WFS Female Founders Forum 2026. Powered by GOOGLE

🚀 Calling all female founders, bold entrepreneurs, and trailblazing Queens!

Join us for our biggest annual event of the year. One full day in Miami packed with empowerment, real connections, and insights from the women who've built it.

About Women for Success WFS isn't just a nonprofit. We're a community lifting women up through free workshops, mentorship, small business grants, and our signature Business Showers. Here, every woman gets to define success on her own terms. 💖

What to Expect A full day of keynote speakers, expert panels, and workshops on the topics that move the needle: funding, finance, investing, and scaling your business. Every ticket also helps fund our Business Shower Grant + Incubator Program for women-led startups. Your support literally changes lives.

This Event Is For You If… ✨ You're launching your startup ✨ You're scaling your business ✨ You want actionable strategies, not fluff ✨ You're ready to connect with ambitious women who get it

Event Details 📅 Saturday, October 17, 2026 🕘 9:30 AM | Registration + Breakfast 🕙 10:00 AM | Programming Begins 📍 Neuman Alumni Center, University of Miami 🍽️ Food included throughout the day

Why You Can't Miss This Entrepreneurship can feel lonely. But it doesn't have to be. Surround yourself with the women who'll cheer you on, challenge you, and celebrate every win with you. Because you're just one connection away from changing your entire life.

Grab your Biz Bestie. We'll see you there. 👑🚀

Sponsorship Opportunities + Table Discounts Contact [email protected]

Refund Policy As this is a nonprofit event, no refunds will be issued. Tickets may be transferred to another person up to 7 days before the event.

Ericka Arias-Bertani is the founder of GIRA Business Development, a Miami-based marketing operations firm. With 20 years of experience in CRM, email marketing, and marketing operations, Ericka and her team build and manage the systems businesses rely on to generate revenue.

GIRA works across platforms including Salesforce, HubSpot, and GoHighLevel, helping companies improve their CRM systems, email deliverability, automation, workflows, and data management. The women- and minority-owned firm has grown entirely through referrals.

Ericka holds an MBA from Florida International University, hosts the podcast Guts, Grit, and Google, and serves on the board of Women for Success. Her operating philosophy is simple: We build it, you close it.

Discover the Power of the Reset in Ericka's Keynote, "Slowing Down to Speed Up."

We are often told that momentum requires constant motion and that slowing down means falling behind. In this thoughtful keynote, Ericka challenges that belief and explores how an intentional pause can create greater clarity, resilience, and long-term momentum.

Discover why the founders who last are not necessarily the ones who never slow down. They are the ones who recognize when it is time to pause, reset, and move forward with purpose.

Ericka will also lead a breakout workshop. Additional details will be announced soon.

Elizabeth Gonzalez is a certified HR expert with more than 15 years of experience helping organizations strengthen their teams and support sustainable growth. Through her relationship-first approach, she partners with businesses to create tailored HR strategies that improve operations, empower employees, and build thriving workplaces.

As the Founder and CEO of Specialty HR Consulting, Elizabeth helps business leaders address HR strategy, labor law compliance, talent acquisition, employee relations, compensation, leadership development, and other workforce needs.

Vanessa Garcia brings more than eight years of human resources experience and a strong commitment to operational excellence. As Director of Operations at Specialty HR Consulting, she focuses on supporting the team, strengthening the client experience, and developing systems that help businesses grow.

Together, Elizabeth and Vanessa help organizations align their people, policies, and operations with their broader business goals.

Lead Without Burning Out in Elizabeth and Vanessa's Dual Keynote, "Leading From a Full Cup."

How can you continue pouring into your team, clients, and business when your own cup is empty?

Join Elizabeth and Vanessa for an interactive keynote exploring the direct connection between founder well-being and operational success. They will share data-backed strategies, real-world resilience practices, and practical approaches to movement, community, healthy boundaries, and sustainable leadership.

Expect an honest and timely conversation about protecting your energy, strengthening your business, and leading without burning out.

Specialty HR Consulting will also present a breakout workshop. Additional details will be announced soon.

Christina Specos is an elite strength and conditioning coach, Pilates teacher, nutrition and supplementation strategist, bodywork and fascial specialist, and IFBB Professional Bodybuilder with more than 25 years of experience.

Before moving to Miami in 2018, Christina served for seven years as Associate Director of Sports Performance at Purdue University, followed by eight years as Director of Strength and Conditioning at The Lawrenceville School.

She has coached championship-level collegiate and professional athletes, executives, celebrities, post-surgical clients, and other high-performing individuals. Through Specos Enterprises, LLC and The Lifestyle Standard, Christina combines performance science, mindset coaching, customized nutrition, recovery, and accountability to help clients build stronger bodies, overcome pain, improve confidence, and create sustainable habits.

Raise Your Personal Standard in Christina's Breakout Workshop, "Become the Standard: Fitness for Busy, Badass Businesswomen."

Success should not come at the expense of your health.

In this bold and practical session, Christina will challenge attendees to stop putting themselves last and raise the standard for how they train, fuel, recover, and show up. She will explore how physical strength, energy, appearance, and self-confidence influence the way women lead and how others experience their presence.

Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for building sustainable habits, increasing their energy, strengthening their confidence, and becoming just as powerful personally as they are professionally.

Dr. Karine Melissa Purchas is a social entrepreneur, educator, marketing strategist, and President of the Women's Chamber of Commerce of Miami-Dade County.

With more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Karine's work spans entrepreneurship, higher education, nonprofit leadership, marketing, and the creative economy. She holds degrees in Communication and Organizational Leadership and Management, and she teaches at several colleges and universities.

Dr. Karine also develops international business curriculum for the creative arts community, helping creatives turn their talents into sustainable businesses. At the heart of her work is a commitment to creating the knowledge, connections, and opportunities that move people and communities forward.

Turn Brand Outreach Into Lasting Opportunity in "Brand Deals to Real Relationships."

Learn how to transform brand outreach into meaningful, long-term partnerships. Dr. Karine will guide attendees through identifying the right brands to approach, clearly communicating their partnership value, developing offers that support a brand's goals, and following up in a way that builds relationships beyond the first agreement.

Attendees will leave with a clearer strategy for who to pitch, what to offer, and how to turn the first "yes" into the beginning of a lasting partnership.

Dr. Karine will also participate in a Forum panel. Additional panel details will be announced soon.

Nicole Piedra is a mom of two, serial entrepreneur, and payment consultant who has built and exited a seven-figure business. Her firsthand experience showed her how payment friction and inefficient systems can quietly cost businesses valuable time and profit.

Today, as CFO & Owner of Cardtide, Nicole helps business owners simplify their payment systems, protect their margins, and scale with confidence. Cardtide provides payment services, financing, and consulting solutions that integrate with more than 350 software systems. Through transparent, no-contract partnerships, Cardtide helps businesses reduce costs, streamline operations, and strengthen their bottom line.

Ready to Outgrow What No Longer Fits? Don't Miss Nicole's Keynote, "The Business That Made You Isn't the Business That Keeps You."

You are allowed to outgrow a business, a business model, a system, or even your definition of success. In this powerful keynote, Nicole explores why changing direction isn't failure and how recognizing what no longer serves you can create space for your next level of growth.

Walk away encouraged to question outdated systems, embrace necessary change, and build a business that supports the future you are working toward. Outgrowing is part of growing!

AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!

Event venue & nearby stays

Newman Alumni Center, 6200 San Amaro Drive, Coral Gables, United States

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