This International Women's Day and Women's History Month, we are looking at the women who built the Triangle we work, lead, and live in today and asking honestly: how far have we really come? Not to be cynical, but rather being honest. Progress is real. And the next chapter is still being written. The Women Who Built the Floor We Stand On Every seat at every table that a woman occupies today exists because someone sat down there first - often uninvited, usually underestimated, always undeterred.In Raleigh's own history, that story goes back further than most people realize. Born into slavery in Raleigh in 1858, Anna Julia Cooper went on to earn a Ph.D. and write what is considered the first African American feminist publication. Her voice carried further than anyone around her was willing to admit through her writing, education, and her efforts as a founding member and corresponding secretary of the Colored Women’s League. She was doing STEM, and advocacy, before either word existed in its current form.In 1940, Annie Louise Wilkerson became the first female to complete an internship and residency at Rex Hospital, then went on to become Raleigh's first female OB-GYN specialist and played a defining role in establishing WakeMed. She did it in an era when women becoming doctors was considered, by much of the medical establishment, nearly impossible.At NC State, statistician Gertrude Cox founded the university's Experimental Statistics department in 1940-41, making it the first such department in the United States. She was instrumental in creating Research Triangle Park itself and became the first woman elected to the International Statistical Institute. The Triangle's identity as a research and innovation hub? She helped lay the groundwork.In civic life, Isabella Cannon became Raleigh’s first female mayor at age 73 in 1977, and in 2009, Bev Perdue became the first woman ever elected Governor of North Carolina. At the end of her term, Gov. Perdue recalled seeing a little girl at her inauguration wearing a sign that read: 'Wow, maybe I can be a girl governor too.' That is what firsts do. They don't just open a door; they let someone else see the door exists.​In our legislature, women have served at every level, often as the only woman in the room, shaping policy for a state that didn't always make their path easy. These women didn't have conferences to attend, networks ready to receive them, or pipelines designed to move them forward. They were the pipeline. They were the network. And because of them, the women who came after had something they never did: proof. | Firsts don't just open doors. They let someone else see the door exists. The Proof Is in the People Around Us Women's History Month is not just about the past. It's about honoring what's changed, what's been built, and what still needs work. ​Adrienne Cole leads the Greater Raleigh Chamber as President and CEO, overseeing the Triangle's largest business membership organization and leading economic development wins totaling over $7.7 billion and 26,000 jobs for Wake County. She has noted that in seven of her eight jobs after graduate school, she was the first woman to hold her role, helping us understand how recent this shift really is. Billie Redmond built Trademark Properties into one of the premier commercial real estate firms in the Triangle in an industry that, when she started, had essentially no women in it at all, let alone any leading firms. She did it while raising children, and she built something that outlasted the moment: the business is now in its second generation, with Amy Carroll – a force in her own right – now leading as President. ​Jes Averhart, Founder and CEO of Jes Co., is a fourth-generation entrepreneur, bestselling author, and one of the Triangle's most sought-after leadership coaches. She's worked with Google, Amazon, Fidelity, and Wells Fargo and she co-founded Black Wall Street Homecoming to close the funding gap for Black and Brown tech founders. She is a William Peace University trustee and deeply embedded in the civic fabric of this region. Her life's work is teaching people, especially women, how to reinvent themselves and keep moving forward. ​Kristen M. Hess, FAIA, founded HH Architecture in 2005 as a new mom, after being told architecture was a man's profession. She built it anyway, designing landmark projects across North Carolina and earning recognition as the state's Small Business Person of the Year. She was the first architect to receive the Marshall Memorial Fellowship and through it all, she has stayed deeply rooted in this community, serving as the Greater Raleigh Chamber Board Chair, on the Governor's Council on Historically Underutilized Businesses, and the Girl Scouts board, mentoring the next generation of women leaders at every turn. ​And look at the Raleigh City Council: for the first time in the city's history, it became majority female. This is a milestone that signals something deeper than symbolic progress; it signals a shift in who is trusted to make decisions about this community's future. Come Amplify Your Influence on March 17 ​Here is what every woman on this list has in common: she kept moving when the path was not clear.That is not a small thing. It is, in fact, the thing. The ability to adapt when conditions are uncertain, to make decisions under pressure without losing yourself, to build momentum that doesn't require permission, that is the skill that built this region and the skill this region still needs.This is why the message at the heart of our Women's Leadership Conference 2026 presented by PNC feels so true to this moment. Ali Ingersoll, globally recognized speaker, Ms. Wheelchair America, corporate consultant to Fortune 500 companies, and someone who has navigated uncertainty in ways most of us will never face, centers her work on exactly this: leading with grit and grace. Not pretending setbacks don't happen. Not waiting until the road clears. Moving forward anyway, strategically, purposefully, with your humanity intact.​That's what Women's History Month asks of us. Not just gratitude for how far we have come. But a commitment to making sure the women coming behind us have it better than we did, and that we keep building until that's true. | Women's History Month doesn't ask for gratitude. It asks for a commitment. On March 17, more than 1,000 executives, entrepreneurs, and emerging leaders will gather at the Raleigh Convention Center for Women's Leadership Conference 2026: Amplify Your Influence, the Triangle's most impactful convening for women and allies committed to expanding their reach and driving meaningful change, presented by PNC.Come for the keynote. Leave with tools you can apply immediately: how to stay calm, think clearly, and lead with influence when the stakes are real. Build connections that last. Walk out with strategies you can use, not just ideas you admire. Women's History Month is about honoring the women who came before us. This conference is about becoming one of the women someone else will honor someday. Join us! Register Today! ...read more read less