Alexa Gagosz
Rhode Island-based reporter, The Boston Globe
Speakers and Honorees
We’re honored to welcome an extraordinary lineup of keynote speakers, thought leaders, and honorees for the 29th Annual Women’s Summit® at Bryant University. These distinguished changemakers will share powerful insights, lived experiences, and strategies for leadership, resilience, equity, and impact across careers and communities.
Our speakers represent diverse industries and perspectives — from visionary executives and innovative entrepreneurs to advocates for inclusion, wellness, and professional growth. Together, they’ll challenge us to think boldly, act with intention, and forge meaningful connections that elevate our collective journey.
Scroll below to discover this year’s confirmed speakers and award recipients, and get inspired to join us for a day of empowerment and transformation.
Featured Keynotes
Elin Hilderbrand
New York Times best-selling author, keynote speaker and cancer survivor
Elin Hilderbrand is a New York Times best-selling author, keynote speaker and cancer survivor.
After graduating from John Hopkins University, Elin taught English for a few years before working as a teaching-writing fellow at the University of Iowa, where she began work on her first book “The Beach Club.” During her very last workshop, she met her professor’s agent, who expressed interest in her writing. After reading her manuscript, he worked with Elin to get her first book published. The Beach Club received rave reviews, and was named People Magazine’s “Beach Book of the Week.” The Five-Star Weekend is her twenty-ninth novel.
After one successful book publication after another, Elin has gone on to write 29 novels, most of which are New York Times best-sellers. Her novels have all been set on and around Nantucket Island where she lives, and the stories in her books cover many topics, such as domestic abuse, tested friendships, health scares and more. One of her most recent novels, The Rumor has debuted on the hardcover list at #3, and The Summer of ’69 debuted on the New York Times best-seller list at #1. Her novels, The Identicals, is under option at Hulu and The Perfect Couple is under option at Fox.
In her novel, The Matchmaker, one of her characters is diagnosed with cancer out of the blue. While writing this novel, Elin spent a year trying to imagine what that would be like, and then it happened to her. In May of 2014, Elin’s life took a dark turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was stunned by the news, as she lived a very healthy lifestyle, and had no family history. After doctor’s appointments, and an MRI scan, it was revealed that she had 4 tumors in her right breast and one in her left. She was now looking at a double mastectomy with possible chemo and radiation. The date for her surgery was set right before her novel The Matchmaker, was scheduled for release. She decided she would publicly announce her diagnosis.
A piece Elin Hilderbrand wrote for the Huffington Post, caught the eye of the producers of CBS This Morning, and the day before her Mastectomy, she appeared on the show. The surgery was a success, and she continued on her book tour. After hearing many stories from other women battling cancer, it was then that she realized there were women sicker than she was, who were fighting the disease with strength and grace.
Elin speaks about overcoming life’s challenges, and is a symbol of strength and success. “I would take the cancer again –and why? Because it is only in facing that which threatens your very being that you learn what it means to be alive.” Elin Hilderbrand lives year-round on Nantucket, where she enjoys going to the beach, cooking for her young adult children, and occasionally dancing in the front row at the Chicken Box.
Barbara Papitto
Founder, Trustee of the Papitto Opportunity Connection
Barbara Papitto is the founder and a trustee of the Papitto Opportunity Connection, (POC) non-profit private foundation dedicated to listening and working together with non-profit organizations committed to serving communities most in need in Rhode Island to empower and create individual success stories by investing in education, job skills training, housing, healthcare and entrepreneurial ventures.
Barbara founded POC in December 2020 as a continuation of the longtime commitment she and her late-husband Ralph have made to creating educational opportunities and supporting children impacted by systemic injustice in Rhode Island. In 2008, Ralph and Barbara, founded a program to help inner-city children improve their reading skills and earn scholarship funds. The Read to Succeed program’s mission is to improve literacy for Providence underserved students by encouraging them to address their learning loss over the summer with the powerful incentive of a $1,000 college scholarship awarded to them each year for six years. Since it began, Read to Succeed has funded more than $2.2 million in scholarships.
Barbara received her BS in Accounting and her MBA from Bryant University. Over the last 40-years Barbara has given her time to organizations and causes where she believes she can make a difference. She is currently on the Board of Trustees of Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. She also serves on the Board of ReFocus, Inc., a non-profit human service agency which serves adults with differing physical and developmental needs and is a supporter of St. Mary Academy-Bay View. Barbara has also been active with St. Gabriel’s Call, an organization operated by the Diocese of Providence, that supports single mothers and their newborn children. Barbara’s prior involvements include serving on the Board of Trustees of Bryant University and as president of the former Nickerson Community Center in Providence.