Listen, I’ve been to my fair share of political conferences. I just have to say: the aura (empowerment, not victimhood), branding (including pink heart-shaped straws and bubbles floating in the air?!), message (be YOURSELF, be graceful, be educated, and be IMPACTFUL), and impact (mass inspiration of over 2,500 young women) of Turning Point’s 2021 Young Women’s Leadership Summit was top notch.

In our little bubble of conservative politics, I know it looks like conservatism is very clearly full of great young women who deeply value capitalism and classical liberalism BUT, we have to remind ourselves that we ARE still in a bubble… In reality, most young women are likely to align with the Left.

That’s why what YWLS embodied is so special. The crowd was not all the same: it was diverse. And no, I don’t just mean in identity. I mean diverse in background, passions, core areas of focused issues, and goals in life! We do NOT fit in a box, and we shouldn’t strive to. YWLS brought conservative women who haven’t had a strong community before TOGETHER for probably the first time ever (Congrats and kudos, Alex Clark)! I wish when I was a student I had this type of event to attend! I guess I’ll settle for getting to go as a member of Turning Point’s contributor team… it’s just as fun!

The sense of community and the messages from the speakers were what stood out to me the most. The speakers did not tell us we are victims and did not tell us we are oppressed. They certainly didn’t tell us we had to sacrifice family and children for some false sense of success or achievement, which is apparently found in the corporate 9-5 lifestyle that women’s pop culture magazines love to push on us. Instead, they told us to embrace womanhood, be graceful as we communicate to others, work on our passions and never sacrifice our dignity or values to please others.

I loved getting to be on the contributor’s panel with the rest of the girls: Alex Clark, Isabel Brown, Jordan Rache, Erin Elmore and Kendall Jones.

Even greater was getting to moderate a panel with two wonderful role models for us all: Rep. Diana Harshbarger and Rep. Beth Van Duyne. They were POWERHOUSES!

Overall, I highly suggest going to the next YWLS, and to all of the girls that I got to meet in the 2021 event, it was an absolute pleasure. You all inspire me!

Why do I say this was the best event of the year SO FAR? That’s because we have a little event called Student Action Summit in Tampa next month that could give this a run for its money. Hope to see you there!