The Native American Women’s Conference is a full-day, annual conference, that occurs on the first Friday in November and is dedicated to the issues that affect Native American Women. Participants come from all walks of life and the speakers and presenters focus on the concerns that are forefront in the minds of women, especially Native Women.
The conference offers a unique strategy that focuses on three rotating pillars, or themes:
Pillar 1 – Health, Wellness, and Healing.
Pillar 2 – Career and Life Purpose.
Pillar 3 – Leadership, Life and Financial Planning.
Every year the focus, or pillar changes and circles back every three years to each pillar. The idea behind this strategy is that conference content is fresh and new for attendees.
Other features that make the conference unique include our talking/healing circle the evening prior to the opening of the conference; our clothing boutique, Kleo’s Kloset where attendees get to spend their Kleo’s Kash on recycled work clothing and accessories; and the Roundtable concept for presentations that offers an intimate approach for discussion about sensitive subjects.
The conference also offers exhibit and vending opportunities to companies, organizations and artisans who wish to connect with Native American Women.
Our History
Our history is pretty simple, it started out like so many good things usually do…good people wanting to do good work. We're a group of women who have a passion for helping women, Native women in particular!
The conversation began in 2013 when Katreena Hayes-Wood owner of Career Services Network and Bridget Blixt of the Phoenix Indian Center met for lunch. During their luncheon they discovered they shared a mutual love for conference planning and believed that there was a true need for a convention that focused on Native American Women, one that was easy and affordable to attend that offered good information that would benefit, inspire and motivate attendees to take their lives to the next level.
After a couple of false starts and stops, mostly due to the lack of funding to get the conference off the ground, the first Native American Women's Conference became a reality in November 2016, thanks, in part, to a small inheritance Katreena received from her mother, Kleo Goforth (see Kleo's Kloset).
With money for the deposits and necessary funding to get the ball rolling the NAWC Planning Committee began the preparations for the first NAWC Conference, hosted at the Fort McDowell - Yavapai Nation's We-Ko-Pa Resort in Fort McDowell, Arizona on Thursday, November 3, 2016.
The planning committee decided to do something unique and distinctive with the NAWC Conference, instead of a multi-day conference they designed a one-day event, kicked off with a talking circle the evening before.
They planned for speakers in the morning, something fun and engaging during the luncheon and left the afternoon for interactive Roundtables with information that matched the theme of the conference. One attendee said it was like, "speed dating for conferences!"
Jeff Wood - Co-owner, Career Services Network, LLC
Antionette Speer - Pathways Outreach Coordinator, Gila River
Indian Community
Elisia Manuel - StepStone Family Youth Services & Founder of Three Precious Miracles
If you have any question, please contact our office at (623) 256-3033 or e-mail us at Info@NAWC-AZ.com. Native American Women's Conference
Fiscal Agent:
Career Services Network, LLC
7942 W. Bell Rd
Suite C5-422
Glendale, AZ 85308
