IDEAL 2027 Leadership Summit

The debut of IDEAL's flagship annual summit.

Pre-Register

Waves of Change: Women Driving the Future of Care

A boutique leadership retreat for women holding leadership roles across healthcare, from director through executive, at Hotel Effie in Sandestin, FL.

September 12–14, 2027

For Guests

An intimate retreat, built for real conversation

We've capped the room at 100 executive women, with a deliberate sponsor-to-guest ratio that keeps every conversation personal. This is a working leadership retreat: keynotes and faculty panels alongside hands-on formats where every leader in the room is an active participant.

What to expect

Over a day and a half at Hotel Effie, a rooftop-pool, oceanfront property on Sandestin's coast, you'll move through:

  • Keynotes and faculty panels featuring healthcare leaders speaking directly to the realities of the executive path.

  • Executive Problem-Solving Labs, where you bring a real organizational challenge and work through it with peers and faculty.

  • Leadership Circles, small peer groups formed before the Summit that keep meeting throughout the event, and can continue meeting virtually long after you're home.

  • Lawn and offsite activities built for relationship building, where many of the Summit's most valuable connections happen.

The full agenda is still being finalized. As details lock in, we'll share them here first.

Why this Summit

IDEAL was founded on a simple observation: healthcare leadership should reflect the people it serves, and getting there takes real, sustained work. The Summit is where that work happens in person: real mentorship, real advocacy, and a community built to outlast the event itself. You're joining the IDEAL community.

Dates and details

Theme: Waves of Change: Women Driving the Future of Care

Dates: September 12–14, 2027

Venue: Hotel Effie, Sandestin, FL

Format: A day-and-a-half boutique leadership retreat: keynotes, panels, and hands-on programming

Capacity: Capped at 100 attendees, by design

Reserve your spot

Pre-registration is open now, and it's free. Ticket sales open January 1, 2027, once the full agenda and pricing are finalized. Pre-registering takes a minute: it tells us you're interested and puts you on the list to be notified the moment tickets go live, ahead of the general public.

Pre-Register

2027 Summit Sponsors

  • Momentum
  • Paradigm
  • SwyftOps

FAQS

  • We've intentionally kept the Summit affordable. With support from sponsors and donors, we expect ticket prices to fall between $150 and $200. Final pricing will be confirmed when tickets go on sale.

  • Pre-registering is free and doesn't commit you to a ticket purchase. It tells us you're interested and adds you to the list to be notified the moment tickets go on sale, ahead of the general public.

  • Ticket sales open January 1, 2027.

  • Summit registration is open to all women holding leadership roles across healthcare. We do ask every attendee to join the IDEAL community before the event. Membership is free, and it's how we keep you updated as Summit details are confirmed.

  • This year's Summit is built for women who currently hold a leadership title, from director through executive, since the programming is designed around the realities of that role. If that's not you yet, we'd love to keep you in the IDEAL community for when it is: pre-register to stay connected, and watch for updates on future years. We're exploring an additional track for emerging leaders down the road.

  • The Summit is a women-only space, by design. It's what allows the room to be candid, including about the harder parts of the executive path.

  • Hotel Effie, an oceanfront property in Sandestin, FL, with a rooftop pool and lounge. Arrival is the afternoon of September 12, with programming on September 13 and 14.

  • Your ticket covers full access to Summit programming, all lawn and offsite activities, and meals throughout the event. Travel and hotel accommodations at Hotel Effie are arranged and paid for separately by each attendee.

  • Yes. Each attendee registers individually, and the Summit welcomes multiple leaders from the same organization, space permitting given the 100-person cap.

  • Please contact jkandt@ideal4healthcare.com with any questions / inquiries for this event.

BE A SPEAKER

BE A SPEAKER

Speak at the IDEAL Summit

We're looking for speakers who have done the work. Leaders who have built teams through staffing shortages, carried change through organizations that resisted it, and grown into executive roles while holding everything else together. If you have something real to teach the women leading healthcare forward, we want to hear it.

What we're looking for:

Practical, honest sessions grounded in direct experience leading in healthcare. Attendees should leave with something they can use on Monday, whether that's a framework, a tool, or a hard-won lesson.

Topic areas:

• Leadership Growth

• Executive Readiness

• Wellbeing Practices

• Team Effectiveness

• Operations & Workforce

• Innovation & Technology

• Equity & Inclusion in Leadership

What we're looking for:

Practical, honest sessions grounded in direct experience leading in healthcare. Attendees should leave with something they can use on Monday, whether that's a framework, a tool, or a hard-won lesson.

Benefits of being an IDEAL Summit speaker:

Speaking at the Summit is a chance to share what you've learned with leaders who are carrying the same weight you are, and to grow your own presence as a leader along the way.

  • Complimentary Summit pass: full access to the Summit as our guest.

  • A place in the IDEAL Speakers Bureau: selected speakers are added to the bureau and considered for future IDEAL speaking opportunities.

  • Speaking experience and visibility: build your experience in front of a room of healthcare leaders, with a feature on the Summit page and in event promotion.

Speaker Deadlines

  • Applications close March 15, 2027

  • Speakers notified by April 15, 2027

  • Final materials due July 30, 2027

Speaking at the Summit is a volunteer role with no honorarium or fee. Selected speakers receive complimentary Summit registration.

Apply to Speak

Partner with the 2027 IDEAL Summit

245 Members · 33 States and D.C. · 78% Director-level or above

The IDEAL Summit brings together women leading across healthcare for three days of honest conversation about what it takes to lead well in this industry. Sponsors make that room possible, and they get real time in it.

Why sponsor

Your support keeps IDEAL free for every member.
Everything we offer our 245 members costs them nothing: membership, monthly content, the IDEAL Leaders Mentorship Program, and our platform and community. That’s by design, because cost shouldn’t decide who gets access to development and mentorship. Sponsors are what make it possible.

You’ll reach the leaders making decisions.
Nearly half of our members who reported their role are CEOs, founders, or C-suite executives, and more than half work in organizations with 50+ staff. They lead across health tech, senior living, consulting, and public and community health in 33 states and D.C. The Summit brings up to 100 of these leaders into one room, with a limited number of sponsors so every partner gets meaningful time with them.

Your own leaders grow with us.
The women in leadership roles inside your organization are exactly who this community is built for. Sponsor, then send them. It’s one of the most direct ways to develop and keep the leaders you already have.

Interested in sponsorship?

Every partnership can be shaped around what matters to your organization. Contact our Summit Sponsor Coordinator at jkandt@ideal4healthcare.com.