Empowering Girls for Life, Inaugural Event Coming to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont

US Olympic Gold Medalist Jennie Finch

Bill Conroy knows a bit about empowering young ladies. Twenty years ago, he started the Beverly Bandits, a nationally recognized elite fast pitch softball team that has won numerous national championships and has sent more than 400 young women to Division 1 college scholarships.

Now he’s assembling an outstanding group of more than 30 women leaders that includes softball legend Jennie Finch, ESPN broadcasters Jessica Mendoza and Victoria Arlen, and talk show host Whitney Reynolds, to launch his new show, Empowering Girls for Life.

To be held August 10-12 2018 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Empowering Girls for Life is a multifaceted, multimedia event featuring female leaders in athletics, business, entertainment and education.  Half of the speakers are former national champions or Olympic gold medal winners.

The show will provide a venue for girls from 7 to 17 to meet and interact with high profile women with proven track records of success in their respective fields. Empowering Girls for Life will also help girls and their parents get a head start on important pre-college necessities such as ACT/SAT testing, financial aid opportunities and the college selection process.

All women under 18 attending will receive a gift bag that will include vouchers, gift cards and souvenirs.

Bill Conroy’s involvement in fast pitch softball was not planned, as he was “just looking to do something for the community” when he volunteered to coach boys youth baseball in Beverly in the 1990s.  "They also wanted to start a girl’s program, and since I was the only coach who did not have a son in the program, they told me the softball program was all mine."

Bill believes that he has learned a bit over the twenty years working with young women: “I think the most important thing is that girls need to feel good about themselves to play well, and for boys it is the opposite: they need to play well to feel good about themselves.”

“The purpose of the show is to reach out to young women and girls and to get the message out on motivating and empowering young girls to be the best that they can be.  I have an eleven year old daughter (who doesn't play softball) and I thought she'd be proud of her father starting this show.”

Corcoran is proud to partner with Bill and Empowering Girls for Life for exhibit sales and management services.