The Greater Women's Business Council, the leading provider of certification and development resources for women business enterprises in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, has secured Jeffery Tobias Halter as keynote speaker for its 2018 Power of Partnering Marketplace conference.

Halter is the country's leading expert on engaging men to advance women. He is president of YWomen, a strategic consulting company focused on engaging men in women's leadership issues, helping organizations attract, retain and advance women and address gender bias in the workplace.

"Jeffery is advocating for the advancement of women in our companies and he's doing it by getting men on board as allies and advocates – telling them 'it's time to stop asking women to lean-in and ask men to stand-up,' " said Roz Lewis, president and CEO of GWBC. "The time is right to elevate this conversation and we're looking forward to bringing his message to both our women business enterprise members and our corporate partners at this year's GWBC Power of Partnering conference."

Halter is the author of two books, "WHY WOMEN, The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women" and "Engaging Men and Selling to Men, Selling to Women." He is a regular contributor to the HuffPost, New York Daily News, and Working Mother on diversity and gender issues. 

His also is creator of the Father of Daughter Initiative, helping men advocate for women in the workplace. 

"Men and women are having significantly different experiences in the workplace and real change with a sense of urgency will never take place until men understand the realities women face at work," said Halter. "I believe that each of us has a responsibility to be an agent of change."

Halter will be the featured keynote at the August 23 GWBC POP Marketplace conference, an annual event that brings together hundreds of women entrepreneurs, business leaders, corporations and procurement professionals.

The two-day conference kicks-off with the WAVE Golf Tournament on August 22 at the Country Club of the South, and culminates on August 23 with the POP Marketplace conference at the Gwinnett Infinite Energy Center.       

The conference delivers valuable connections, training, innovative thinking and takeaways – all designed to help GWBC's roster of attendees reach their procurement and business goals. GWBC, a regional partner organization of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), covers Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, among the top states of the fastest growing number of women businesses in the country.