Paralympic Champion Jessica Long to Keynote Free Student Leadership Summit July 18

Young women are stepping into the workforce with fewer chances to lead than the men starting beside them. Lean In and McKinsey & Company's 2025 Women in the Workplace study, the largest research effort of its kind, found that 69% of entry-level women want to be promoted to the next level compared with 80% of entry-level men, and that four in 10 entry-level women had not been offered a promotion or a chance to take part in leadership or career training in the past year.

Washington-based national nonprofit 1,000 Dreams Fund is working to close that gap before it hardens, and on Saturday, July 18, 2026, the organization will host its annual Student Leadership Summit, a free virtual event open to students across the country.

Delivering this year's keynote is Jessica Long, a 31-time Paralympic medalist and one of the most decorated Paralympians in history. Jessica grew up in Baltimore, where her parents adopted her from a Russian orphanage at 13 months old, and she had both of her lower legs amputated before she turned 2 because of a condition she was born with. She found her way into the water at her grandparents' pool, and by age 12, she was the youngest athlete on the U.S. Paralympic team in Athens, where she won three gold medals. Across six Paralympic Games, she’s won 18 golds, and she has since built a second career as an author and speaker.

Jessica takes the virtual stage at 12:30 p.m. for a keynote followed by a moderated Q&A, where students can put their questions to her directly. This year's summit theme is "Break the Mold, Rewrite the Rules," celebrating students who think differently and carve out paths that don't always look traditional, and she’s expected to speak about what resilience actually looks like away from the highlight reel and why leadership starts long before anyone hands you a title.

The full summit runs from 12 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. EDT and includes hands-on student activities and a young professionals panel alongside the keynote. It’s free to attend and open to high school, undergraduate and graduate students anywhere in the world, though registration is required. Students can register through Eventbrite.