Thousands of women gathered in Silicon Valley on Wednesday to talk about jobs, politics and the future.
Actress Viola Davis was among the speakers at the annual Watermark Women's Conference at San Jose's McEnery Convention Center, where she told 6,500 women the time to grab hold of their destiny is now.
"There is a place where you can find all the people with the greatest potential," she said. "They're all gathered in one single place, and that's the graveyard."
The conference brought together leaders from the tech and entertainment industries to network and share advice.
"For me, this is very empowering," said Sheryl Grant of Dell. "It's like an opportunity for women to come together and hear what they are experiencing personally, empowering you to be your best self."
Alison Pena of Stanford University added, "I think it's important for anyone to have a conversation ... about our careers, about our lives, about politics."
Politics also was a huge part of the conference, with former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice on hand stressing the importance of working together, even if you come from different political parties.
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Both Rice, who served under Republican President George W. Bush, and Albright, who served under Democratic President Bill Clinton, criticized President Donald Trump's recent immigration ban. They also agreed that North Korea is the biggest foreign policy threat to the U.S.
