DMV Regional Event 2026
Women of the Water is partnering with the Women's Aquatic Network for a meeting in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area on March 28, 2026. This event will be held on the beautiful downtown waterfront in Annapolis, MD at the Hornor Maritime Center. The agenda will include fun and practical professional development activities, networking, a happy hour, film screening, and more! A draft agenda is below and will be updated as planning continues.
Tickets are now availabale! A limited number of discounted tickets will be available for students and current WAN members. WAN memberships will also be available for a special discounted price during registration. Lunch is included with the cost of registration.
All are welcome, but space will be limited to the first 75 participants. Questions about this event or interested in becoming a sponsor? Please email marcy.cockrell@gmail.com.
Event Agenda & Activities
The below agenda and activities will be updated as planning continues. All times and activities are subject to change and won't be finalized until closer to the event date.
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9 am -- Registration & Morning Refreshments
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9:30 am -- Opening Remarks & Keynote (Dr. Sandra Knight)
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10:30 am -- Professional Development Activity led by Sarah Beller from Realize Change (details below)
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Noon -- Lunch & Networking
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1:30 pm -- Facilitated Community Discussion
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3:30 pm -- Happy Hour & Film screening
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4:30 -- Wrap Up & Closing
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sandra Knight
Dr. Sandra Knight currently provides her expertise in disaster resilience, flood risk management, hydraulic engineering and marine transportation by serving on honorary advisory committees and through voluntary activities. As the past President of her own consulting company, WaterWonks LLC, she capitalized on 40 years of experiences including as a research engineer at the University of Maryland, a Senior Executive at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and as technical director for navigation research at the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
She serves as US Commissioner PIANC; Chair, Marine Board and member US Ocean Decade Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM); member of the White House Ocean Research Advisory Panel; Chair, PIANC Smart Rivers 2025 conference and advisor to the Women’s Aquatic Network. She is a registered professional engineer in Tennessee and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Memphis in Civil Engineering.
Professional development activities will be led by Sarah Beller, founder and coach at Realize Change. Read on to learn more.
Sarah Beller is a certified coach and facilitator who helps women and others connect with their inner compass, navigate their leadership journeys with purpose, and do their life's work to make a positive impact. Since founding her coaching practice Realize Change in 2018, Sarah has worked with over 300 clients on 6 continents in three main practice areas: career transitions, leadership growth, and venture development. Previously, Sarah devoted a decade of her career to building movements that speak out on pressing issues like the global refugee crisis. Her passion for music led Sarah to co-found SongRise, an acclaimed women’s social justice a cappella group.
When she's not coaching or facilitating, Sarah co-parents two energetic kids and moonlights as a singer-songwriter-activist in Washington, DC.
You can learn more about her work on her website and LinkedIn.
Envisioning Your Next Chapter:
With so much uncertainty in the world, in our sector, and in the job market overall, many folks are coming face to face with change in their professional lives - whether by choice or by necessity. During this interactive workshop, we'll untangle the ball of angst, reclaim our sense of agency, and engage our innate powers of imagination to explore what could be possible. What are you seeing for yourself in your next career chapter? How might you nourish yourself, recenter your work around your strengths, and contribute towards the sustainability of water, people, and planet? Come experience a simple yet powerful visioning practice to explore what calls you, and come away with a miniature vision board to take home with you.
