Women's Collective
3.00 Credits
Member Price $199.00
Non-Member Price $249.00
Overview
Step into a new kind of professional experience at the VSCPA Women’s Collective — a half-day, in-person event designed to energize, connect and empower women in the accounting profession.
This isn’t your typical sit-and-listen conference. The Women’s Collective is built to be interactive, engaging and genuinely impactful. You’ll hear from dynamic speakers, participate in meaningful conversations and connect with peers who understand your challenges and ambitions.
Walk away with more than just ideas — gain practical insights, expanded connections and renewed confidence to grow your career on your terms. Whether you’re looking to strengthen your network, share experiences or simply recharge alongside other driven women, this feel-good event delivers both inspiration and action.
Designed For
Women in accounting and finance.
Objectives
To provide women in accounting with the tools to elevate their leadership skills, expand their professional networks and fuel their career growth.
August 26, 2026
General Session
- Welcome & Connect
Kick off the afternoon by meeting your table, creating your name tag and sharing introductions before participating in a collaborative intention-setting activity that will inspire the conversations ahead.
This session is available to registrants only.
General Session
- 1. Speak With Authority: Authentic Voice & Executive Presence
Michelle Mercurio, Michelle Mercurio, LLC
Michelle Mercurio
Michelle Mercurio is a catalyst for surfacing what matters most. Through strategic coaching, personal branding, organizational storytelling, and facilitated experiences, Michelle helps clients return to who they really are under the conditioning and expectations that keep them stuck so they can make meaningful progress. Whether she’s leading a corporate session on visioning and values, coaching clients on living in alignment and using their voice, or creating magic through insightful tarot circles and reflective retreats, Michelle believes that we all could be a little more of who we really are and less of who the world expects us to be. When not working with clients, she spends time with family, traveling, or exploring her newest obsession: scuba diving. Find details about her work at michellemercurio.com and connect with Michelle on Instagram @michmerc or LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/michellemercurio.
The most powerful tool in your leadership arsenal isn't a spreadsheet — it's your voice. This interactive workshop focuses on reconnecting with your most credible, compelling leadership asset — who you actually are. Using the Voice Compass framework, you'll:
- Identify what makes your perspective distinct.
- Learn to show up with more authority in high-stakes moments.
- Leave with concrete tools to communicate with greater confidence and connection.
Credits: 1 - Personal Development
This session is available to registrants only.
General Session
- Bloom & Belong
Take time to relax with refreshments, create your own bouquet and write notes of encouragement for a local charity while connecting with fellow attendees in a casual setting.
This session is available to registrants only.
General Session
- 2. When the Ground Shifts: Finding Clarity, Courage & Choice in Career Transition
Friderike Butler, Optify
Friderike Butler
Friderike Butler, MCC, is an executive coach, leadership strategist, and Partner at Optify. She brings more than 20 years of experience helping leaders and organizations navigate change, strengthen leadership capacity, and create cultures where people and purpose can thrive. Her work blends executive coaching, leadership development, systems thinking, and a deeply human approach to growth.
Friderike also brings a personal understanding of career transition. She has reinvented herself across an intercontinental move, planned and unplanned career changes, and leadership roles that were both energizing and challenging. Those experiences shaped her belief that transition is not only something to get through. It can also become a powerful invitation to listen inward, rediscover what matters, and move forward with more honesty, courage, and choice.
Career transitions can be energizing, unsettling, chosen, unexpected or unwanted. Sometimes we pursue a new opportunity with excitement. Sometimes a role changes around us. Sometimes advancement stalls, an industry shifts, a layoff happens, or we begin to sense that what once helped us succeed may no longer be enough for where we are headed next.
For many women, these moments mean much more than practical questions about next steps. They can raise deeper questions about security, identity, confidence, visibility, purpose and values. Even desired change can feel disorienting when the ground beneath us starts to move.
In this interactive session, explore career transition as a moment of self-leadership — an invitation to pause, name what is shifting, reconnect with strengths and values, and make more intentional choices about what comes next. Through personal reflection, conversation with peers, and a practical decision-making framework, you'll leave with greater clarity, renewed courage and one next step you can act on.
The session blends honest reflection, peer conversation and practical experimentation. It is designed for women navigating career transition of any kind, whether they are stepping toward something new, responding to disruption or listening to the first signs that change may be calling.
Learning objectives:
- Recognize why career transitions of any kind can feel disorienting, even when they are chosen or desired.
- Reframe career transition as a self-leadership moment that can reveal strengths, values, priorities and new possibilities.
- Practice a simple reflection and conversation framework for moving from uncertainty toward greater clarity, courage and choice.
- Identify one intentional next step to support a current or future career transition.
Credits: 1 - Personal Development
This session is available to registrants only.
General Session
- Refresh & Reset
Grab a snack or refill your drink, finish any activities you may have missed and take a moment to recharge before the closing session.
This session is available to registrants only.
General Session
- 3. Building Influence Through Communication and Trust:The Missing Piece of Client Relationships, Collaboration and Leadership
Sandee Byrd, Sandee Byrd- Your Spirit Owl
Sandee Byrd
Sandee Byrd is a transformational coach, speaker, Corporate Wellness Facilitator, and host of the Emotional Elevator Podcast, dedicated to helping individuals rediscover their authentic selves and step into their personal power.
Through her work, Sandee guides people toward healing, forgiveness, emotional resilience, and self-empowerment, helping them move beyond limiting beliefs and reconnect with their inner strength.
Her journey is deeply personal.
Having overcome experiences of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and generational trauma, Sandee understands firsthand the courage it takes to rebuild your life and reclaim your voice. Today, she uses her story to help others break free from cycles of pain and step into lives of purpose, self-worth, and authenticity.
This interactive workshop uses the LEGO® Serious Play methodology to help participants explore communication, collaboration, problem-solving and strategic thinking in a hands-on environment. Through guided building challenges, participants create visual models that represent ideas, challenges and opportunities relevant to their professional roles. The process encourages deeper reflection, increased engagement and improved understanding of diverse perspectives while strengthening critical thinking and decision-making skills.
Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify communication barriers that impact team effectiveness and client relationships.
2. Apply creative problem-solving techniques to workplace challenges.
3. Recognize the value of diverse perspectives in decision-making and strategic planning.
4. Utilize visual thinking methods to improve collaboration and engagement.
5. Develop actionable strategies to enhance teamwork, leadership and organizational effectiveness.
Credits: 1 - Personal Development
This session is available to registrants only.
General Session
- Closing
Wrap up the afternoon with key takeaways, final reflections and inspiration to carry the connections and conversations beyond the event.
This session is available to registrants only.
Non-Member Price $249.00
Member Price $199.00