The EmpowHER Team Member resource group for women at Sands’ Las Vegas headquarters has pursued an ambitious slate of programming over the past year, highlighted by a recent series of activities for Women’s History Month, sessions with accomplished women leaders, and global collaboration with TMRGs in Macao and Singapore.
Celebrating Women’s History Month
Taking the opportunity to celebrate and nurture women during the annual observance, EmpowHER’s Women’s History Month activities spanned a diverse slate of offerings and continued through April.
A highlight was the Give to Gain panel discussion in March that spotlighted the unique identities and experiences of women leaders at the company’s corporate headquarters. Panelists included Judy Tomkins, vice president and senior associate general counsel for securities and corporate affairs; Bridgette Harding, corporate accounts payable specialist; Tara Rivera, corporate office manager; Gena Livingston, pastry chef for the Veranda Café at corporate headquarters; and Ky Cunningham, corporate communications specialist. The session was moderated by Katarina Tesarova, chief sustainability officer and executive sponsor of EmpowHER.
The group shared stories about their journeys, examples of resilience, ideas around the delicate balance of work and life, thoughts on inclusion and representation, and words of inspiration for other women, particularly young professionals starting out in their careers.
Other Women’s History Month events in March and April included the Women Talk Money educational series, kick-off of the 2026 mentorship program with a mentoring workshop, a wellness session with a nutritional coach, and a clothing drive benefiting Dress for Success Southern Nevada, Project 150 and Opportunity Village in Las Vegas. The TMRG culminated activities with a volunteer day to sort clothing at Dress for Success Southern Nevada.
Spotlighting Women Leaders
In addition to the amplified events of Women’s History Month, the Las Vegas EmpowHER TMRG hosted two marquee events this past year. The first was a fireside chat with Dr. Miriam Adelson to celebrate International Women’s Day in March. The event marked the first major global collaboration among EmpowHER TMRGs around the world, as the live event in Las Vegas was streamed to Singapore and Macao.
During the inspirational session, Dr. Adelson shared insights and experiences that helped her achieve success throughout the various stages of her journey as a physician, philanthropist and life partner to Sands’ founder Sheldon Adelson.
The corporate TMRG also hosted an inspirational talk with Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of the Las Vegas Raiders, in which she discussed milestones such as being the first Black city attorney in Nevada, serving as chairperson of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and becoming the first Black and Asian woman to serve as an NFL team president.
Douglass Morgan shared her lifelong motivation to find commonalities that bring people together, her interest in making local government in Nevada work more effectively for communities and her pride in seeing her hometown of Las Vegas prosper with professional sports teams.
Expanding Education and Mentorship
EmpowHER further created global collaboration through a mentorship program that connected corporate mentors with mentees at Marina Bay Sands. The TMRG increased the mentorship program’s value by holding quarterly gatherings and a Human Centered Leadership Workshop for mentees.
Other learning opportunities hosted by the corporate EmpowHER group over the past year have included a Financial 101 session led by Fidelity Investments, succession planning workshops, a strengths-based leadership workshop, and multiple wellness sessions on topics such as gut health, glucose management and mindful holiday celebrations.
Giving Back to the Community
Over the past year, the corporate EmpowHER TMRG has hosted several volunteer efforts, such as supporting Dress for Success Southern Nevada’s annual clothing drive and bi-annual warehouse organization events to augment corporate giving through Sands Cares. EmpowHER volunteers also participated in a walk to raise funds for breast cancer support and a blood drive.
Finally, last summer the EmpowHER supported the corporate campus’ first Community Involvement Fair, which featured an opportunity for Team Members to learn about the missions of and volunteer opportunities with 14 community organizations.
Looking ahead, the corporate EmpowHER TMRG plans to continue global collaboration around shared priorities this year, as well as offer health and wellness workshops and developmental sessions for skills-building. The group also is evaluating external partnerships with industry associations that support developmental goals and nonprofit organizations to explore additional community engagement.
Support for the EmpowHER TMRG for women and their allies is one of Sands’ many workforce development programs. To learn more read the company’s latest ESG report: https://www.sands.com/resources/reports/.