Keynote: Dwell
Carly Boerema and Christy Maier—Plaster
Join us in the opening talk to introduce our Summit theme of 2026: Dwell. Unpack Psalm 91 and what it means to rest well.
After Eighteen: Navigating Relationships with Your Parents
Bethany and Emma Widmer—Plaster
Whether you have a challenging relationship with your parents or are just trying to figure out the dynamic in this new phase of life, we have been there for both. This talk will offer tips, advice, and lessons we have learned navigating the changes in parental relationships as a young adult. Submit questions here!
The Next Right Thing: Career and Family as A Professional Woman
Emily Stack Davis—Searle
Life is often about doing the next right thing with the opportunities and challenges in front of you. This is especially true when balancing professional and family life! Join us for some advice and encouragement on what it can look like to do and love both!
Let's Be Friends (Unless you don't want to!)
Kaitlyn Zellner—Gillespie
Making and keeping friends in college can feel really challenging. How do you know if you are relying too much on your friends for support? How do you know if they are relying too much on you? This talk will discuss what healthy friendship, through good times and tough times, looks like and how to create healthy friendships that last. We will explore healthy community and dive into what dependence versus independence might look like.
Serving Christ in Community: Rhythms from A Ministry Gap Year in England
Grace Balkan—Hoynak
After spending a year serving at a Christian ministry center in England, here are some lessons and rhythms learned encountering Jesus amidst community at Lee Abbey Devon.
How to Drop the Handkerchief
Andrea Clark & Courtney Murnen—Plaster
You want to go out with that guy, but he has to ask you. Come learn how to let him know you are interested without appearing desperate. Submit questions here!
Real Women: Living Embodied Christian Womanhood
Elizabeth Schlueter—Searle
Come listen as Elizabeth contrasts philosopher Edith Stein's vision of fully developed, virtuous Christian womanhood with two opposing distortions which our culture encourages young women to emulate: One which seeks a self-serving autonomy, the other which encourages women to seek their identity only through needing and controlling others. These falsifications of true womanhood deny or distort the great gift of the female body, and instead emphasize the most problematic feminine tendencies. Using Stein's analysis and examples from personal experience and popular culture, I will try to show how the virtuous Christian woman can truly embrace female embodiment and bring her unique womanly gifts into EVERY vocational enterprise and profession, though especially into the primary vocations of marriage and motherhood.
Why We Create: Crafting Workshop
Olivia Rome and Hannah Walsh—Gillespie
What can dwelling with our creativity teach us about ourselves? How does making with our hands enrich our lives? Come slow down, spend some time in conversation, and learn to crochet or sew! Supplies provided.
Dwelling in Your Mission: An Honest Approach to Entrepreneurship
Caroline Greb—Hoynak
Through sharing tidbits of my life working as a professional artist and SAHM, we’ll explore the ins and outs of starting a business with a strong sense of your mission. In this talk, we’ll chat about the importance of honesty in entrepreneurship and the practice of creating from conviction rather than chasing trends or comparison—building a job you love that reflects your values with honesty, intention, and freedom.
Career Exploration in Your Early 20s
Rachel Eller, Rachel Marinko & Mary McGovern—Plaster
What do you want to do after college? A daunting question that we all know too well. Our career paths may not always be a straight line and that is okay! Join us as we discuss what it can look like to make your way in the professional world. Submit questions here!
Seek to Show Hospitality with Intention, Not Perfection
Stephanie Gordon—Searle
Learn about hospitality as an everyday practice guided by intention, not perfection.
Closing The Loop on Female Health: Hormones, Cycles & NFP
Dr. Nichole Ellis & Kathy Petersen FNP-C—Gillespie
Have you struggled to understand health specific to you as a young women? Come learn from healthcare professionals Dr. Nichole Ellis & Kathy Petersen FNP-C as they make sense of female health and wellness by teaching you the basics of hormone health and NFP. Submit questions here!
Created for Community: The Divine Gift of Friendship
Rachel Cuthbert—Hoynak
We were created to dwell in community. Join us as we talk about the seasons and theology of friendship.
Take Every Thought Captive: How to Steward Anxieties
Christa Green—Hoynak
Integrating biblical principles and evidence-based therapeutic practices through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to learn how to navigate your internal thought life.
The Day the Lord Has Made: Spiritual Rhythms Through Life’s Uncertainties
Mary Margaret Spiteri—Gillespie
Useful tips and ideas in order to maintain a spiritual life through life’s challenges. I will discuss ways to adapt our Spiritual Journey day by day, season by season as our schedules and family circumstances evolve. Most importantly: reflecting on God’s grace and taking each day anew.
Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To
Nichole Ellis, Christy Maier, & Kathy Petersen—Plaster
Join us for a Q&A to hear stories and advice about mistakes or silly choices our panelists have made and how to not take yourself too seriously. We are all doing life for the first time! Come ready to laugh, ask questions, and leave with some new insights of navigating dating, the professional world, friendships, etc. in your 20s.
A Fresh Look At Dating
Stephanie Maxwell—Searle
Dating: how to avoid pitfalls and develop healthy relationships
Questions You Don’t Know To Ask: Women’s Health In Your 20s
Caroline Strzesynski—Hoynak
This talk will be a Q&A of menstrual cycles, fertility, how to prepare for a women’s health visit, and features of normal vs. abnormal women’s health matters.
Deep Style: The Philosophy & Art of Dress
Mary Dell Strecker—Plaster
Look through a big picture lens looking at the art of personal style, developing taste, and honoring your human limitations.
The World Awaits: Self-Confidence, Self-Discovery, & Vocation
Anna Vincenzi—Searle
Facing the questions of life after college—marriage, children, career, or whether to work at all—can feel overwhelming, even paralyzing. How can you approach these decisions with confidence? Is self-confidence an innate trait that some possess and others lack? And is there a way to think about discerning your vocation that inspires hope rather than anxiety? This speaker argues that there is, and will share about experiences that convinced her of this. She will also suggest that the horizon of these choices extends to nothing less than the world itself.
Cicero On Friendship: What Modern Women Can Learn From the Ancients
Catherine Chasen—Gillespie
Featuring Cicero’s work On Friendship, this talk will delve into its insights on loyalty, honesty, and morality in friendships. The second half will include what Catherine thinks Cicero would say about modern issues in relationships, like texting, phone calls and social media.
How to Not Be A Man Hater
Jen Lutz, Hadiah Mabry, & Reagan Pierce—Plaster
Join us for a Q&A to hear stories and advice about how to not slip into the common and sometimes easy mindset of “I hate all men.” We noticed (and have surely participated in) a habit of bashing men for every wrong we experience. While we all do this out of good fun sometimes, there is enough true bitterness behind the sentiment of “man-hating” that we think it is worth addressing. Come ready to hear these women’s real life experiences about working through bitterness from past relationships, navigating friendships with men, and more!
The Hostess with the Mostest: Classic Hospitality In A Modern World
Bethany Widmer—Searle
Come learn more about the heart behind hosting and come away with intentional and budget-friendly ways to host gatherings that make guests feel welcomed.
Roots to Reality: Exploring the Connection Between Family & Self
Kaitlyn Zellner—Gillespie
This talk will discuss how our families impact who we are today and the relationships we choose to have in the future. Whether you come from a thriving, healthy family or one that struggles with dysfunction, this talk is for you! Let’s identify parts of your family’s legacy—which parts you want to continue and which parts to set down along your path.
Contemplating Career: Professionalism & Family in Traditionally Male-Dominated Fields
Caroline Koperski—Hoynak
This discussion will consider how having a career as a woman looks different than as a man, especially when contemplating traditionally male-dominated fields. Although society says that we as women should be striving for ever-increasing egalitarianism in our career paths, I will consider if this truly leads to our fulfillment. Double standards may exist for us in these fields, both at work and at home. I want to encourage creativity when discerning a career and describe my journey to becoming a full-time physician assistant, as well as a full-time wife and mother.
Horizons: Own Your Journey
Rebekah Bollen—Plaster
Join us in the opening talk to introduce our Summit theme of 2025: Horizons. Explore the world of opportunity around you and walk away with practical tips to make the most of your journey and step toward the horizon.