Joint Women's Leadership Symposium (JWLS) - Sea Services Leadership Association

Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium (JWLS)

Join us at JWLS 2023 June 29-30 and the Career and Transitioning Seminar July 1 in San Diego! Stay tuned here for more info.

Coming Soon: JWLS 2023!

About JWLS

The Joint Women's Leadership Symposium (JWLS) is open to Active, Reserve and Retired Military service members from all service branches, DoD Civilians, the National Guard, NOAA and our international allies.
The event is hosted by the Sea Services Leadership Association (SSLA), the only non-profit dedicated to the advancement of women in the sea services, but it is supported by all U.S. uniformed services as it has a consistently positive history of informing policy, inspiring action, and affecting retention!
JWLS traditionally rotates between fleet concentration areas and has been held in Washington D.C., Norfolk, VA and San Diego, CA over past years.
JWLS attendance ranges in size from 900-1500 attendees dependent on the hosting location and regularly has representatives from various allied countries, including Canada, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, South Korea, and more in attendance.
JWLS's robust agenda of speakers, panels and leadership interactions fosters connections and promotes mentorship for leaders at all levels.
SSLA Joint Women's Leadership Symposium is the largest gathering of military women in the nation and is the premier professional development conference for women in the uniformed services and DoD.

Stronger by Helping Each Other

The theme of SSLA JWLS 2022 was ‘Stronger by Helping Each Other.’ Learning how to be a positive force for our teammates is vital, and when we commit to helping each other, we improve and strengthen our organizations while growing and developing ourselves. JWLS 2022 marked 33 years of gatherings, connecting leaders so we can be stronger, together!

JWLS Impact

In 2022, many JWLS attendees reflected that the symposium was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

The best part of JWLS was hearing women from each service express concerns, show real raw emotions, REAL and TRUE EMPOWERMENT from up and down the ranks. I wished so much for all of my sisters-in-arms that were not able to attend, that they could have been there to experience that."

JWLS 2022 Attendee