Female CEOs share testimonies, leadership principles for world-changers

Thursday afternoon’s sessions of Liberty University’s Networking the Nations CEO Summit included two panels on women in business featuring national leaders in the business, technology, and political worlds.

This is the second year for the summit, which is hosted by the School of Business. From Wednesday to Friday, Liberty welcomed over 630 CEOs, political figures, athletes, and world-class faith leaders to campus with the goal of uniting industry minds from around the globe in promoting faith, friendship, and Judeo-Christian business principles.

Former U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn., 2007-15), dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University, moderated a panel on “Courageous Women Changing History.” Panelists were Liberty Board of Trustees member and alumna Penny Nance (’88), president and CEO of Concerned Women for America; Carrie Sheffield, senior policy analyst for the Independent Women’s Forum; Michelle Robinson, CEO of Shine like a BOSS; and Rebecca Contreras, president and CEO of the AvantGarde. Topics centered on the challenges the women have overcome to gain influence in their respective spheres and careers and how suffering has produced perseverance, character, and hope in their lives.

“As difficult as suffering is, there is so much beauty that comes out of it, beauty for ashes,” Bachmann said, noting that courage through suffering often produces a bountiful harvest of righteousness.

“A life surrendered to God is way more exciting than anything you can ever conjure up for yourself, so seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you; be courageous, ”added Nance, who leads an organization that has more than half a million members nationwide promoting Christian values and morals within their communities, plus over 150 collegiate chapters of Young Women For America, including one at Liberty.

Contreras, who described herself as an “ex-drug addict, high school dropout, poverty-stricken Latina from the border of El Paso that God found in the gutter many decades ago and rescued me,” landed her first job through a welfare work initiative under Texas Gov. Ann Richards before going on to serve in the governor’s office and White House as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Associate Director of Presidential Personnel, where she increased diversity and inclusion in the recruitment and hiring of thousands of federal government employees.

“Jesus was my game changer,” she said, citing Jeremiah 29:11. “God found me at age 19 and He said, ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’ I was in charge of about 1,200 positions in the first term of the Bush administration, hired the right people, put them in the right seats on the right bus for the right mission. I started (AvantGarde, a human capital consulting firm) 11 years ago from the ground up, and I am now so honored to be a part of the fastest-growing demographic of women entrepreneurs here in America.”

Robinson is a business entrepreneur, restauranteur, author, and speaker who has worked as a leading business consultant for George Barna, John Maxwell’s INJOY, American ssociation of Christian Counselors, Extraordinary Women, and Family Restoration. She said her life has been a series of assignments that she wouldn’t have had the confidence to complete without God’s guidance.

“It’s really not about relying on ourselves,” she said. “It’s about relying on His promises that He’s given us and walking in the things He’s called us to do. Saying ‘yes’ to those assignments is really all we have to do. He takes us on a journey, He shows us the steps, He guides us, He leads us, and for me today in Shine Like A BOSS, everything that we’re doing is ‘Building Others,’ ‘Sowing’ into other people, and ‘Serving.’”

Sheffield, founder of Bold TV, a digital media network featuring newsmakers across politics, business and lifestyle news who has served as a White House correspondent for Just the News and as a reporter for The Hill and Politico, was raised in an abusive family led by a false prophet with Mormon roots.

“God got me out of it,” she said, noting that she was inspired by Tim Keller’s book “Counterfeit Gods” which led to her conversion to Christianity. “My book is going to be about the failures and all of the things that I am ashamed of. Nothing is wasted in your life. It’s your choice of what you do with it. You are not a victim of your circumstances; you are a product of your choices.”

“Part of the human condition is suffering because we live in a broken, fallen world,” Nance added. “Unfortunately, in today’s society and our culture, there are a lot of people that make money off of people staying a victim. We are not victims; we are victors because of God’s power.”

She shared the story of Elisabeth Elliot, who in the 1950s evangelized the very tribe in Ecuador that killed her missionary husband, Jim.

When Elliot was asked about her actions, even during the women’s rights movement, Nance said her response was pertinent to the way today’s entrepreneurial women should see their opportunities.

“Her words were so spot-on for us today,” she said, quoting Elliot: “’The fact that I am a woman doesn’t make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman,’ and I am so grateful to be here with different kind of women.”

Robinson moderated a second panel, “Leadership Through the Eyes of Women CEOs,” which included Contreras; Janet Chihocky, founder and CEO of Janson Communications; Stacey Schieffelin, co-founder of Women’s Leadership Live and former CEO of CBF Beauty; Doris Gomez, Dean of the School of Business at Regent University; and Obii Pax-Harry, author and founder of the Rebuilding Lives Project.

Robinson also moderated separate women’s networking and workshops during the summit, accompanied by Contreras; Annie Lois Johnson, founder and CEO of United Security Financial; Sherrie Clark, Vice President of Publishing for BOSS Media; Kelly Gore, Business Coach and Executive for Q Science; Stephanie Frederic, President of Ward Holdings Media & Entertainment; Rick Fessler, CEO of VIDL; Bill Ryan, CEO of Arté Cucina; and Skylab President David Schieffelin.

For more news from the summit, go to Liberty.edu/News.