Variety's Power of Women 2022 Celebrated 'Empowered Women Empowering Others'

The event was held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. Florals were designed by Moon Canyon.Photo: Scott ClarkLOS ANGELES—For its 13th year, Variety's Power of Women event—celebrating honorees of the trade publication's issue of the same name—was an ode to "empowered women empowering others," said Jamie Aronson, Variety’s managing director of event marketing. The 2022 edition of the event, held Sept. 28 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts, honored Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay, Malala Yousafzai, and Elizabeth Olsen.

Of the "empowering others" message, Aronson said she "felt Variety needed to extend this theme to all aspects of the event by focusing on new and longtime partnerships within our design and production teams. More than 50% of the Power of Women production is led by women, and that’s something I’m very proud of.” 

This included the production team behind the event, Gold Sky Productions, led by founder and creative director April Luca. Aronson said when designing for an event of such scale and dynamism, the energy of what Power of Women represents doubled as a source of inspiration. 

"I’ve made a conscious effort to hire some of the industry’s leading female businesses and vendors to produce this event,” Aronson said. “Gold Sky Productions, our production partner, understands the Variety brand and elegantly and consistently channels that messaging in the myriad events that Gold Sky produces for us.”

At the event, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton spoke about the importance of celebrating women and sharing their stories (which they also do in their eight-part Apple TV+ documentary series, Gutsy, which premiered on Sept. 9). Winfrey and DuVernay highlighted the importance of hiring female directors (which they did throughout the production of Queen Sugar, currently airing its seventh and final season on OWN). Yousafzai also took the stage to speak about young people in film and television and supporting the Pillars Artist Fellowship. And award-winning actress, producer, and star of Marvel’s WandaVision Elizabeth Olsen shared about her support of The Rape Foundation and its program Stuart House, which is internationally recognized as a model for the treatment of sexually abused children.

“This event brings not only recognition to these powerful women, but also allows us to witness how they have enacted true and meaningful change in the world,” Aronson said.

Keep scrolling to see more from inside the event...