WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT TRAINING TRACK
Deep Dive Overview
The Women’s Empowerment Training Track is a dynamic, purpose-driven professional development experience designed specifically for women serving in community supervision roles. This track recognizes the unique challenges, responsibilities, and leadership potential of female professionals and provides a supportive space to strengthen confidence, clarify purpose, and expand influence—both personally and professionally.
Through interactive learning, reflection, and practical skill-building, participants will explore strategies to cultivate their professional brand, strengthen their financial confidence, and effectively use their voice and authority to claim—and thrive in—spaces of influence. The training encourages participants to identify their unique strengths, values, and experiences as assets that contribute to success and community impact.
Key focus areas include:
- Empowerment Through Building Your Own Brand: Identifying strengths, defining values, and intentionally shaping a professional identity that reflects authenticity, credibility, and leadership.
- Pathways to Financial Confidence: Developing foundational financial knowledge to support long-term stability, confidence, and informed decision-making.
- Owning Your Power: Telling the Truth, Taking Responsibility, and Creating Support for Sustainable Success: Learn how to tell the truth, take responsibility without self-blame, commit to value-driven choices, and intentionally create support to strengthen both personal fulfillment and professional effectiveness.
PRESENTATIONS
Empowerment Through Building Your Own Brand
This is an interactive and inspiring workshop designed for female attendees who want to clarify their leadership identity, recognize their unique value, and confidently communicate who they are. This session encourages women to move beyond comparison and self-doubt and instead intentionally shape a personal brand that markets their strengths, skills, and authentic style.
Participants will explore what “personal brand” truly means and how it can be a powerful tool for selling oneself, professional growth, influence, and advancement. Through guided reflection and practical discussion, attendees will identify their core strengths, translatable skills, values, and experiences—and learn how to align them into a clear and compelling narrative.
The workshop also provides actionable guidance to help women focus on what they do best, leverage their unique talents, and show up with confidence in professional spaces. Emphasis is placed on authenticity, self-awareness, and strategic visibility, empowering participants to lead with intention and purpose.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Define their individual leadership identity and understand its role in personal branding
- Identify their unique strengths, skills, and experiences that differentiate them as leaders
- Articulate a clear and authentic personal brand aligned with their values and goals
- Apply strategies to focus on and amplify strengths rather than perceived gaps
- Increase confidence in communicating their value, expertise, and leadership presence
Presenter: Ms. Alisha Shoates James
Senior Vice President, Aventiv Technologies
Alisha Shoates James is a proven leader at the intersection of government and business. She began her career in public service as a police officer, later serving as a federal probation officer and ultimately as Assistant Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Correction, where she led more than 1,200 staff overseeing 77,000 individuals statewide. These experiences grounded her in the complexities of public safety, reentry, and large-scale organizational change.
After leaving government, Alisha brought that same focus on innovation and accountability to the private sector. She launched and scaled multiple entrepreneurial ventures—including TenFour Clothing, a successful apparel line for women in law enforcement that culminated in a profitable exit, and QwickTouch Technologies, an early correctional technology startup. Today, she is Senior Vice President at Aventiv Technologies, where she oversees hundreds of millions of dollars in her book of business, drives national account management and sales strategy, and leads large-scale initiatives at the forefront of corrections technology and compliance.
Her work bridges the public and private spheres, combining deep operational expertise with entrepreneurial drive to deliver solutions that improve accountability, efficiency, and impact.
Whether leading teams in government, scaling startups, or guiding strategy for multi-million-dollar enterprises, Alisha has built a reputation as a transformative leader who thrives in complex environments and delivers measurable results.
Owning Your Power: Telling the Truth, Taking Responsibility, and Creating Support for Sustainable Success
Women are often expected to be capable, accommodating, and resilient—sometimes at the expense of their own well-being and aspirations. This interactive professional development session offers a confidential, female-only space for honest self-reflection and purposeful growth. Participants will explore how to tell the truth to themselves, taking responsibility without self-blame, committing to value-driven choices, and intentionally creating support can strengthen both personal fulfillment and professional effectiveness. Through guided reflection, small-group dialogue, and practical exercises, attendees will leave with clarity, renewed confidence, and actionable commitments they can carry forward.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Practice honest self-reflection without self-judgment
- Identify where they can reclaim responsibility and agency
- Clarify personal and professional commitments that align with their values
- Build intentional support systems that reduce burnout and isolation
Presenter: Ms. Delores Johnson
Project Coordinator, APPA
Delores Johnson is a graduate of DePaul University, having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a secondary education teaching certificate. Ms. Johnson also holds a master’s degree in curriculum development from DePaul University. Ms. Johnson served as the Director of Operations of a YMCA jobs training program – designed to provide women with job skills that helped them move from welfare to work.
After leaving the YMCA, Ms. Johnson joined the Cook County Adult Probation Department where she was the Director of Training responsible for planning, developing, and delivering trainings customized for all levels of staff. During her 27-year tenure, Ms. Johnson specialized in developing relevant, practical training delivery plans and curriculum for adult learners. Ms. Johnson was also the Executive Assistant to the Chief Probation Officer. In this role, Ms. Johnson was instrumental in developing policies, evaluating programs, and making recommendations to improve day-to-day operations.
Ms. Johnson currently serves as project coordinator for the American Probation and Parole Association.
Pathways to Financial Confidence
This session will provide practical financial literacy for those who want to feel more confident about everyday money decisions—no matter their career stage. Financial stress doesn’t clock out when you do, and with rising costs, family responsibilities, and retirement on the horizon, many professionals need a clear plan that fits real life. Through guided reflection, interactive polling, and real-world scenarios, participants will assess their current “money season,” identify what may be pulling their finances off track, and apply simple strategies to stabilize cash flow, strengthen savings, and make progress on debt. Officers and leaders are not expected to be financial experts, but they should have a personal money framework that supports their goals and protects their future.
By the end of the session, participants will have:
- identified at least one financial behavior to strengthen
- selected one action to complete within 30 days
- created a personal roadmap for building financial confidence—now and into retirement.
Presenter: Holly Reid, CPA
Holly Reid is an award-winning author, speaker, and Certified Financial Education Instructor® dedicated to helping her audiences manage their finances as responsible stewards. She is the founder of The Master Playbook™, a financial education and wellness company which has educated thousands of people through her book, Teach Your Child to Fish: Five Money Habits Every Child Should Master, Money Camps for Kids & Teens, and curated workshops for organizations who serve parents and college students using sound financial principles, practical tips, and her personal experiences.
As a personal finance advocate, Holly is on a mission to motivate, inspire, and help families break the cycle of paycheck to paycheck living and create a legacy worth leaving. Holly’s philosophy is grounded in the basic principles of living debt-free, saving for the future, and investing wisely. She believes each person has the power to create a healthy financial future and is equipped to meet people where they are on their financial journey.
Holly is a Certified Public Accountant and finance professional with over 15 years of experience. She has been recognized for her work to address the wealth disparity in her community and has been quoted in major publications including Forbes, CNBC Make It, Parent Circle, AARP, Go Banking Rate, and more. An Atlanta native, she enjoys peach cobbler, Motown Classics, and traveling with her husband.
Learn more about Holly Reid and the work she is doing to help close the financial literacy gap at www.TheMasterPlaybook.com.
PREMIER PLATINUM SPONSOR
SILVER SPONSOR
BRONZE SPONSORS
Contributing Sponsors
Focus on the 40 - Post-Event Survey | LifeSafer - Expo Hall Bingo | Noble Software - Expo Hall Bingo | Sentinel Offender Services - Expo Hall Bingo | SCRAM - Lanyards | Smart Start - Attendee Badges |
Also, special thanks goes to our Corporate Members!