The ballroom lights at the 2026 Shiftmakers Gala fell into a hush as lola tung stood among a crowd built from different worlds—media, business, fashion, sports, and entertainment—brought together for a night that asked women not just to attend, but to take up space. It was an awards ceremony, but also a public exercise in speaking with steadiness when the room is listening.
What happened at the Shiftmakers Gala, and why did it matter?
The 2026 Shiftmakers Gala, hosted by The Shift platform, gathered influential women for an evening of awards following a full day of programming centered on amplifying women’s voices and driving cultural change. The event highlighted leaders across entertainment, sports, and advocacy, framing their stories not as branding but as lived experience—resilience, vulnerability, and the courage to push boundaries.
The day began with grant announcements to support emerging women founders, then moved into conversations on themes including cultivating community and the future of women’s health. The structure mattered: the gala did not stand alone as a photo-ready endpoint, but as a capstone to a longer agenda focused on who gets resourced, who gets listened to, and who is positioned as a leader.
Why was Lola Tung honored, and what is the Emerging Voice Award?
At the ceremony, lola tung—identified at the event as a star of The Summer I Turned Pretty—received the Emerging Voice Award. The award placed her in a lineup of honorees who were recognized for leadership across different arenas, including Olympic champion Eileen Gu and actress and advocate Olivia Munn.
The phrase “emerging voice” can sound like a compliment that comes with a warning: you are being welcomed, but you are also being measured. That tension surfaced in a quote shared from one of the night’s speakers: “I was like, wow, there must be someone more qualified. I felt really stressed about what I was going to say. ” In a room designed to amplify voices, the pressure of the microphone still lands heavily—especially when a person is publicly cast as someone whose voice is rising.
How did Eileen Gu and Olivia Munn frame courage and caregiving?
Three honorees anchored the evening’s emotional and thematic center with personal reflections. Eileen Gu, an Olympic champion and freestyle skier, received the Trailblazer Award and described courage as an act of trying publicly, even when success is not guaranteed: “For me, courage means daring to try. Even if I don’t land this trick, it’s meaningful because I dared to try… if there’s just one little girl watching, she’ll never doubt her place. ”
Olivia Munn accepted The Strength Award and spoke about a recent health journey and advocacy work. Her remarks connected motherhood, illness, and caregiving in a single line that carried the weight of multiple identities colliding at once: “I became a mother, a cancer patient, and then a daughter to a cancer patient, and that shift was the hardest. ” She reflected on how becoming a mother, navigating a breast cancer diagnosis, and supporting her own mother through the same illness reshaped her understanding of caregiving.
Together, the perspectives formed a wider portrait of what leadership can look like when it is rooted in the body—athletic risk, medical risk, emotional risk—and when influence is measured not only by wins, but by what someone is willing to say aloud.
What solutions or responses were highlighted during the day-long program?
The Shift platform framed the gala as part of a broader effort to drive cultural change, with the day’s programming emphasizing practical support and conversation. The grant announcements supporting emerging women founders signaled an approach that pairs recognition with resources—honoring achievements while also investing in what comes next.
In sessions exploring the future of women’s health, the presence of a speaker like Munn—discussing her own health journey and advocacy work—made clear that “women’s health” was not treated as an abstract policy theme. It was discussed as something personal, consequential, and shaped by caregiving roles that often remain invisible until someone with a platform names them.
The gala’s larger purpose was stated in its design: spotlight women leaders who are driving progress and innovation across industries, and inspire the next generation to pursue passions and make meaningful impact. The event’s emphasis on diverse perspectives and personal journeys served as a deliberate counterweight to the idea that leadership must sound a certain way to be legitimate.
What comes next for the Shiftmakers Gala?
The Shiftmakers Gala is annual, and the next edition is expected to take place in March 2027 at the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The expectation of a return date adds a practical dimension to the night’s messaging: this is intended as an ongoing institution, not a one-off celebration.
Back in the glow of the gala, the idea of “taking up space” was not just a theme but a test. Under that spotlight, lola tung was honored as an emerging voice—an acknowledgement that can open doors, and also raise the stakes for every next sentence. The room’s quiet at the start of a speech can feel like approval or scrutiny, sometimes both, and the real question the night leaves behind is how many more women will be given both the space and the support to speak before they are asked to prove they deserve it again.
