Condoleezza Rice, Olympians highlight KPMG women's leadership summit

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, top corporate executives and Olympic athletes were among the panelists providing inspiration and insight Wednesday during the KPMG Women's Leadership Summit at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer.

About 200 women were nominated to attend the fourth annual invitation-only summit held in a pavilion overlooking Kemper Lakes' 18th hole. The gathering is affiliated with the KPMG Women's PGA Championship running Thursday through Sunday.

NBC Sports "Sunday Night Football" sideline reporter Michele Tafoya served as master of ceremonies for the event designed to forge paths for the next generation of women leaders to occupy senior executive positions and provide networking opportunities.

In an onstage interview with Tafoya, Rice spoke about how she grew accustomed to frequently being the only woman in the room during her government career. She said she had mentors early in her career and received a significant boost from President George H.W. Bush when she served on his National Security Council staff from 1989 to 1991.

During those years Rice was part of a meeting between Bush and former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Rice was a White House specialist in Soviet affairs and Bush made it known to Gorbachev and others that she "tells me everything I know" about that country.

"It wasn't really (just) for Gorbachev to hear, but it was for everybody else to hear that," said Rice, who made a point of walking confidently into a male-dominated room for meetings. "Because, from now on, he was saying to people, 'Don't even think about it. That's the person I listen to, you have to listen to her, too.' And so mentors can play an extraordinarily important role in helping you belong and pushing your career along."

Attendees also heard from Olympic hockey player Hilary Knight and figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Maia Shibutani in a session titled "Resilience and Grit: The Making of a Champion," moderated by NBC golf announcer Dan Hicks.

Knight, a forward on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at this year's Winter Olympics, addressed how she persevered after having to start in boys' leagues as a girl.

"I overcame my fair share of bullying and other parents - whether it was on our team or an opposing team - yelling nasty things at me and whatnot," Knight said. "At the end of the day, I wanted to be the best teammate. I wanted to be the best competitor I could be and add value to our team."

Lynne Doughtie, chairman and CEO of KPMG U.S., provided Wednesday's opening address. She told audience members that being there showed their companies value inclusion and diversity in the workplace.

"The purpose of this event is really very simple," Doughtie said. "We want more women in the C-suite. And that's why we're all here."

Molex Inc. in Lisle, Underwriters Laboratories in Northbrook, Rosemont-based Wintrust Financial and Discover Financial Services in Riverwoods were some of the suburban business that nominated women to attend the summit.