“It’s 2015. It’s Time.” Why aren’t women equal yet?

Why do we need another women’s empowerment summit?

Fewer than five percent of the CEOs at the biggest companies in the United States are women, only 1 in 5 members of Congress are women, and women still are paid less than men. President Obama, in his recent State of the Union address, urged Congress to pass a law “that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work. Really. It’s 2015. It’s time.”

I think it’s past time.

Women now earn 59 percent of the advanced degrees awarded in the United States, but that has not translated into equality in the workplace. There is stark female under-representation in government and top-level business positions—the same goes for several STEM fields, especially computer science. That is why female Georgetown students, myself included, are holding the OWN IT Summit for the second year in a row.

I was drawn to work on the OWN IT team because of the success of last year’s summit, and was inspired by all of the trailblazing women who came to speak. Megan Smith was on a main stage panel– she was the vice president of Google X at Google before being appointed as Chief Technology Officer by Obama. She is the first woman to hold this position at the White House and she spoke about being the only woman in most of her meetings, as well as the challenges associated with the dwindling number of women in her field. Dee Dee Myers, the first female White House Press Secretary, also came to the summit. I was an avid West Wing watcher and idolized C.J. Cregg—the character based off of Myers—so of course the first question I blurted out was about the show (she likes C.J., by the way, and said the show captured how fast-paced life was).

I am particularly excited about this year’s summit because of the diversity of speakers we have coming. On one panel, we have a CEO, a White House official, and an award-winning journalist ready to speak candidly about the trials and tribulations of being a woman in male-dominated workplaces. These women, like most, were paid less than their male counterparts, systematically passed up for leadership positions, and were dismissed as “bossy” when speaking up and taking control. But the stories told by the women who made it to the top are incredible because in the end, it boiled down to who had the most grit.

In addition to the panels on stage, there will be smaller breakout sessions that cover topics such as women in social entrepreneurship, women activists, women in finance, women in the arts, women in military service, Latinas in America, and a session titled “Unapologetically Black.”

As the first female Secretary of State and distinguished Georgetown professor Dr. Madeleine Albright put it, “we know that societies are more stable when women are politically and economically empowered.” Women bring an invaluable perspective to the workplace and gender diversity leads to immense financial benefits and allows companies to reach their full potential. To the people who say women are too emotional or moody to hold positions of power, I’d challenge you to join the thinking of the 21st century. Look around. Washington D.C., the most powerful city in America, has three women in the District’s most high profile jobs—mayor, police chief, and schools chancellor. As a D.C. native I could not be happier with this matriarchy, and can’t wait for the rest of the country to follow suit.

So how do we shatter the glass ceiling? We gather women who have successfully climbed the ladder to tell younger women their stories, to give them advice, and to inspire them. If we’re expected to be the next generation of female leaders, we’re going to need a roadmap first. And as Dr. Yvonne Cagle, a U.S. astronaut, said at last year’s OWN IT Summit, “space is limitless, but so are you. It’s up to all of you to achieve the impossible.” Challenge accepted.