2026
WIRexec Leadership Summit Agenda

May 18-21, 2026
Westlake Village Inn | Westlake Village, CA

Thank you to this year's Summit Sponsors!

2025 WIRexec Leadership Summit Agenda

MONday, MAY 18th

7-9 PM | Kickoff Reception

Want to sponsor our kickoff welcome reception? Email michelle@womeninresearch.org!

TUESday, may 19th

7-8 AM | (Optional) Outdoor Ramble
7:30-9 AM | Breakfast
9-9:15 AM | Kickoff with Kristin Luck, "10 Year Recap"
9:15-10:30 | Fireside Chat with TBA
.
10:30-11 AM | Networking Break
11-12:30 PM | Speaker TBA
12:30-2 PM | Lunch & Break
2-3 PM | Lifestage Roundtable Discussions
3-3:30 PM | PM Snack Break
3:30-4:30 PM | Lifestage Roundtables Cont.
4:30-6 PM | Break
6-7 PM | Group Activity TBA
7-8:30 PM | Group Dinner

WEDNEsDAY, may 20th

7-8 AM | (Optional) Group Yoga with Tiana Garrison
7:30-9 AM | Breakfast
9-9:15 AM | Kick-off with Kristin
9:15-10:45 AM | "The Human Side of AI" with Anese Cavanaugh
This keynote/executive session is focused on the human advantage of presence, leadership, and vitality in the age of AI and how important it is that we lean into our humanness to continue to build innovation, collaboration, psychological safety, and healthy organizations and leadership when the world is becoming faster, noisier, more "efficient," and less connected.
Anese Cavanaugh
Session Speaker:

Anese Cavanaugh

Author and CEO, Active Choices, Inc.

+ Full Bio

Anese Cavanaugh is the CEO of Active Choices, Inc., founder of the IEP Method® (Intentional Energetic Presence®), and creator of the Positive Energy Workplace Initiative®. She is the author of the books CONTAGIOUS CULTURE: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization That Thrives (McGraw-Hill, 2015), CONTAGIOUS YOU: Unlock Your Power to Influence, Lead, and Create the Impact You Want (McGraw-Hill, 2019), and THE LEADER YOU WILL BE: An Invitation (a leadership storybook). For more than two decades, she has worked with CEOs, senior executives, and high-performing teams to develop more effective, energized, and sustainable leadership. As a business leader, strategic advisor, and keynote speaker, she is devoted to helping leaders show up with greater intention, presence, and accountability — and, through them, creating positively contagious workplace cultures where people can do their best work.

10:45-11 AM | Networking Break
11-12:30 PM | "The Hidden Resilience Costs of Yes - a People Pleasers Guide to Getting Comfortable with No or Not Yet" with James Pickles
An interactive session combining lived experience story telling, a personal reflective exercise and group discussion so we can step back and consider which of our successful habits are sustainable, be more intentional on how we split our focus across work, relationships and self to nurture our resilience, collectively.

Together we'll look at how our individual and collective resilience level can be influenced by to who, how and when we're saying yes. How we can give fewer better ones to benefit our clients, our team, our families and ourselves while still being a supportive team player.

Resilience is a team game so let's learn how to play it better...
James Pickles
Session Speaker:

James Pickles

+ Full Bio

James Pickles is a Speaker, Coach and facilitator that helps high performers stay that way, sustainably. Since 2020, he has have delivered over 50 talks and workshops to a combined audience of over 3500 people from various sectors and industries, including M&S, Mintel, GSK, Watch Me Think, and Smart Pensions. He also provide personal coaching and mentoring to private clients who want to improve their performance, communication, and resilience. His sessions are candid, impactful, and have tangible, practical application. His clients often report immediate personal and financial benefits, such as averted resignations, increased retention, and better collaboration.

With over 20 years of high performance, high expectation sales and management experience in market research, he knows the challenges and pressures of working in relentless results-driven environments. He's walked many miles in your shoes, leaned the hard way, and now helps others tread an easier path.

12:30-2 PM | Lunch & Break
2-3 PM | "Community as Catalyst: Pt 1" with Brin Moore & Polly Speros
Embark on a transformative journey of goal-setting and growth and discover the dynamic synergy that community support brings to your personal and professional aspirations. This session has been curated specifically for the WIRexec Summit to address the unique needs of women in research. Through interactive discussions you'll leverage the collective energy of the group to craft actionable goals, foster accountability and ensure lasting positive change in your life.
Brin Moore
Session Speaker:

Brin Moore

Partner, Trusted Talent

+ Full Bio

Brin Moore is a Partner at Trusted Talent, a firm specializing in helping Market Research firms find the right talent for the right jobs. An industry leading executive, Brin has over 20 years of diversified expertise in building, leading and mentoring world-class sales, business development, product and marketing organizations in the Market Research Industry. Brin started in quantitative & qualitative research at companies such as IRI and Greenfield Online and has experience in both custom and syndicated research. With a move to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early days of online, was a member of the founding management team at Greenfield Online, Brin has stayed at the forefront of emerging technologies for market research and consumer insights and has had experience with online sample, mobile research, video and data visualization, among other

Brin has been responsible for building new products, growing international markets, full P/L management, brand marketing, and ROI. Demonstrated leadership in partnering with senior teams, transforming margin challenges into sustainable, high yield profit centers and on strategic initiatives focused on increasing market share, profitability, and shareholder value. The key to her success has been building and mentoring the right team(s) for the business.

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3-3:30 PM | PM Snack Break
2-3 PM | "Community as Catalyst: Pt 2" with Brin Moore & Polly Speros
Embark on a transformative journey of goal-setting and growth and discover the dynamic synergy that community support brings to your personal and professional aspirations. This session has been curated specifically for the WIRexec Summit to address the unique needs of women in research. Through interactive discussions you'll leverage the collective energy of the group to craft actionable goals, foster accountability and ensure lasting positive change in your life.
Brin Moore
Session Speaker:

Brin Moore

Partner, Trusted Talent

+ Full Bio

Brin Moore is a Partner at Trusted Talent, a firm specializing in helping Market Research firms find the right talent for the right jobs. An industry leading executive, Brin has over 20 years of diversified expertise in building, leading and mentoring world-class sales, business development, product and marketing organizations in the Market Research Industry. Brin started in quantitative & qualitative research at companies such as IRI and Greenfield Online and has experience in both custom and syndicated research. With a move to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early days of online, was a member of the founding management team at Greenfield Online, Brin has stayed at the forefront of emerging technologies for market research and consumer insights and has had experience with online sample, mobile research, video and data visualization, among other

Brin has been responsible for building new products, growing international markets, full P/L management, brand marketing, and ROI. Demonstrated leadership in partnering with senior teams, transforming margin challenges into sustainable, high yield profit centers and on strategic initiatives focused on increasing market share, profitability, and shareholder value. The key to her success has been building and mentoring the right team(s) for the business.

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5-7 PM | Free Time
7-9 PM | Final Celebratory Dinner

THURSDAY, may 21ST

9-11 AM | [OPTIONAL] Breakfast Jam Session with Kristin Luck
Back by popular demand — round out the Summit with an intimate jam session led by WIRe Founder Kristin Luck.

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