Valerie Plame Wilson Kicks Off Women's Leadership Conference

Women from West Hollywood and beyond gathered at the  on Friday evening to watch Fair Game, a film based on former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson's memoir. The exclusive screening kicked off the city's weekend-long Women's Leadership Conference.

“We chose Fair Game, because it is a film about a powerful woman who made a difference in the world," said West Hollywood Councilwoman Abbe Land. "She went through the most difficult public experience and prevailed.” 

Plame was outed as a covert CIA agent in 2003 by syndicated columnist Robert Novak, shortly after her husband's op-ed disputing the Bush administration’s claim that Saddam Hussein had purchased yellowcake uranium from Niger was published in The New York Times, as detailed in Plame's book, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House.

“I didn’t expect the film to be that good, because it's old news, but it was great and the subject matter is still very relevant,” said West Hollywood resident and author Marne Carmean.

Land introduced Plame to a standing ovation after the screening. Plame had the crowd laughing with witty stories about the “boys club” she was no longer a part of, and how she "wouldn't make a good blond Hamas infiltrator," during the question and answer portion of the presentation with NPR news correspondent Mandalit del Barco.

Plame also spoke seriously about women’s roles and the real threat of nuclear proliferation.

“The first 10 weeks of the war, I thought we had failed miserably. Just because you don’t find WMDs, doesn’t mean they aren’t there," she told the audience. "The U.S. is spending $60-$70 billion per year on intelligence and it is simply not enough for this very real threat.“

Betsy Johnson, co-president of the National Women’s Caucus LA-Westside, said past Women's Leadership conferences inspired her to become involved in politics, with an ultimate goal of serving on a state commission.

“Private citizens have a lot to offer," said Johnson, who has attended the conference for the last three years. "This has made me want to run for office and be civically engaged."

"Plame is the biggest celebrity to speak at the conference yet," said Matthew Mishory, social media coordinator for the program. This year's conference—in its fifth year—introduced a new logo, as well as Facebook and Twitter pages. 

"The group has been successfully targeting a younger demographic of women to attend the seminars," said Mishory, who alluded to the new outreach for the increase in attendance this year. “I loved the Q&A tonight."

The mission of the West Hollywood Women’s Leadership Conference, according to its website, is to provide the tools and offer the support for local women to become successful leaders in the community. 

“The energy you feel in this room tonight is what we will take throughout the conference this weekend to inspire women to network and become leaders in the community,” Land said.