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2024 Spectrum Circle Awards...

About The Spectrum Circle

Founded in 2015, The Spectrum Circle is a community of women. It is a development platform for women to share their career and personal experiences to inform about their life journey. The goal of The Spectrum Circle is to help women achieve gender parity with men in their careers and expand the lens of what is possible. The Spectrum Circle uses unique experiences, events, training and workforce development to expose women to a variety of stories and diverse learned experiences from leaders in numerous industries and backgrounds. The Spectrum Circle was created to solve the challenges around gender inequity for women in the workplace.

The Spectrum Circle utilizes diverse members of the community to share their life stories, experiences, authentic conversations and backgrounds to change perceptions, inform others and inspire to follow their unique paths to success.

A plethora of women who are makers, entrepreneurs, researchers, educators, creatives, executives, leaders, disrupters, innovators, drivers and influencers in business or industry are featured at The Spectrum Circle programs.

The Spectrum Circle brand is loosely based and homage to an African American female superhero named Spectrum Spectrum (Marvel™) who uses the power of energy to change the world.

The Spectrum Circle community utilizes our events and experiences to search for mentors, job opportunities, career counseling, authentic stories, guidance, examples and assistance in understanding the roadmap of how to navigate their careers for optimal success and develop strategies to achieve personal goals and aspirations.

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2024 Spectrum Circle Awards - Tickets On Sale Now!

A limited number of early bird tickets are on sale for the 2024 Spectrum Circle Awards Luncheon. The luncheon will be held on Friday May 17, 2024 at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel in Washington DC.

Please join us for our largest event to date, from noon until 3:00 pm. We are honoring innovative women in politics, sports, technology, social justice, health, business, the arts and media. We look forward to seeing you there!

Purchase Tickets! | Learn More...

Engage. Belong. Listen.

Participate

Attend

You can attend The Spectrum Circle panel events on line via Google Hangout or in person at Google DC. Prior to an announced event we will update our social media sites and the website with a link for registration. Also make sure you have signed up to receive updates of upcoming panels, Google Hangouts and events. And make sure you follow us on social media.

Featured Industries

Each quarter, The Spectrum Circle will choose an industry to feature at the panel series. Topics will range based on industry and current national events. We love to hear from you on topics or questions that should be asked of our panelist. Planned industries for 2015-2016 include:

Politics and Policy
Technology
Healthcare
Entrepreneurship/Small Business
Creative Economy
Social Impact: Non-Profits
Venture Capitol/Private Equity
Corporate America/Executive Leadership
Entertainment, Sports and Media
Hospitality, Fashion and Tourism
Education

Feel free to suggest industries or speakers email We are happy to hear from you.

Refer a Speaker

We are always on the lookout for dynamic, innovative and talented women who want to share their authentic stories of how they use their superhero power’s to navigate their careers, life and home. If you are or know of such a woman please refer a speaker by emailing the following to:

Speakers Name
Bio
Organization/Company
Please add a few sentences on why your nomination is a Spectrum Circle woman.

Sponsors, Partners and Angels

We are thankful to each of our sponsors. Take a moment to learn about our sponsors and their products/services.

Accelerate with Google
RLJ Entertainment. UMC Urban Movie Channel.
Heart & Soul
Giants Of Africa
AT&T
Giant Foods
Greystone
Women’s Global Initiative
Blunt Group Strategies
TV One
The Spectrum Circle

Partner with Us

The Spectrum Circle is growing via grassroots and word of mouth and appeals to men and women of all ages in need of guidance, career advice, life skills, and networking opportunities. We need partners, sponsors and angels who believe in the vision to assist us with growth.

We welcome your company to join us in The Spectrum Circle movement. Companies can showcase their brand, products and services to our audience. To receive a copy of our sponsorship materials or to discuss a custom sponsorship package please email or call (202) 930-1760.

Discuss and Share

We love to hear from you! Please follow us on social media. Share with us interesting articles or information. Share your authentic story of how you navigate your life, career and use your superhero power to change the world.

About The Founder

Photo: Karen Alston, Founder of The Spectrum Circle
Photo: Karen Maria Alston

About The Founder

Karen Maria Alston is affectionately described as a waymaker. She is a cultural and lifestyle expert, dynamic entrepreneur and brand strategist. For over two decades, Karen has built a career working on impactful branding and marketing campaigns that touch the lives of millions of consumers.

An executive, marketer, brand manager, entrepreneur, strategist, storyteller, innovator, women’s advocate and thought leader, Karen Maria Alston is an award-winning proven expert. She is known on social media for her hashtag #beingkarenalston.

In her current role, Karen is the Chief Marketing Officer for Eagle Academy, a network of K-6, charter schools in Washington, DC and Columbus, Ohio. Karen is responsible for all communications, marketing, outreach and public affairs. Prior to her current role, Karen operated a boutique branding and marketing agency founded in 2002, Alston Marketing Group. In addition to her professional career, Karen is the CEO and Founder of the executive women’s professional development and gender parity platform, The Spectrum Circle.

Born as a 3rd generation entrepreneur, Karen knew early on in her career she would always have an entrepreneurial entity in addition to her corporate career and would follow in the footsteps of previous generations. In addition to her success as an entrepreneur, earlier in her career Karen enjoyed working in the technology and financial services industries in management positions at JP Morgan Chase, America Online and MBNA (Bank of America).

Sought after for her marketing, cultural, entrepreneurial and political knowledge, Karen is a frequent TV and media contributor and has been featured on several national news outlets including: The Today Show, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Fox News, BOLD TV, News One Now with Roland Martin and numerous other podcasts and radio interviews. Karen is an internationally acclaimed public speaker and commentator on a range of topics including strategic management, marketing, branding, authentic leadership, diversity, wellness, women’s empowerment, gender bias & inclusion and the glass ceiling.

Karen has received dozens of awards for her accomplishments in leadership, marketing, entrepreneurship, branding and wellness. Karen is a member of American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network and serves on several community and industry boards including American Marketing Association (2008-2018) and The Edgewood Brookland Family Support Collaborative (2012 – present).

Karen received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Howard University. Several post graduate executive education certificates including: Branding and Design from Harvard University, Non-Profit Management from Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, and two leadership programs at Harvard Business School. Karen is a 2022 graduate of the Goldman Sachs Black in Business program. Currently, Karen is enrolled in the Columbia Business School – Chief Marketing Officer Program with an anticipated Fall 2023 graduation date.

karenalston.com | linkedin.com/in/karenalston

"I want a world where a girl can be what she wants to be." - Anima Yusuf

The world needs that special gift that only you have. ~ Marie Forleo Marie Forleo Photo Credit: TheCopyCure.com
Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher. ~ Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey Photo Credit: Hollywood Reporter
You can be your own worst critic or your biggest supporter ~ Cameka Smith, BOSS Network Cameka Smith, BOSS Network Photo Credit: JonniaCondra.com
Take risks now... ~ Amy Poehler Amy Poehler Photo Credit: MStarz.com
A #GIRLBOSS is in charge of her own life... ~ Sophia Amoruso Sophia Amoruso Photo Credit: Styleblazer.com
Once you find something that everybody wants... ~ Christen Rochon Christen Rochon Photo Credit: MadameNoire.com
Tech-life balance is all about redistributing our attention to what matters most... ~ Randi Zuckerberg Randi Zuckerberg Photo Credit: Entrepreneur.com
Your heart will tell you where to go... ~ Carla Hall Carla Hall Photo Credit: Jet Mag
You have to believe in yourself when no one else does. ~ Serena Williams Serena Williams Photo Credit: SerenaWilliams.com
I've lived a life full of things I never thought I could achieve... ~ Sofia Vergara Sofia Vergara Photo Credit: Cosmo
Sometimes it takes a little tough love to remind women that we can be strong... ~ Barbara Corcoran Barbara Corcoran Photo Credit: Parade
We began our adventure with the idea that we could bring a product with integrity, style and relevance... ~ The McBride Sisters McBride Sisters Photo Credit: McBrideSisters.com
Write your own part. It is the only way I've gotten anywhere.. ~ Mindy Kaling Mindy Kaling Photo Credit: People.com
We must continue to trial blaze, we must continue to break glass ceilings... ~ Beverly Bond Beverly Bond Photo Credit: BET
Never be ashamed of what you feel... ~ Demi Lovato Demi Lovato Photo Credit: Cosmopolitan
Find something that works for you and be persistent... ~ Angela Benton Angela Benton Photo Credit: Angela Benton's Twitter
If you want something, go after it... ~ Mara Brock Akil Mara Brock Akil Photo Credit: Pinterest.com
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. ~ Maya Angelou Maya Angelou Photo Credit: Google Images

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Join us in DC for the 2024 Spectrum Circle Awards Luncheon for Innovative Women

The Spectrum Circle Awards Luncheon is the signature annual event for The Spectrum Circle which brings together a gathering of influential and innovative people from business, sports, technology, the arts, media, policy, social justice, health, government, finance and other fields.

In a stylish venue, in Washington, DC, six women will receive The Spectrum Circle Award for Innovation.

Over 200 attendees will convene for the awards luncheon to celebrate the achievements of these women and be inspired by words of inspiration from our awardees.

Women featured at The Spectrum Circle utilize their life stories, experiences, authentic conversations and backgrounds to change perceptions, inform others and inspire women to follow their unique paths to success. A plethora of women who are makers, researchers, educators, creatives, executives, leaders, innovators, drivers and influencers in business or industry are featured at The Spectrum Circle programs. The Spectrum Circle brand is loosely based and homage to an African American female superhero named Spectrum (Marvel) who uses the power of energy to change the world.

Please join us for the Spectrum Circle Awards luncheon, our largest event to date, in Washington, DC from noon until 3:00 pm. We are honoring innovative women in politics, sports, technology, social justice, health, business, the arts and media.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday May 17, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Purchase Tickets!

Posted: April 2, 2024