We’re just getting started! Check back often as we continue adding speakers, sessions and more exciting Wahine Forum details.

Let’s Rise Together
Wahine Forum brings together women from across Hawai‘i for the state’s largest leadership and career development conference for women. Connect with professionals across industries, learn practical strategies for the challenges women face at work, and gain new perspectives to help you take your next step with greater confidence. Come ready to learn, connect and rise together.
Friday October 23, 2026
7:30am – 4:00pm
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Session Topics
Prioritize What Matters: Urgent vs. Important
Everything can feel urgent, but not everything deserves the same amount of your time and attention. This session focuses on the practical skill of prioritization: how to separate what needs an immediate response from what will actually move your work, team, or goals forward. Participants will learn strategies for making clearer decisions about where to focus, managing competing demands, and protecting time for the work that matters most.
Carrying the Cape: The Pressure to Be Superwoman
Being the person who can handle everything can feel like a strength, until it becomes the expectation. Women are often carrying responsibilities across work, family, relationships, and community while still feeling pressure to show up as capable, composed, and always available. This session explores the weight of the “Superwoman” expectation, how constantly stepping in and holding everything together can affect our energy and capacity, and what it looks like to lead and contribute without carrying it all. Participants will explore practical ways to share responsibility, communicate what they need, set healthier expectations, and recognize that putting down the cape does not mean giving up their strength.
You’re Never Fully Ready: Why Today Is the Best First Step
There is always a reason to wait. More experience, more confidence, better timing, one more credential, or a little more certainty. But waiting until everything feels perfectly aligned can keep us from opportunities we are already capable of pursuing. This session explores how to move forward before all the pieces are in place, distinguish thoughtful preparation from hesitation, and take meaningful action even when the outcome is not guaranteed. Participants will leave with practical ways to build momentum, trust what they already bring to the table, and take the next step before they feel completely ready.
We Have to Talk: Getting Comfortable with Uncomfortable Conversations
Some conversations are uncomfortable for a reason. Whether it is addressing performance, giving honest feedback, setting a boundary, resolving conflict, or saying something that may be difficult to hear, avoiding the conversation often creates a bigger problem. This session explores why we hesitate, how to prepare for high-stakes conversations, and ways to communicate with greater clarity and confidence. Participants will leave with practical tools to manage discomfort, say what needs to be said, and move important conversations forward while maintaining trust and respect.
Superheroes Unite: Building a Team Where Everyone Shines
Every person brings a different set of strengths to the table. The strongest teams are not made up of people who all think, work, or lead the same way, but of individuals whose talents complement one another. This session explores how leaders can recognize the “superpowers” within their teams, create space for people to contribute at their best, and build a culture where different strengths are valued. Participants will leave with practical ideas for strengthening collaboration, filling gaps, and creating a team where everyone has an opportunity to shine.
Working the Room: Networking, Follow Up and Making Moves
Networking is more than collecting business cards or making small talk. It is about building genuine relationships that can lead to new ideas, partnerships, referrals, mentorship, and career opportunities. This session explores how to confidently enter a room, start meaningful conversations, make memorable connections, and follow up with purpose. Participants will leave with practical tools for turning introductions into lasting professional relationships and future opportunities.
Soft Skills in the Age of AI
As AI becomes more capable, technical skills alone will not determine who stands out. The ability to communicate clearly, build trust, read a room, exercise judgment, adapt quickly, collaborate, and lead through ambiguity is becoming even more important. This session explores the human skills that can strengthen your career in an AI-driven workplace and why they may be some of your greatest professional differentiators. Participants will learn which soft skills are gaining value, where they matter most, and how to develop them in ways that increase influence, credibility, and opportunity.
Rising Together: The Power of Wāhine Relationships
The right relationships can change the trajectory of a career. Women who advocate for one another, share access, offer honest guidance, and open doors create opportunities that extend far beyond traditional networking. This session explores the power of pilina and the ways meaningful relationships grow through trust, reciprocity, shared experience, and genuine care. Participants will reflect on the mentors, sponsors, peers, and collaborators who have shaped their journeys and consider their own kuleana to support, uplift, and make space for other wāhine. When one wāhine rises, the strength of the whole community rises with her.
Who’s Your AI BFF? Making AI Work for You
AI can be more than a tool you occasionally turn to for help. Used well, it can become part of your everyday workflow, helping you brainstorm ideas, draft and refine content, organize information, prepare for meetings, conduct research, and tackle repetitive tasks more efficiently. This session focuses on practical ways to make AI useful in your actual workday. Participants will explore how to identify the right tools for different needs, ask better questions, build smarter workflows, and use AI responsibly while keeping human judgment at the center.
Reserve Your Spot Today
Mahalo to our Sponsors
Exclusive Banking Sponsor – American Savings Bank
Diamond Sponsor – Kaiser Permanente
Lounge Sponsor – The Systemcenter

