The DC Black MBA Women’s Symposium will bring women from across the Washington metropolitan region together for a day focused on leadership, civic influence, wellness, creativity, and wealth building.
Presented by the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, MastHERpiece: Designing a Life with Intention takes place Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. The daylong experience includes a hot breakfast, lunch, and nearly a dozen vendors.
Built around the belief that every masterpiece begins with a vision, this year’s symposium challenges women to think intentionally about the lives they are creating and the choices shaping their personal, professional, financial, and civic futures.
Accomplished leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, creatives, and community voices will come together for candid conversations, practical strategies, and meaningful connections designed to help women become the chief architects of their own lives.
“Women spend so much of their lives building—building careers, families, organizations, communities, and opportunities for others. MastHERpiece is an invitation for women to be just as intentional about what they are building for themselves,” said Dr. Carletta S. Hurt, President of the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Black MBA Association.
“We want every woman who joins us to leave thinking differently about what is possible and understanding that she has the power to design her next chapter. Your life does not simply happen to you. Through vision, courage, strategy, and intentional choices, you can help create the life and legacy you want.”
Redefining What Success Looks Like for Women
The DC Black MBA Women’s Symposium expands the traditional conversation around professional success by recognizing that women’s lives cannot always be separated into neat categories.
Career advancement intersects with financial security, mental wellness, creativity, civic engagement, and the ability to influence the communities where women live and work.
Programming at MastHERpiece will explore these intersections through five key areas: politics and civic leadership, leadership and professional development, mental health and wellness, creativity and the arts, and wealth building.
The Blueprint of Influence
Among the featured discussions is “The Blueprint of Influence,” a nonpartisan conversation exploring how women can strengthen their civic engagement, influence public discourse, and lead meaningful change within their communities and institutions.
The discussion reflects the symposium’s broader emphasis on helping women recognize their influence beyond their professional titles and understand how they can use their voices, networks, and leadership to create change.
Building the Framework
“Building the Framework” will focus on leadership and professional development, offering insights into intentionally developing leadership skills, navigating organizational dynamics, and preparing for executive-level opportunities.
For women thinking about their next professional chapter, the conversation will provide strategies for approaching career growth with greater clarity and intention.
Rest: Cultivating a Place of Peace
Mental and emotional wellness will also take center stage during “Rest: Cultivating a Place of Peace.”
The conversation will explore strategies women can use to protect their well-being while balancing demanding careers, families, leadership responsibilities, and personal goals.
By including wellness alongside conversations about leadership and wealth, the DC Black MBA Women’s Symposium emphasizes that sustainable success requires more than professional achievement alone.
Coloring Outside the Lines
The symposium will also create space for women whose creativity helps shape culture through “Coloring Outside the Lines,” a conversation celebrating creative expression, innovation, and the courage required to pursue paths that may fall outside traditional definitions of success.
Participants will be encouraged to consider creativity not simply as artistic expression, but also as a tool for innovation, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and designing lives that reflect who they truly are.
Building Wealth With Intention
Financial conversations throughout MastHERpiece will encourage women to think beyond income and consider how intentional financial decisions can create greater freedom, opportunity, and generational impact.
Wealth building is one of the core pillars of the DC Black MBA Women’s Symposium, reinforcing the organization’s commitment to helping women strengthen both their professional and economic futures.
Women Leaders Championing MastHERpiece
Supporting the symposium is a Host Committee of women committed to expanding opportunities for other women and strengthening the network of leaders throughout the Washington metropolitan area.
The Host Committee includes Kirsten Williams, Esq., of DC Water; LaTara Harris, CEO of Empower Prince George’s; Iris Drayton-Spann of Stanton Chase; Darlene Slaughter of WMATA; Denise Rolark Barnes of The Washington Informer; and Angelique Kelly-Lara of CINQCARE.
The committee will help champion the symposium and its mission while encouraging women across the region to participate in a day designed not simply to inspire, but to equip attendees to take action.
“MastHERpiece reflects what we have always wanted our Women’s Symposium to be—a place where women can learn from one another, build authentic relationships, and walk away with something they can put into practice,” Hurt said.
“Success looks different for every woman. Our goal is not to tell women what their masterpiece should look like. Our goal is to give them space, resources, and community to help them create it.”
Through conversations that connect leadership, wellness, civic engagement, creativity, and wealth, the DC Black MBA Women’s Symposium aims to give women the tools and community to intentionally design what comes next.
Event Information
MastHERpiece: Designing a Life with Intention
2026 Women’s Symposium
Saturday, August 22, 2026
9 a.m.–4 p.m.
College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center
3501 University Blvd. E.
Hyattsville, MD 20783
For event information and registration, visit www.dcblackmbaa.org.
About the Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Black MBA Association
The Washington, D.C. Chapter of the National Black MBA Association is committed to advancing educational, professional, entrepreneurial, and economic opportunities for its members and the greater Washington metropolitan community.
Through professional development, leadership programming, networking, community engagement, wealth-building initiatives, and strategic partnerships, the chapter works to develop and connect leaders while creating pathways to greater professional and economic advancement.
