do I actually need?
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Capacity and emotional load
Leadership pressure
Mental and physical exhaustion
Digital noise and social media overload
Career stress and transition
Job demands and job uncertainty
Family caregiving
Aging parents and dementia-related decline
Parenting through youth mental health challenges
Relationships and community demands
Self-talk and internal pressure
Emotional resilience
Therapy, support, and self-leadership
Leading without losing yourself
What Attendees Will Walk Away With
Attendees will gain:
Language for the invisible load they have been carrying
A deeper understanding of capacity, not just exhaustion
Practical insight into navigating career demands and transitions
Tools for recognizing when digital noise is affecting mental clarity
Guidance for managing caregiving responsibilities with greater support and honesty
Perspective on parenting through youth mental health challenges
A healthier understanding of self-talk, emotional overwhelm, and stress patterns
Permission to stop normalizing depletion as leadership
A clearer understanding of when to ask for help
A renewed sense that next level leadership requires support, not self-abandonment
Know More About: Shelby Long, Nadra Williams,Dr. Jas Tilghman
Victoria Collins
Women of Impact Awards
She doesn’t just show up, she SHIFTS rooms
In honor of the late Victoria Collins, an extraordinary leader, mentor, and catalyst for Leadership in Heels, we proudly introduce the Victoria Collins Woman of Impact Awards. The Women of Impact Awards honor extraordinary women who are redefining power in leadership, service, business, advocacy, and community. Nominate the woman who leads with strength, walks with vision, and inspires legacy.
Award Categories
POWER & PROFIT: Impact Through Business
Celebrating a woman who has redefined leadership, shattered ceilings, and created extraordinary impact through business and entrepreneurship.
HEART & HUSTLE: Impact through Community
Recognizing a woman whose devotion to service has ignited change, uplifted communities, and left an undeniable mark on the lives of others.
LOVE & LEGACY: Impact through Family
Honoring a woman who has selflessly shaped lives, nurtured futures, and created a lasting legacy through the power of love, influence, and family.
Nomination Deadline: All nominations must be submitted by June 15, 2026, at midnight Pacific Time. Nomination forms must be submitted by the deadline.
Selection Announcement: Award recipients will be honored at ELEVATE | Next Level Leadership on July 31, 2026, at VEA Newport Beach. Nominees must be present to win and receive the award.
Every name submitted is more than a candidate; it’s a reflection of the impact we believe in, the leadership we celebrate, and the future we’re building through Leadership in Heels. We are deeply grateful for your voice in this process. Thank you for helping us honor the women who are changing the world, one bold step at a time.
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