Looking Back with Gratitude, Moving Forward with Purpose

By Laura Ochoa, Founder of The Guild for HER

When I look back at 2025, I feel one word more than anything else: gratitude.

The Guild for HER started as a vision I carried quietly for a long time. A vision rooted in my own journey as a woman navigating business, leadership, and the constant balancing act of ambition, responsibility, and self belief. Like many of you, I have experienced moments of confidence and moments of doubt. I have sat in rooms where I was the only woman. I have questioned whether I belonged. And I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that no one builds anything meaningful alone. In 2025, that vision became real.

Together, we launched The Guild for HER as a nonprofit dedicated to empowering women at every stage of their professional journey. In less than a year, we hosted our first events, welcomed an incredible community of women, partnered with local organizations, brought powerful speakers to the table, and created spaces for honest conversations, learning, and connection. We gathered women who are students, side hustlers, entrepreneurs, and professionals, all united by one shared truth: we want more. More growth. More confidence. More equality.

What makes me most proud is not just what we accomplished, but how we did it. With heart. With collaboration. With generosity. With women lifting women.

None of this would have been possible without the people who believed in this mission early on. To our speakers who shared their stories and expertise, our sponsors and partners who trusted us, our volunteers who showed up with energy and care, and every woman who attended an event, joined a conversation, or said yes to being part of something new, thank you. You helped shape the foundation of this community.

As we step into 2026, I feel an even stronger sense of purpose.

This year, The Guild for HER will grow deeper and wider. We are expanding our programming, launching new workshops and mentorship opportunities, strengthening partnerships, and creating more ways for women to connect, learn, and lead. We will continue hosting events that are practical, inclusive, and empowering. We will keep building bridges between women, resources, and opportunities. And we will keep showing up with honesty, warmth, and intention.

Most importantly, we will continue working toward our mission: empowering women at every stage of their professional journey to reduce the gap in equality by providing mentorship, practical tools, and inclusive opportunities that foster confidence, leadership, and sustainable success.

If you are reading this and wondering if The Guild for HER is for you, let me say this clearly: you belong here. Whether you are just starting out, rebuilding, dreaming of something new, or already leading, there is space for you in this community.

2026 is a year of hope, action, and possibility. And I would love for you to be part of it.

Thank you for walking this journey with us. The best is still ahead.

With gratitude,

Laura Ochoa

Founder, The Guild for HER