Feeling good, doing good, making good stuff: not too much to ask, right? Yet inspiration can be elusive, especially up against all the things. (Do we even need a list?) And so Portland Monthly brings you Woman Up!, our second annual celebration of female leadership, better living, fitness, wellness, solidarity, and positive change. For two days, the campus of Marylhurst University will buzz with a galvanizing roster of speakers; fired-up workshops ranging from exercise to art; heart-starting community distance races; and music and community engagement and cocktails. Short story: it’s going to be fun. But here’s more:

After a Saturday morning of yoga and breakfast, some of Portland’s most provocative and influential thinkers on exercise and fitness will delve into a complicated question: what does real health look like, in a culture suffused with unrealistic (sometimes damaging) aspirational imagery? Jenny Bruso (founder of Unlikely Hikers), Lacy Davis (of Liberation Barbell), Erin "Kiki" Teal Littlestar (of social club and coworking space the the Perlene), and Marni Carlyle (Women's Healthcare Associates) share their perspectives, with Portland Monthly’s Molly Woodstock guiding the conversation.  

Throughout the day, a slate of hands-on classes curated by Portland Monthly and our friends at Marylhurst will open doors to new workouts and, just maybe, new cultural callings, courtesy of the city’s finest fitness, craft, and art instructors. If you’ve ever wanted to combine pinch pots, self-defense, and “contemporary-meets-salsa-meets-kickboxing,” this is your day.

A combined keynote talk from Oregon State Supreme Court Justice Adrienne Nelson and Peggy Maguire of Cambia Health Solutions deepens the day’s narrative of personal inspiration and community action. An afternoon panel featuring representatives of Ladies Get Paid, Business for a Better Portland, Color PAC, and other change-making organizations, moderated by Portland Monthly senior editor Fiona McCann, will provide all the calls to action you need. Georgia Lee Hussey, founder of the new-wave wealth-management firm Modernist Financial, will fit money into the broader context of life well lived.

Then cocktails? Yes, then cocktails.

On Sunday, 5K and 10K races thread through a very verdant corner of the metro area, culminating in a festival on the Marylhurst campus featuring live music curated by Fabi Reyna of She Shreds magazine.

Woman Up! channels the extraordinary transformative energy the magazine covers in its annual Oregon Woman issue, always a snapshot of the state’s most dynamic female leaders and thinkers. For Woman Up!’s IRL endeavor, our coverage comes alive to showcase the movements and people changing how Oregon looks, feels, and works, with an emphasis on health, wellness, and positive change. We all recognize that we’re living in extraordinary times. For all the relentlessness of our steamroller news cycle, a lot of good is being done, especially here in Portland. For one special weekend in May, you can plug into the power.

Portland Monthly’s second annual Woman Up! event brings together experts from across the city—and state—for a weekend of wellness and a celebration of the bold women shaping Oregon’s future and those who’ve paved the way. Get tickets!