Leadership Lessons From Five Women, Including Jane Fonda, From Austin’s SXSW Innovation Conference 2026

By Laurel Donnellan and Darryl Brown Jr. (Originally Published at Forbes.com)

Every year, Austin, TX, is transformed into a Global Creativity and Tech University. Forty years ago, South by Southwest began as a Music Festival. Now it includes Education, Film, Television, and Innovation. I attended nine of the 10 days of this event, mostly on the Innovation track,  and was dedicated to finding compassionate leaders and telling their stories here at Forbes.com.  Along the way, I turned to looking at this event through the lens of women and their contributions. 

This creative shift came from, of all places, Hulu and an activation they staged at the festival for a new series, The Testaments, based on the Margaret Atwood book (a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale). The promotion of the show was eerie live theater in which silent, sad handmaids exited a purple bus and handed out blueberry pies at several locations throughout the city. 

It reminded me that the global women’s movement is taking a hit politically and economically right now, leading me to shine a spotlight on five women I learned from at SXSW making a difference: a leader at Microsoft, a CEO in women’s health, an investor, a journalist, and Jane Fonda, activist and actor. 

1. Leader: Aparna Chennapragada, Chief Product Officer for AI Experiences at Microsoft

Lesson: “Think about the human at the center.”

Chennapragada was a presenter at the session How to build AI-First Products: Models, Memory, and Mastery. After I interviewed her, I left feeling more hopeful about the future of AI, since this leader (and mother) is putting people first as she leads a global team whose products influence everyone. She is currently releasing Copilot Cowork, a desktop AI agent that can open your browser, locate your receipts, and file your expense reports without you lifting a finger. Chennapragada said they built this agent not because the technology is flashy, but because it gives real people their time back. She offers, "The goal is for AI to take the mundane stuff out," she says. "Let us do the meaningful things."

In the tech universe of leaders worth watching, Chennapragada is the rare kind - technically formidable and deeply empathetic. “It is so easy right now to feel isolated and fractured. All of these tools, all of this technology, have to be applied to a productive purpose. Think about the human at the center. Customers. Employees. Neighbors. Community.”She pauses. "The tools may evolve, but the purpose stays the same: making life and work more human. "You can learn more about her approach here. 

2. Leader: Monica Cepak, Chief Executive Officer, WISP 

Lesson: “Listen to your gut.” 

Monica Cepak didn't set out to run a company; she set out to build brands that matter. Cutting her teeth as one of the earliest hires at Lyft before shepherding it all the way through the IPO, she then decided to join Wisp to help revolutionize digital health.  Here she saw something in the industry that had long been ignored: that women deserved better. As their Chief Marketing Officer, Wisp grew from a startup founded in 2018 with less than $2 million in capital to approaching $100 million in top-line revenue. 

Today, as Wisp’s CEO, Cepak is breaking new ground in fertility care. By developing telemedicine protocols that give women access to ovulation support medication, patients can increase their odds of conceiving by 30% for a few hundred dollars, a stark contrast to a $10,000 IVF cycle they may not need.  And she offers this wisdom to be used personally and professionally.”Listen to your gut, whether it’s about your own healthcare needs or being your own advocate. Your gut is there for a reason, right? I often describe it as the best AI model: it’s been picking up data points your entire life, and is giving you a signal for a reason.”

3. Leader: Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, Founder, FarmboxRx and Operating Partner at HLM Investment Partners

Lesson: “Never lose sight of your North Star.”

This year, Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, Operating Partner at HLM Investment Partners, shared her astonishing story, which traces her journey from a single mother receiving Medicaid and food stamps to selling her company, FarmboxRx, for $50M. Her company was the solution to the problem she encountered after a divorce: poverty and a lack of fresh food. She pioneered a whole new category of virtual healthcare for Medicaid and Medicare recipients: food as medicine. Starting out as a delivery service for the New York area, Tyrner led FarmboxRx for over 10 years, growing to a company that delivered fresh produce to all 50 states while staving off investors who wanted to turn her idea into a meal kit company. 

Before she even considered leaving, Farmbox had delivered more than 2.7 million boxes. Her company was acquired by Pyx Health in 2025, which had aligned with her set values and vision. Since then, she has become the Operating Partner at HLM Investment Partners and is overseeing the scaling of other healthcare companies. Ironically, she turned down investors for years because of unfavorable terms, then bootstrapped her company to exit. Now she’s on the other side of the table, mentoring founders and entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses without losing their convictions in the process. The lesson she brings to every boardroom she enters? “Never lose sight of your North Star.”

4. Leader: Jennifer B. Wallace, Author and Speaker

Lesson: “Basic needs include water, food, shelter, and mattering.”

Bestselling author Jennifer B. Wallace’s presentation on her newest and well-researched book offered a welcome break from all the tech and complications shared at the conference. Her session was clear, timely, simple, and essential. I especially enjoyed this journalist’s careful, diligent responses to the audience’s questions at the end of her session, all grounded in her years of study of the topic.  According to Wallace, mattering is the human need to feel valued and add value. 

In this current book, Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, she reveals how mattering offers a potent antidote to loneliness and burnout, and delivers practical takeaways to help people unlock mattering at home, at work, and in the wider  This book follows her last bestseller, Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It where, through deep research and interviews with leading child psychologists, Wallace showed what kids need from the adults in the room is not more pressure, but to feel like they matter, and have intrinsic self-worth not contingent upon external achievements.

5. Leader: Jane Fonda, Activist and Actor

Lesson: ‘Activism is fun and freeing.’

Jane Fonda is my hero. At 88, she is continuing to lead with gusto as an activist and actor. She is a brilliant,  open-hearted ambassador for the climate,  peace, and democracy. When I saw her on a panel at SXSW, she was firing up the crowd in Texas and preparing to speak at No Kings in Minneapolis with Bruce Springsteen and Bernie Sanders, which turned out to be the biggest protest turnout in the US since the first Earth Day in 1970. 

Her session, Say It Louder: Artists, Activism & the First Amendment, with The ACLU, Jane Fonda, & W. Kamau Bell, was a stirring and life-affirming closing session. The ACLU’s Jessica Weitz led the very candid and enlightening discussion with Jane Fonda and comedian/activist W. Kamau Bell. When democracy is at stake, there’s a role for everyone to get involved. I recommend reviewing this historical, entertaining, and educational session, no matter where you live in the world or your political affiliation. 

Meet other inspiring women and men leaders you can learn from at the Annual Compassionate Leaders Awards on April 20, 2026.