Women in Leadership Keynote Speaker

She built and sold a company after 17 years. That story is her credential.

Shama built and led Zen Media for 17 years before selling the company. She brings that operating perspective to conversations about leadership, technology change, and entrepreneurship.

Her work spans business, education, and publishing.

Shama is a 2026 TIME100 Creators Leaders honoree and Professor of Practice at Link School of Business. She is the author of The Applied AI Business Playbook, Momentum, and The Zen of Social Media Marketing.

She advises leaders at major organizations.

Shama advises leaders at Microsoft, Adobe, Salesforce, and JPMorgan Chase and has delivered keynotes for EMAAR and SEMA. That work informs her perspective on leadership and technology change.

Her Strategic Urgency framework was built from her own high-stakes decisions.

For women leaders, timing can carry added weight when access to opportunity, sponsorship, and organizational support is uneven. Shama's framework offers a concrete system for reading those moments and acting with conviction.

Career decisions often depend on timing, not just whether to act. Shama's Strategic Urgency framework helps women leaders read signals, distinguish opportunity from distraction, and act without overreacting to noise. Grounded in her experience making high-stakes decisions as a founder, the keynote is designed for women's leadership conferences, corporate women's initiatives, and senior women's forums.

There are things you can only learn by running something. How to make resource allocation decisions with incomplete information. How to hold a team together during a crisis. How to stay strategic when the operational pressure is relentless. How to know when to hold a position and when to pivot. Shama shares the specific leadership lessons from 17 years as a founder and CEO, filtered through the lens of what is actually useful for women in senior leadership roles inside large organizations and for women building their own companies. Concrete, honest, and directly applicable. Not a biography talk. A leadership framework talk that happens to be grounded in real biographical experience.

External visibility can strengthen recognition, credibility, and negotiating leverage for women leaders. Shama shows audiences how to build it through thought leadership, speaking, publishing, and a strategic social presence.

AI can lower some traditional barriers while creating new risks. Shama helps women leaders identify where their judgment, relationships, and strategic skills can create advantage during the transition.

Women in Leadership Conferences

Women’s leadership events that connect founder experience with practical frameworks for senior audiences.

Corporate Women's Initiatives

Internal programs for women leaders. Shama’s team can tailor the keynote to the industry, organizational culture, and career stage of the audience.

Professional Association Women's Tracks

The women's track at major industry association conferences — financial services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. Shama adapts the framework and examples to the specific industry's dynamics for women leaders.

ERG Keynotes

Employee Resource Group events for women’s networks, with frameworks for visibility, positioning, and career timing.

University Women in Business Events

Business school and university events that connect founder experience with practical leadership tools.

PE and Finance Women's Forums

Women's forums at private equity firms, investment banks, and financial services organizations where the audience includes partners, managing directors, and senior women navigating specific advancement dynamics in male-dominated industries.

What makes Shama Hyder's perspective on women in leadership unique?

Shama built and led Zen Media for 17 years before selling the company. Her perspective comes from the decisions involved in building, leading, and exiting a business. She is a 2026 TIME100 Creators Leaders honoree.

What is the tone of Shama's women in leadership keynote?

Motivating and real, Shama is direct, concrete, and framework-driven. She gives women leaders decision-making frameworks and practical tools they can use immediately, while addressing challenges that often go unspoken in senior leadership.

Are Shama's women in leadership keynotes suitable for mixed-gender audiences?

Mixed-gender audiences can use the same frameworks to support women's advancement as a business priority.

Can Shama customize her keynote for our specific organization or industry?

Shama’s team can tailor a keynote to the organization, industry, audience, and event goals. A pre-event briefing can help identify relevant examples and framework applications.

Is Shama a fit for ERG keynote events for women?

Shama offers women’s leadership keynotes for corporate ERG and leadership audiences, with frameworks for visibility, positioning, and career timing.

Is Shama a fit for women’s leadership events?

Yes. Shama speaks at women's leadership conferences, corporate women's initiatives, ERG events, and professional association programs. Her keynotes are framework-driven, covering Strategic Urgency, visibility as a leadership strategy, and founder decision-making rather than generic empowerment content.

How do we check availability for a women in leadership event?

For a current keynote proposal, share the event date, audience, location, format, and goals through Shama's availability form.

What is the booking process?

Submit an inquiry at shamahyder.com/check-availability or email team@shamahyder.com with your event date, location, audience size, and format requirements. Her team can confirm availability and explain next steps.

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Book Shama for Your Women in Leadership Event

Contact the team to discuss availability and possible customization for the audience, format, location, and event goals.

Or email team@shamahyder.com