When the annual Women’s Conference returns to the Long Beach Convention Center later this month, it will welcome a very special guest that has just been added to the growing list of national and global leaders: First Lady Michelle Obama. She will speak during the opening session which takes place on Tuesday, October 26th. This will be Obama’s second appearance at The Women’s Conference (her first appearance was in 2007).

Maria Shriver, the First Lady of California and the founder of the event, issued a statement welcoming Obama to the event.

“I am honored to welcome First Lady Michelle Obama back to The Women’s Conference. Mrs. Obama and I not only share a commitment to service, women, military families, community health and many other issues, but also share the role of wife and mother, of which she is a stunning example,” Shriver said. “I’m so proud that The Women’s Conference has become a destination where extraordinary newsmakers like Mrs. Obama come together for authentic, honest and civilized conversations that you cannot find anywhere else. I look forward to hearing her speak and share how her life has changed since she first took to our stage in 2007.”

More than 30,000 people are expected to attend the conference, which will also be streamed live over the internet at womensconference.org. Also scheduled to appear are former First Lady Laura Bush, Oprah Winfrey, judges Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg and many more. Just weeks before the election for Governor of California, sitting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will lead a discussion between the two candidates, Meg Whitman (R) and Jerry Brown (D). The theme of this year’s Women’s Conference is, “It’s Time.”