Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day! Have You Taken The StrongMoms® Pledge Yet? {#Photos and recap of StrongMoms® Empowerment Summit in New York City} #strongmomsempower

StrongMoms Empower Summit NYC The MOMS empowerment StrongMoms Pledge
Display Signage at StrongMoms Empowerment Summit in New York City


When a survey leads to a summit you have to figure it must be pretty powerful! The National Motherhood Decisions Survey which was conducted by Mom Central and Similac found that 95% of moms feel negatively judged on their parenting decisions. The online survey included responses from over 1,100 moms with at least one child under 5 years of age and found that moms feel most judged on decisions related to parenting approaches, work, as well as infant feeding. Surprisingly, moms that completed this survey felt equally judged for being 'too strict' and equally judged for 'spoiling' their kids! (Sadly, this judgment goes beyond moms and mom bloggers, it's occurs with all genres/styles!)

#StrongMomsEmpower, StrongMoms Empowerment Summit, StrongMoms Empower, The MOMS, Empowerment, Events, NYC, New York City
Display Signage at StrongMoms Empowerment Summit in New York City


The survey results and the issue of 'mom-judging' was the focus of the May 7th, 2013 StrongMoms® Empowerment Summit in New York City, hosted by The MOMS and presenting Sponsor Similac. The goal of the Summit was to heighten awareness of the issue and to empower moms by creating a more supportive and less judgmental environment, both on and offline. A panel of influential moms shared stories that included how they created their support systems and how they empower themselves and other daily.

“Similac created StrongMoms Empower to encourage moms to support each other and build confidence in their decisions.” ~ Rhonda Hoffman, Division Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Pediatric Nutrition

speakers and panelists display signage at strongmoms empowerment summit in New York City, StrongMoms Pledge, The MOMS, Empowerment
Speakers and Panelists Display Signage at StrongMoms  Empowerment Summit in NYC

Speakers and Experts on the Panel included:

Three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings:

Three Time Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings speaking at StrongMoms Empowerment Summit in NYC
“As someone in the public eye, others have definitely judged some of my parenting choices,” said Kerri Walsh Jennings, three-time Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball and mother of three. “But I don’t let their comments get to me. I try my hardest and make the decisions I think are the best for my family and me. I think that’s all any mom can do.”

Parenting Expert Michele Borba, Ed.D.:

Parenting Expert Michele Borba, Ed.D. Speaking at StrongMoms Empowerment Summit in NYC, Empowerment, #StrongMomsEmpower
“It’s not easy being a mom in today’s world,” said Michele Borba, Ed.D., expert on parenting and bullying prevention and StrongMoms Advisory Board member. “Moms face tremendous pressure to make the ‘perfect’ parenting decisions, and there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to parenting.”


"The Kid's Doctor" Sue Hubbard, M.D.

"The Kid's Doctor" Sue Hubbard, M.D Speaking at #StrongMomsEmpower StrongMoms Empowerment Summit in New York City
"Anxiety plays a role in raising stressed out kids!"


Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein, The MOMS

“There’s no such thing as a ‘Mom Manual,’" said Denise Albert and Melissa Musen Gerstein of The MOMS, StrongMoms Advisory Board Members. “StrongMoms Empower has such an important message for all moms – whether you work or stay home, breastfeed or formula feed, are strict in your parenting or not – the message to support mom is universal.”


The Chatty Momma Blogger, Tonia Sanders

Tonia Sanders (wearing the red dress) blogs at http://thechattymomma.com/


Founder of ExtraordinaryMommy.com Danielle Smith

Right: Danielle Smith, (Who is wearing the Orange striped dress) is the founder of www.extraordinarymommy.com/ and one of the authors of 'Mom, Incorporated'

If you are interested in checking out Danielle's book, you can order it directly from Amazon below:





All Speakers!

Producer Dina Conte Schulz (Far Right) is with 'The Kid's Doctor Media'


Moderator, Darlene Rodriguez

Moderator, Darlene Rodriguez, is co-anchor of the award winning 'Today in New York' and she also fills in as co-anchor for the NBC 4 New York's Evening Newscasts.







My Take:

I love that the StrongMoms Empowerment Summit featured real moms sharing their real world experiences, the good, the bad and the ugly. Those moments where they didn't feel so empowered were used to help empower other moms when they got the chance and that is exactly what it's all about. I firmly believe that every experience we go through, especially the bad ones, are meant as teaching tools, they empower us to help someone else facing the same situation.



I took the Pledge:



And I hope that you will visit StrongMoms® Empower and take the pledge too! Let's stop judging each other, and help empower each other. What better gift can you give Mom, than pledging to empower ALL moms?

I won the centerpiece!

I was at the lucky seat at my table (there was a little purple sticker on my chair) and I won my table's centerpiece (which contained an Orchid, Roses and pretty Carnations!) And the (former) event planner in me must share that the venue, the Apella Event Space at Alexandria Center in New York City couldn't have been more perfect!

Happy Mother's Day Butterflies!


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FTC Disclosure: This is NOT a Sponsored/Compensated Post, no monetary compensation has been received to share our event recap. All opinions are 100% my own. The banner to the book is an affiliate link. I genuinely feel the world would be a MUCH better place if we took as much time empowering one another as we do be-littling each other!

1 comment:

  1. It's wonderful to see women banning together to help each other be it with advise,babysitting ,counseling ,sharing information and more.When it comes to bring up children there is no right or wrong way to do it ,but having commonscence and patience is the key . Judging others is a waste of time you'd be better off using that time to fix your own issue's.

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