The Women's Conference (formerly the California Governor & First Lady's Conference on Women) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan US organization and annual forum for women. The event first began in 1986 as a California government initiative for working professionals and women business owners. Since 2004, The Women's Conference has become a large event at which people such as the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Jane Fonda, Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks, Sarah, Duchess of York, Tim Russert, Deepak Chopra, Tom Brokaw, Queen Rania of Jordan, Maureen Dowd, Sandra Day O'Connor, Thomas Friedman, Anna Quindlen, and Billie Jean King have spoken. Restructured by Shriver in 2010, The Women's Conference reportedly became the "largest meeting of women in the country" and a celebration of "lives and lessons". Now known as the California Women's Conference, its main stage presentations and seminar sessions have addressed personal topics such as work-life balance, service and volunteerism, healthy lifestyles, spirituality and families, professional issues such as professional development, financial planning, entrepreneurialism and communications, as well as social issues like women's maternal health, global poverty, climate change and emergency preparedness. The conference has been located at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California, since 1993, usually running in the fall. Every year, substantial portions of the event are made available free through a live streaming webcast at The Women's Conference's web site. History The California Women's conference first began in 1985 when the alarming failure rate of women-owned businesses became a recognized statewide concern. In an effort to help women business owners and promote available government resources, then-Governor George Deukmejian took action to create a conference focused on helping women gain access to financial, professional, and personal support. The Governor selected his hometown of Long Beach to host the first conference on September 23–24, 1985. Over 2,000 members attended. After its inauguration, Gloria Deukmejian soon assumed responsibility for the conference, which became known as the California Governor and First Lady's Conference. Since then, the Governor of California and his wife, the California First Lady, have traditionally played a key role in the support and promotion of the highly acclaimed event. In 1989, the conference was established as a nonprofit public interest organization with a bi-partisan Board of Directors—an organizational move meant to ensure that changes in the Governor's Mansion would not affect the continuity of the conference. With each