DES MOINES, Iowa — Wednesday hundreds of women packed the Iowa Events Center for day one of a conference meant to inspire and empower them.

The Women Lead Change Conference brings together speakers, business leaders and non-profits dedicated to advancing women in the workforce and beyond.

The Hopeful Mama Foundation is one of the non-profits featured this year; its mission is helping women experiencing infertility. Founder Emily Patel says interacting with the women coming by the booth is the reason she started the organization.

“It’s very overwhelming when you see the amount of women that come and they have felt so alone for so long and have felt so isolated because they didn’t think anyone else experienced this, because infertility is isolating,” said Patel. “It’s something that people don’t talk about. It’s a taboo topic. So they feel like they have to do this alone, and when they come past our table and see, our tagline is, ‘We were never meant to walk this road alone.’ And so we encourage them to let us walk alongside them and for them to leave with a packet knowing that they now have someone that can support them.”

You can connect with the Hopeful Mama Foundation here: Www.hopefulmamafoundation.org

The Women Lead Change Conference continues on Thursday:  Www.wlcglobal.org