Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is coming to the Texas Conference for Women. Allison Shelley/Getty Images
It’s true. Speakers are starting to be announced for the 2017 Texas Conference for Women Nov. 2.
So far, the conference website has two women in it’s keynote speaker section: Actress Viola Davis and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
Actress Viola Davis received the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for “How to Get Away With Murder” in 2015. Mark Davis/Getty Images
Tickets go on sale today for $165, $1,650 for a table of 10 at txconferenceforwomen.org. On June 3, the prices will go up again.
The conference runs 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Austin Convention Center.
Why should we care about Davis and Sandberg?
Well, Davis is just awesome. She grew up poor in South Carolina and Rhode Island, and worked her way into a field where most people didn’t look like her. She’s is one of only nine actors to win a Tony and an Oscar for the same role: for her it was Rose Maxon in “Fences.” Plus she’s a mom, who’s doing what moms do: juggle career and family.
Sandberg told us all to not let down our gender and lean in to get the career opportunities we want in her 2013 book “Lean In.” It got women talking about their careers. Then her husband died unexpectedly in 2015. Sandberg returns to the bookshelves with her latest book “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy.” She’s changed Facebook’s bereavement policy to give 20 days instead of the typical three days. She’s got companies looking at their own policies and people considering what it means to pick the pieces back up after a loss.
RELATED: HEY FACEBOOK, IS 20 DAYS BEREAVEMENT ENOUGH?
And those are just the two big names. You’ll also find developmental psychologist Jennifer Mueller, purple heart recipient MJ Hegar, The Marketing Zen Group’s Shama Hyder, “I Know How She Does It, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast” author Laura Vanderkam, Extreme Living movement founder Sarah Robb O’Hagan, BlogHer Inc. CEO Lisa Stone and social media wiz and C.R.A.F.T. creator Jamie Dorobek.
