June 9-11, 2019 • DoubleTree by Hilton • San Jose, CA
Julie Kantor is an "all-in," roll-up-your-sleeves leader and social impact entrepreneur committed to building mentoring cultures to drive employee engagement and elevating women in the STEM workforce. In 2017 she stepped up as Co-Chair for Leadership Greater Washington Signature program and has chaired multiple conferences focused on women in the workforce, STEM, and entrepreneurship. Ms. Kantor's fifth start-up, Twomentor, LLC, focuses on elevating women in STEM and retaining a skilled diverse workforce, building on her 24 years in workforce development and building movements including Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (former Executive Director 1992- 2012 of DC Region, Boston, National VP) and Million Women Mentors (team lead and Chief Partnership Officer).
Ms. Kantor is well networked to the national community of top business, academic, nonprofit, and government leaders. She has worked and consulted with clients such as: Cisco, Samsung, Tata (TCS), Intel, Sony, BP, Ernst & Young, The Federal Reserve Bank, The World Bank, American University's Kogod School of Business, Anthem Inc., Barilla, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Stratasys, UPS and more. She recently gave a TEDx style presentation to 400 Millennials from 85 countries at the UN on social impact.
386 - Career Circle - STAYING TECHNICAL & BEING AN ENGINEERING LEADER
Sue Abellera is a Senior Engineering Manager at Roku, with strong customer and partner focus across multiple successful product releases. Her management skills are employed with geographically dispersed teams of senior engineers and cross-functional groups. Ms. Abellera's engineering and product management is grounded on seven years of software engineering development, spanning from embedded systems to Java UI programming. Her specialties include: engineering management, product management, embedded systems, Streaming Media clients, Platform technologies, Mobile Applications, Mobile, and Wireless.
211 - Coaching Circle - WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
251 - Coaching Circle - WHAT DOES YOUR TEAM SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THE ROOM?
371 - Coaching Circle - WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MOVE FORWARD?
Diana Ackerley seeks to bridge the knowledge between neuroscience and behavioral psychology. Since 1987 she has been working with high achievers and leaders who are Lawyers, Physicians, Business Owners, IT Professionals, Nurses, Teachers, Entrepreneurs, Professors, Writers, Finance Officers, Managers, Directors and more. Her background - a Licensed Psychologist (Ph.D.), Coach Certification (ACPEC) through the College of Executive Coaching, Certified in Results Coaching in Brain-Based Coaching (NeuroLeadership Institute, NYC), and Certification as a C-IQ Conversational Intelligence® Coach, training as an Enhanced Skills Coach in Conversational Intelligence® - allows her to offer a coaching experience that transforms performance and leads to innovation and success.
Dr. Ackerley's areas of expertise include: Strategic Reasoning; Employee Issues; Conflict Resolution; Peak Performance Skills; Navigating Conversations; Engagement; Instinct; Learning Agility; Collaboration; and Presence. She is currently President of The International Coach Federation - Connecticut Chapter, and serves clients nationally and globally.
308 - Cars of the Future: New Technologies and New Opportunities
Naveena Ari has been working in the infotainment field of the automotive industry for almost four years. Currently, she is a Function Owner for Navigation at the Electronics Research Laboratory of Volkswagen Group of America, in Belmont, CA.
Ms. Ari holds a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Lawrence Technological University. Previously, she worked as Secretary for the Center for Extension Activities – Women's Wing in KLU University, India for three years. There she contributed to various women's empowerment activities which expanded her horizons towards women welfare.
308 - Cars of the Future: New Technologies and New Opportunities
Radhika Arora is the Autonomous Driving Lead at ON Semiconductor - Image Sensor Group. Prior to that, she held a variety of roles in marketing and management at large semiconductor companies as well as her own start-up company. Ms. Arora holds an MS in Electrical Engineering and a BS in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Rochester.
364 - The Value of Continuing Education: Invest in Yourself and Your Future!
Gemini Aswani is a DevOps thought leader and certified security, privacy, risk, and compliance management professional, with significant involvement in business enablement and service growth in the SaaS sector. In addition, Ms. Aswani has over 12 years of experience in developing and implementing information security frameworks and GRC strategies with expertise in Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), AICPA TSP100A (SSAE16/SSAE18), HIPAA, PCI-DSS, FFIEC, NIST 800-53, FedRAMP, GDPR, ISO 27001, COBIT/COSO, etc.
Ms. Aswani's specialties include: Internal Audit, Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance, Business Process Assessment and Improvement, Risk and Compliance, and Risk Management.
351 - Job Search Strategies, v2
As Senior Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Western Digital, Dana Atherton is a strategic business partner and talent advisor. She is responsible for creating and executing talent strategies to address gaps and aligning needs with business objectives.
Ms. Atherton is a global human resources executive leader and strategic business partner with experience in the high-tech, marketing, retail, and healthcare industries with a passion for connecting people and hiring top talent. She has a successful track record of driving cost-effective, efficient and scalable sourcing strategies to attract best-in-class talent. She graduated from University of California, Irvine, with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
202 - Life Goals, Career Success, and the Future of Work
In May 2021, Michelle Bailey became the new Chief Executive Officer of Women in Technology International (WITI), succeeding WITI Founder Carolyn Leighton. Leading WITI's next stage of growth, Michelle will expand the organization's business services to help women, minorities, and technology organizations in realizing a diverse and inclusive workplace.
For the past 25 years, Michelle has advised senior technology industry executives, including CEOs and Board members, Chief People Officers, and DE&I VPs. A specialist in emerging and disruptive technologies, she founded and championed diversity and inclusion research and advisory for the technology sector, with an emphasis on under-represented minority employee insight. Most recently, Michelle was Group Vice President and Research Fellow at International Data Corporation (IDC), and previously Chief Research Officer at 451 Research. Her expertise spans Cloud, Digital Infrastructure, Datacenters, AI, Security, and Talent Management & the Human Enterprise. She holds a B.S. (Hons.) in Mathematical Statistics from Monash University, Australia.
Tanya Baker is a Senior Analytic Scientist at FICO, where she is responsible for designing, developing and delivering neural network and machine learning based cutting-edge technologies for card and electronic payment fraud detection for US and International financial institutions, including the FICO™ Falcon® Fraud Manager product which protects about two thirds of the world's payment card transactions from fraud. For over eight years, Tanya has worked closely with financial institutions globally to design and build fraud detection analytics for them. FICO has been applying machine learning algorithms for fraud detection since 1992, and develops data and predictive analytics based solutions empowering companies globally to make better decisions by providing innovative machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions.
Prior to joining FICO, Tanya was a Junior Research Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies modeling large-scale neuronal population dynamics using statistical methods. As a post-doctoral lecturer at the University of Chicago, she developed and taught Mathematical Methods for the Biological Sciences and co-authored MATLAB® for Neuroscientists. She received her Doctorate and Masters in Physics from the University of Chicago after having received Bachelors of Science in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
257 - Coaching Circle - REALIZE 50/50: BRILLIANT WOMEN AND GREAT MEN IN PARTNERSHIP
372 - Coaching Circle - REALIZE 50/50: BRILLIANT WOMEN AND GREAT MEN IN PARTNERSHIP
352 - Marketers: Intrusive or Productive?
Named one of 100 Women of Influence of Silicon Valley by the 2014 Silicon Valley Business Journal 2014, Bonita Banducci is a coach, consultant, author, trainer and mentor, and university faculty member. She adds a powerful dimension to the development of men's and women's leadership through her Gender Competence and RISE methodology.
Ms. Banducci has worked across Silicon Valley; she represented the Commission on the Status of Women of Santa Clara Country at the UN NGO Forum World Conference on Women in Beijing, leading a workshop on Creating Partnership of Women in Business with Women in Development for Sustainable Global Development. At the 2017 UN Women NGO Parallel Conference, for the fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Ms. Banducci led a panel workshop, "Realize 50/50: Brilliant Women and Great Men in Partnership." At Santa Clara University, she teaches Gender and Engineering, a Core curriculum course, for the School of Engineering Graduate Program. Ms. Banducci is a founding Board member of the Global Women's Leadership Network, first sponsored by the Leavey School of Business, and a faculty member and coach for the Women Leaders for the World Program.
310 - Tech Trends and The Future of Work
Entrepreneurial, connected, results-oriented, passionate about innovation and leadership, Hillary is a business operations and program management leader for a global SaaS business. She brings visions to life and gives life to visions. concept-to-market, quote-to-cash, process optimization, business transformation. Hillary founded an intrapraneurial venture in the augmented reality space. Her professional experience includes 20+ years in pivotal roles within engineering, operations, product management, marketing, IT and business development.
364 - The Value of Continuing Education: Invest in Yourself and Your Future!
Shannon Bell is the Director of Corporate Outreach and Recruitment for the Executive MBA Programs at UCLA Anderson. Ms. Bell develops strategies to drive awareness and consideration for the UCLA Executive MBA (140 students per year) and UCLA-NUS Executive MBA program (40 students per year) through various channels. She identifies and collaborates with corporations and professional organizations in order to engage with top talent managers and executives who are interested in developing their leadership skills and cross-functional business acumen. Ms. Bell also helps drive the marketing and branding of the programs and serves as a member of the admissions committee.
Prior to joining UCLA Anderson in 2017, Ms. Bell spent 11 years in the advertising industry selling traditional and digital media solutions at Google, Microsoft, and NBC. She specialized in building strategic partnerships with large entertainment brands, consulting and advising on content creation, data strategy, and audience insights. While at Microsoft and Google, she pursued her passion for bridging the gap between the private and public sectors by organizing corporate volunteer activities, and serving as an ambassador for Google Cardboard Expeditions doing educational outreach.
Barbara Bickham, Founder & CTO at Trailyn Ventures, growing and scaling companies by innovating with Blockchain and AI technology. Managing Director at Women's Innovation Fund, accelerating growth by using a mix of incubation, shared workspace, and business finance while requiring participants to have a C-suite made up of at least 50% women. Chief of the Block @ The Blockchain Accelerator for Global Growth, helping Blockchain companies become fundable with the Due Diligence Intensive; growing and scaling companies globally.
353 - Unlock the Secrets of Digital Transformation - Innovation, Technology, Scalability
Amanda Blevins, Sr. Director and Chief Technologist, Office of the CTO at VMware, leads multiple programs that connect customers and partners to R&D to drive business and technology success for all VMware customers and partners. She speaks across the world in customer briefings, industry events, and partner events and leads digital transformation across all industries. Amanda also focuses on driving solutions based on Machine Learning and other emerging technologies. She has been in the IT field for over 20 years holding roles such as infrastructure administrator, technical architect, enterprise architect, and transformation consultant. Her first role within VMware was Sr. Systems Engineer in the field organization in 2010. Amanda became VMware's first female Principal Systems Engineer a few years later. As VMware's first and only female Chief Technologist, she leverages her experience and network to increase awareness and action in STEM fields for girls and young women.
353 - Unlock the Secrets of Digital Transformation - Innovation, Technology, Scalability
Lily Chang is a technology and business executive with extensive experience in cloud, enterprise, EDA, semi-conductor, and embedded industries in the areas of portfolio/product management, strategic planning, product development, engineering, and global operations. She brings the best of entrepreneurialism, people, process, and technology together to solve problems with business outcomes. In addition to serving as a board member of Sugon-VMware Joint Venture and Women Who Code, Ms. Chang leads the VMware Strategic Transformation Office. As VMware's Central Engineering VP, she has successfully driven global scalability and growth in ecosystem infrastructure, services, interoperability, developers' initiatives, and R&D portfolio service model.
Prior to VMware, Ms. Chang held senior R&D leadership positions at Xilinx, Lam Research (formerly KLA-Tencor), and Mentor Graphics with proven success in driving game-changing innovation, product development, and R&D productivity globally. She was recognized as one of "the 39 most powerful female engineers of 2018" by Business Insider.
308 - Cars of the Future: New Technologies and New Opportunities
Sarva Channarajurs is the director of validation for NIO's digital cockpit product. She comes with many years of engineering and program management experience. She is a strong advocate and implementer of customer perspective and value-added product quality strategies. She has been part of the core team that developed and brought to market products like enterprise and consumer telepresence.
Ms. Channarajurs is also the founder and president of a non-profit organization, Mithil Prasad Foundation, whose mission is to support DIPG research and patients. Through her foundation, she aims to contribute towards bringing a cure for this deadly pediatric brain tumor in her lifetime.
Currently CTO of Silicon Valley Software Group, Geeta Chauhan has 25 years of expertise in building resilient, anti-fragile, large-scale distributed platforms with 1B+ users for startups and Fortune 500s. She has built and launched 15+ platforms and countless applications based on AI/Deep Learning, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, SDN, Micro-services, Self-healing, Elastic Scaling.
Ms. Chauhan has led diverse global teams, scaling complex distributed systems for companies ranging from nimble startups to Fortune 500s. She is focusing these days on building AI, Deep Learning, and Blockchain-based platforms for startups. Or tinkering in her garage to convert her electric car to run autonomously.
Nicole Clark is a business litigation and labor and employment attorney who has handled litigation in both state and federal courts. She's worked at a variety of law firms ranging from mid-size litigation boutiques to AM100 firms, and is licensed to practice law in three states. She has defended corporations and employers in complex class action and wage and hour disputes, as well as individual employment matters ranging from sexual harassment to wrongful termination.
Additionally, Ms. Clark is the CEO and co-founder of Trellis Research, a legal analytics platform that uses ai and machine learning to provide litigators with strategic legal intelligence and judicial analytics. She has an intuitive understanding of technology and is deeply committed to helping lawyers leverage technology to gain a competitive advantage and achieve a more favorable outcome for their clients.
302 - Breaking Barriers & Survival: Reaching the Top
307 - Secret to Higher ROI: Invest in Women
354 - FinTech: Disruption, Competition and Co-opetition: The Innovation Imperative
Karen Cone serves on multiple advisory boards and is a venture partner with the Mastersfund, focused on women founders in technology. She is the former General Manager of Microsoft Worldwide Financial Services, CEO and Board Director of the advisory research firm, TowerGroup, and SVP at Gartner where she also served on the Gartner International Board. Karen has also held executive positions with MasterCard and at IBM where she started her career on the market opening teams in Russia (then the Soviet Union) and China. She has lived and worked in the Americas, EMEA & Asia.
354 - FinTech: Disruption, Competition and Co-opetition: The Innovation Imperative
Suzanne Cook is a technology entrepreneur, research expert, and Wharton graduate with extensive and varied Wall Street experience. A seven-time Institutional Investor All Star Analyst, she has fulfilled multiple executive-level roles advising investor clients and providing investment banking, mergers & acquisitions, IPOs and corporate advisory work at First Boston, Merrill Lynch, and Wasserstein Perella.
Ms. Cook anticipates a new golden era of research, augmented intelligence, and risk management thanks to the trifecta of (1) Cloud - cheaper and more accessible computing, (2) Scale Analytics - unifying vastly expanded data sets, and (3) Autonomous pattern recognition via Artificial Intelligence. The FinTech startup that Ms. Cook has founded with the Ainstein Team out of MIT is applying these three phenomena to elevate and automate decision-making and create distinct competitive advantages for two groups of decision makers: (1) Ainstein Optimized AI for Investing - For Investors & Finance Professionals; and (2) Ainstein Optimized Governance - For C-Suite Officers & Boards.
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
Brad Cook is Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at Intuitive Surgical. Intuitive is a global technology leader in minimally invasive care and the pioneer of robotic-assisted surgery. The company believes that minimally invasive care is life-enhancing care. Through ingenuity and intelligent technology, Intuitive seeks to expand the potential of physicians to heal without constraints.
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
Roger Crockett is a fierce advocate for advancing women in leadership. He is responsible for leading Diversity & Inclusion initiatives across Western Digital's global footprint of nearly 65,000 employees. Prior to Western Digital, Mr. Crockett was a Senior Partner at D&I training and consulting firm, InQUEST Consulting. At inQUEST he worked with clients, such as FedEx and the Illinois Institute of Technology, to enhance diversity awareness and build cultures of inclusive leadership.
Previously, Mr. Crockett covered the technology industry for BusinessWeek magazine, where he wrote about companies such as Apple and Motorola. He is a native of Silicon Valley.
307 - Secret to Higher ROI: Invest in Women
Lake Dai is an Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, and an Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a partner at the venture capital firm LDV Partners. For 20 years she has led product and engineering teams globally at Alibaba, Apple, Yahoo!, and Silicon Valley tech startups. She is a recognized expert in Search Engine, Ad Platform, Marketplace, Analytics, Mobile Platforms and Applications, holding 7 US patents in search algorithm, search tokenization, mobile data analytics, and mobile monetization. In China, Ms. Dai was employee #84 at Alibaba, led the product team that launched the first generation of profitable products at Alibaba. At Yahoo! China, her team launched the first generation of web and vertical search products of China, tripling Yahoo!'s market share within one quarter.
In the US, as a co-founder of Shinect, a non-profit acceleration program designed to connect Silicon Valley's entrepreneurs to China's market, she has been helping companies build successful products and profitable businesses. Ms. Dai also mentors startups at various incubators including 500 Startups, Muckerlab, Lab360 and Shinect. As Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, she teaches Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, and Product Management at master programs in College of Engineering. She is on the Advisory Board of Women In Technology International (WITI), and also a Board Governor and Chairwoman of the US Chapter of QCH, a non-profit organization which fosters entrepreneurship for Alibaba alumni worldwide.
364 - The Value of Continuing Education: Invest in Yourself and Your Future!
Tahereh Daneshi, Ph.D., is a professor at Forbes School of Management and Technology. With over 26 years of higher education experience in both state and private universities, she knows the value of continuing education for women. In addition to higher education, Dr. Daneshi has 12 years of industrial experience working in the Semiconductor, Data Management, Transportation, and Wireless Telecommunication Industries. While in industry, she contributed to the design, architecture, and development of many systems, such as Programable Logic Arrays, Enterprise Data Management, Airline APU Monitoring, Handheld Wireless Package Tracking Devices, and Telecommunication Broadband Wireless.
Dr. Daneshi holds an MS in mathematics from Oklahoma State University, an MS in computer science from Midwestern State University, and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Texas Christian University.
355 - Cybersecurity: Taking a Hard Look
An award-winning CXO and Technical Strategist who has held prominent leadership roles for commercial product and service companies of multiple genres. Janine has driven the expansion and profitability of many well known global brands including Barnes & Noble, Everlast, Chanel, Mark, Nestle, Sony, Samsung, and Starbucks.
Her expertise in devising innovative business strategy and leveraging well considered risk to optimum outcome is well documented. Janine's commitment to transparency and trustworthiness is a constant; delivering the human factor of technology is always top of mind.
388 - Career Circle - WINNING THE WAR FOR TALENT
At Bristol-Myers Squibb, Arnell Davis is currently the Head of Enterprise Service Center and is responsible for Global Contact Center Strategy, and service delivery for IT Service Center. Ms. Davis is experienced in building high performance teams and the design and delivery of cost-effective, high-performance digital solutions to deliver global support strategies.
104 - Workshop - DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE
136 - Coaching Circle - DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Frank Del Fiugo is the founder of Del Fiugo Consulting, an executive coaching firm that helps today's leaders acquire a psychological understanding of individuals to help drive organizational and personal performance. Mr. Del Fiugo has decades of experience working with emotionally charged situations, addressing and resolving personal and professional conflict, resolving peer disputes, addressing communication deficiencies, and fostering leadership development. He works with public and private companies in Silicon Valley, southern California, and nationally.
Mr. Del Fiugo is a professional speaker and provides training on leadership, stress management, dealing with difficult people, and high impact communication. He is also the author of a book focused upon aggression and anger management. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Southern California, and his Master's degree in Psychology from JFK University.
354 - FinTech: Disruption, Competition and Co-opetition: The Innovation Imperative
Sabrina Del Prete is the Founder and CEO of Kore, a technology and advisory company supporting financial service organisations through digital transformation. She is also a Partner at Pacemakers, a financial technology market research firm.
Sabrina has over 25 years' experience in financial markets, business transformation and the application of new technologies in banking, wealth management and capital markets. She has a deep understanding of how the financial services sector works - clients, products, processes, regulations - and a clear vision of how it will transform and impact society in the years to come. This includes working closely with the FinTech sector and using that connectivity to spot trends and opportunities. Sabrina combines old-school business experience with the development of high tech solutions.
Over her career, Sabrina has held senior roles at JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Coutts and RBS. She is actively involved in the entrepreneurial community, both as a Board adviser and strategic director for Fintech companies.
Sabrina holds an MSc in Finance from the London Business School and a BA in Business and Economics from the University of Turin. She has won a number of innovation awards for her work and last year she was included in the Timetric Power 50 list of the most influential digital innovators in Europe.
An Italian national, she lives and works in London, UK.
354 - FinTech: Disruption, Competition and Co-opetition: The Innovation Imperative
As Head of the Innovation Network, Beth Devin oversees Citi Ventures' emerging technology practice. In collaboration with internal and external partners, her team stays abreast of frontier technologies and dives deep to understand and experiment with tech that intersects with Citi's business. Previously, Ms. Devin was a Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal and provided technology advisory and management consulting services to financial services, healthcare and technology companies. Throughout her career, Ms. Devin has held Chief Technology Officer, CIO, and tech leadership positions at Silicon Valley Bank, Charles Schwab, Blackhawk Network, Art.com, and Turner Broadcasting. She was also a part of the founding team at Manilla.com, where she set up and managed the San Francisco office, and led the startup's product, design, engineering, and customer service teams.
Ms. Devin started her career as a software developer, systems analyst, and DBA. She received her BS in Computer Science from San Francisco State University and was an International Women's Forum (IWF) Leadership fellow. She is passionate about increasing the number of women in STEM careers and regularly mentors women taking charge of their career journey. She is an active member of the IWF and serves on their non-profit Legacy Foundation board.
352 - Marketers: Intrusive or Productive?
Liz Dubelman is currently a partner at Column Agency, specializing in content marketing. She is the founder of VidLit.com, a site dedicated to connecting authors to their audiences using social media and artist communities. She has conceived and executed 400 marketing/promotion campaigns. Ms. Dubelman is also Chief of Content and Strategic Partnerships for NOBLE PROFIT / B FLOW, where her main focus is illustrating the story of decentralizing sustainable business and investment. Previously she was VP, Production and Programming for Jib Jab Media.
Ms. Dubelman is also the co-editor of "What Was I Thinking? 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories," which she promoted by creating the holiday Come To Your Senses Day, or C2YSD. Her pre-digital career included ten years in television and film production, and won her two Emmys, one as a producer and one as a director. She also teaches senior citizens how to use their devices to perform seemingly simple tasks (e.g., sending pictures to grandchildren, setting up Netflix queues, downloading e-books, calling an Uber, optimizing use of iPhones and iPads) under her moniker, Digital Daughter. Ms. Dubelman is a graduate of Hampshire College.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
Cindy Dulay is the founder of Collab Collektive, a consulting firm that guides today's leaders in clarifying strategic direction translated into executable deliverables, topped with KPIs and organizational structures to enable the vision. Ms. Dulay believes in asking the next best question to leaders, leading to transformation of performance and success. She also leads in the space of Sales Enablement, flexing sales training curricula and delivery, dreaming up/executing sales training experiences and more, at Gigamon.
Ms. Dulay's areas of expertise include: Strategy, Operations, Design Thinking, Sales Enablement, Lifelong Mentorship, and Public Speaking. She is the co-Founder of miniWITI, which sets out to inspire curiosity at scale by bridging the gap between STE(A)M leaders and K-8 students.
102 - Workshop - HOW AND WHY TO MAP YOUR CAREER SUCCESS
373 - Coaching Circle - GETTING HELP FROM MENTORS
255 - Coaching Circle - EDGE OUT YOUR COMPETITORS
137 - Coaching Circle - PERSONALIZE YOUR CAREER STRATEGIES
Mentored 1,095 proteges and 3,000 employees in 40 years. 36 years in Leadership in Aerospace supporting the deployment of the Trident Missiles including: Engineering, Digital Engineering, Model Based Engineering, Manufacturing, Product Assurance, IT, Calibration, Machining, Composites, Electronics, Chemical Processing, Tooling, Maintenance, Transportation, Warehousing, Human Resources, Safety, Security, Explosive Processing for DoD/DoE with 100% Mission Success. 167 consecutive successful Trident Missile Launches. Currently working for Systems Planning and Analysis on strategic planning for the next 60 years of Trident II D5 Missile.
310 - Tech Trends and The Future of Work
As Director of Information Systems for the Intercontinental region of Amgen, Abby Fitch leads the technology strategy and execution for Amgen's Latin America, Canada, Turkey, Middle East, and Africa businesses - ensuring that products as diverse as AWS, Salesforce, SAP, and Anaplan will serve the needs of Amgen's rapidly expanding geographic footprint and portfolio. Her primary focus is identifying ways to leverage technology to enable Amgen's mission to serve patients. Her area of responsibility encompasses all facets of information technology from deskside support to product and engineering.
Previously, Ms. Fitch performed variety of technology leadership roles for Amgen's supply chain operations. She has also held leadership roles in the IT organizations of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America and Dole International. Her work has frequently concentrated on global technology initiatives enabling M&A or divestiture activity.
Ms. Fitch began her career as a technology consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, focusing on implementing SAP solutions for Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries. She holds a BS in Finance and International Business from Indiana University, and a MS in Computer Information Systems from Northwestern University.
103 - Workshop - LEAD OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE: FOUR STRATEGIES TO CREATE A GREATER IMPACT
213 - Coaching Circle - DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS: NAVIGATING COMMUNICATION IN LEADERSHIP
138 - Coaching Circle - DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS: NAVIGATING COMMUNICATION IN LEADERSHIP
259 - Coaching Circle - BUSINESS, MENTORS & HOW TO PLAY THE GAME
Heather Furby is a business strategist and innovative leader who works with high-potential individuals to create lives of meaning and financial freedom. Through consulting, executive coaching, and personal development programs, she helps clients to masterfully navigate the special needs of today's business environment and become persons of influence whose ideas are heard, respected, and sought. As a business strategist and innovative leader, Heather has worked with businesses including Apple, IntelliTools, Institute of Noetic Sciences, and other cutting-edge companies to develop products that break the mold and make a difference. Her newest program is a Business Leadership Summer Camp, where participants can explore and discover new levels of leadership without risking their reputation, business progress or trusted teams. Heather is lead author of the Amazon Best Seller Women of Influence, proving you don't have to follow the rules to make a difference and lead with impact.
306 - Job Search Strategies, v1
351 - Job Search Strategies, v2
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
Andrew Gardiner is a Talent Acquisition (TA) and HR subject matter expert with over 25 years of hands-on experience helping employers address their unique pain points across all disciplines of TA recruitment/hiring, sourcing, retention, and employer branding platforms and solutions. As the founder of BAJobs.com, San Francisco Bay Area's popular job board, Mr. Gardiner is able to feed his passion for connecting companies with the right candidates by prescribing his diverse clientele with the most creative, strategic, and cost-effective TA solutions. He keeps abreast of relevant trends and emerging technologies in both TA and candidate-facing platforms to ensure his insights are both relevant and strategic.
In addition to several hundreds of TA-related demos, Mr. Gardiner comes by this impressive body of knowledge and expertise through a unique combination of running his own recruitment ad agency (ADVANCE Recruitment Solutions), founding a job board (BAJobs), and personally pounding the pavement to ensure he understands and meets each client's unique hiring goals, wants, and needs. A close-to-the-heart endeavor is helping our Veterans transition into the civilian workplace through support of organizations like BraveHire, WorkForWarriors, and VetsInTech. Mr. Gardiner is also a proud sponsor and supporter of the Women In Technology International (WITI) Summit.
307 - Secret to Higher ROI: Invest in Women
Jocelyn Goldfein is a Managing Director at Zetta Venture Partners where she invests in AI-first startups with B2B business models. She's particularly excited about the potential of AI to optimize infrastructure, security, supply chains, and worker productivity. Ms. Goldfein is a widely recognized industry expert on product strategy, infrastructure, and organizational scale. Her career as an engineering leader spans from early stage startups to high-growth years at Facebook and VMware.
During her tenure at Facebook, she helped convert News Feed to Machine Learning and spearheaded the transition to a "mobile first" product organization. As an early engineer at VMware, she built core virtualization technology and ultimately created and led VMware's Desktop Business Unit. She also held engineering and leadership roles at startups Datify, MessageOne and Trilogy/pcOrder. Ms. Goldfein has a passion for STEM Education and serves on the board of Harvey Mudd College and lectures at Stanford University, where she received her BS in Computer Science.
222 - Learning Circle - THE LINK BETWEEN DIVERSITY AND PROFITABILITY
Stacey A. Gordon is an innovative human capital strategist whose mission is to reduce bias in global talent acquisition and management. To that end, Ms. Gordon offers diversity, inclusion, and career-related online courses which have been viewed more than 1 million times. She was recognized by Pepperdine University as a Top 40 Over 40 Leader, was a finalist for Los Angeles Business Journal's Women Helping Women Award, and was recognized by Forbes as a Top 3 Business Leader Who Spoke Out About Diversity & Inclusion. In her capacity as a highly-rated coach, she is a member of Forbes Coaching Council and has coached D&I practitioners at The Forum on Workplace Inclusion.
Ms. Gordon is currently CEO at Rework Work, a Los Angeles, CA-based human capital services and training consultancy focused on helping organizations address Diversity & Inclusion needs through a proven, data-driven methodology. She holds an MBA from Pepperdine University's School of Business and a B.S. from St. John's University. Ms. Gordon is an Advisory Board Member and Mentor at The Coding Boot Camp at UCLA Extension and teaches Diversity in Organizations and Cultural Intelligence as an Adjunct Faculty member at Phillips Graduate University in Chatsworth, CA.
355 - Cybersecurity: Taking a Hard Look
Angel Grant is currently Vice President of Product and Market Strategy at f5 Security. She is a visionary leader with a passion for developing and evangelizing cybersecurity, fraud prevention, and risk management solutions to help make our digital world a safer place. Angel has over 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity, eCommerce, and financial services industries with a background in product development, marketing, and sales. Prior to f5, she held various positions in RSA Security authentication, identity, fraud, risk, and threat intelligence teams. She has influenced many industry initiatives while serving on the FS-ISAC Board, PCI Council Board of Advisors, Federal Reserve Secure Payments Task Force and Nacha's Payments Innovation Alliance Risk, Regulatory and Security Advisory Committees. She is also a prominent diversity evangelist, spokesperson, blogger, and is CISSP certified.
353 - Unlock the Secrets of Digital Transformation - Innovation, Technology, Scalability
Patty Hatter is an award-winning CXO and prior executive at McAfee, Intel, Cisco, and AT&T, where her roles spanned CIO, P&L leadership, and transformation executive. Ms. Hatter is currently working with multiple early-stage technology companies focused on cybersecurity, AI, and blockchain. She is also an independent board member for both public companies, including Qualys and Barrick Gold (former director), as well as a board director for an early stage IoT cybersecurity company (WootCloud).
Ms. Hatter is a frequent speaker on technology-enabled transformation, as well as events encouraging women & girls in STEM.
364 - The Value of Continuing Education: Invest in Yourself and Your Future!
Steve brings 15 years of professional career development experience. For the last eight years, Steve has been directed all areas of career advancement services for Wharton MBA for Executives program in San Francisco that includes one-on-one coaching; career development programming, and partnership with the Wharton alumni community. Prior to Wharton, Steve was an adjunct career advisor for the UC Berkeley Haas MBA programs. As a former partner and executive recruiter for a local search firm, Steve has helped Bay Area companies identify, screen, and hire professionals ranging from staff to senior management in a variety of industries, including banking, software, technology manufacturing, financial services, retail, consumer goods, biotechnology, and nonprofit.
In partnering with C-level executives, senior and middle managers, as well as human resources, Steve gained in-depth knowledge of the skills, communication, leadership, and behavioral traits that lead to success within organizations. Steve holds a master's degree in Career Development from John.F.Kennedy University.
123 - Coaching Circle - STANDING YOUR GROUND IN EMOTIONALLY CHARGED SITUATIONS
Gabrielle Hildebrand has coaching certifications from the Hendricks Institute and Bay Non-Violent Communication. At the Hendricks Institute, she co-directed the Leadership and Transformation Program and provided advanced skills sessions. In addition to her private coaching practice, Ms. Hildebrand teaches and sponsors Hendricks-based workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her forte is translating cerebral concepts into tangible experiences that generate epiphanies.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
Heather Hinton is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, and an IBM Master Inventor. She was recently awarded an IBM Corporate Patent Portfolio for her patent work in the area of single sign-on and identity federation, an area she helped create as one of the original authors of the cross-domain single sign-on functionality. As IBM Hybrid Cloud CISO, Dr. Hinton is responsible for the overall adoption of secure engineering and software development practices, as well as the secure operation and compliance with security and privacy requirements for internal environments and Cloud offerings, while acting as a security enablement evangelist for the organization.
She has led the redesign of IBM's Secure Development Lifecycle discipline to address data handling, global privacy regulations, and an increasingly hostile cyber security landscape. Dr. Hinton has over 25 years of computer security experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer & Electrical Engineering in Computer Security from the University of Toronto.
352 - Marketers: Intrusive or Productive?
When Valerie Hoecke isn't paddling her outrigger canoe on the nearest body of water, she is busy accelerating digital growth across 14 diverse brands. As the Chief Digital Officer for LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics, she is bringing digital excellence across all areas of communications, ecommerce, and e-retail. Ms. Hoecke has deep roots in digital innovation and strategy. She spent eight years as the EVP of Digital for Benefit Cosmetics, building a global digital program for the brand that included communication, messaging, and selling channels.
Her expertise and experience in digital go beyond Beauty. Ms. Hoecke spent 16 years owning and managing a broad range of digital agencies - from web development in the earliest days of the Internet, to advising startups, to developing media and search programs. She has extensive expertise in user experience design and next-gen digital development. Ms. Hoecke is passionate about women and tech and was the co-founder of SF WoW, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women thrive in the technology sector. She also curated and wrote What's New and What's Cool for Netscape.com, the original homepage of the Internet. Ms. Hoecke's passion for technology is only slightly outmatched by her boundless curiosity about the power of digital.
355 - Cybersecurity: Taking a Hard Look
Teuta Hyseni is a Security Engineer at Microsoft, responsible for leading application security projects, assessing potential flaws within applications, and reviewing the application's architecture. Ms. Hyseni started her career as a Software Engineer at Rackspace, then moved to Denim Group where she began working on the cybersecurity side and became fascinated with it.
Ms. Hyseni is committed to educating others outside the industry on security threats and best practices, maximizing the impact of her security expertise through different talks and mentorship programs. In recognition of her efforts, she was Security Champion of the Year finalist in 2018 at the Women in IT Awards. As part of her passion for the tech industry and innovation, Ms. Hyseni and her mentees won first place in the World Blockchain Hackathon at the Blockchain Economic Forum in 2018, a world-class competition. As an advocate for gender diversity, she also has a keen interest in motivating, inspiring, and improving women's participation in the industry.
188 - Celebration Kick-Off & Founders Reception
Hannah-Beth Jackson is a former prosecutor and practicing attorney, educator, and small business owner. She was elected to the California State Senate in 2012 to represent the 19th Senate District, which includes all of Santa Barbara County and western Ventura County.
A graduate of Scripps College in Claremont, California with a joint major in government and sociology, she received her law degree from Boston University Law School before returning to California to work as a deputy district attorney for Santa Barbara County. Eventually, she became the managing partner for the Law Offices of Eskin and Jackson, with offices in Ventura and Santa Barbara.
From 1998 to 2004, she represented the 35th Assembly District in the State Assembly, where she worked with Democratic and Republican governors to author more than 60 bills into law.
Hannah-Beth has also co-founded two non-profit organizations, served as the first policy-maker in residence at UC Santa Barbara, and served as adjunct professor at Antioch University.
In the Senate, she is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and serves as a member of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee, Senate Human Services Committee, and the Senate Public Safety Committee. She is immediate past chair of the California Legislative Women's Caucus.
During her time in the Legislature, Hannah-Beth has become known as an effective advocate for protecting the rights and privacy of Californians, protecting the environment, advancing legislation to reduce gun violence, supporting access to justice for all Californians, championing equality for women, advocating for commuter rail, improving access to early childhood education, and supporting veterans and veterans treatment courts, among other issues. She is the author of Senate Bill 358, the California Fair Pay Act, landmark legislation to strengthen California's equal pay law, and was named by Huffington Post as one of 11 women around the country "blazing new trails" in American politics.
Hannah-Beth has received Legislator of the Year awards from a wide range of organizations and is the recipient of the prestigious California Women Lawyer's Fay Stender Award, given annually to an attorney committed to affecting positive change with "zest, humanity (and) personal courage" who serves as a role model for women. An advocate for justice for women, children, and victims of crime for more than three decades, she helped establish the Santa Barbara Shelter Services for Women (now known as Domestic Violence Solutions) and Women Against Gun Violence. She is also a founding member and past president of the Santa Barbara Women's Political Committee.
Hannah-Beth is married to retired Superior Court Judge George Eskin. She has a daughter, two stepchildren and six grandchildren. She and her family have resided in the district for more than 35 years.
374 - Coaching Circle - POWER UP YOUR SALES THROUGH INFLUENCE AND IMPACT
Janet Janssen is a distinguished Toastmaster International speaker, coach, and trainer. She has provided successful coaching circles with WITI for five years and in her Power Play Purpose business for nine years, helping project managers, leaders, and everyday professionals learn the skills on how to go after what you want in life-career. Her programs include sales and goal achievement strategies and tactics, positive mindset principles, and public speaking and storytelling skills. Her work uses positive psychology, neurolinguist, and practical hands-on practices. She is a member of the Women's Networking Alliance since 2012, Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce Board member, and monthly Strictly Business columnist, at the Press Banner.
308 - Cars of the Future: New Technologies and New Opportunities
Shani Jayant is the head of the Inclusive Mobility Initiative at Volkswagen Group of America. Her work focuses on the design of future autonomous mobility for all people, including those with disabilities, through technology, design, policy, and social change.
Prior to joining Volkswagen, Dr. Jayant was a UX Researcher and Interaction Designer at the Perceptual Computing Group at Intel, working on creating experiences using 3D camera technologies for mobile, wearables, smart spaces, and augmented and virtual reality. She has worked extensively with the blind and low-vision community, and wrote her Ph.D. thesis at the University of Washington on non-visual mobile device interactions and blind photography. Dr. Jayant received her BS in mathematics, computer science, and music from New York University. She has been a radio dj for various stations around the country, including WNYU in New York, KEXP in Seattle, and KALX in Berkeley.
252 - Coaching Circle - BUILDING EXECUTIVE LEVEL CONFIDENCE
124 - Coaching Circle - LASER COACHING FOR WOMEN ON THE RISE
Jovita Jenkins is a global executive/leadership coach, peer coaching group facilitator, strategist, author, and speaker. Jovita supports and collaborates with aspiring and seasoned leaders as they come up to speed more quickly in new roles, adapt to rapidly changing global environments, and discover ways to raise their levels of confidence, executive presence, influence, and effectiveness. As a speaker, seminar leader, author, and west coast aerospace "hidden figure," Jovita inspires audiences to shift their mindsets and overcome their success roadblocks.
308 - Cars of the Future: New Technologies and New Opportunities
Coleen Kane brings more than 20 years' professional experience in Recruiting, Staff Augmentation, and HR, specializing in technology - specifically in the autonomous driving space. She heads up Talent Acquisition for the Volkswagen Group of America, Innovation & Engineering Center of California - the R&D arm for the brands - where she leads efforts to effectively manage internal and external resources while defining strategy and policy.
Coleen has been closely involved with the WITI organization for over 10 years. She brings to WITI solid expertise to further enhance existing memberships, partnerships, and services while working to establish new relationships that support regional and national growth. Coleen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Reed College and an MBA from Chaminade University.
352 - Marketers: Intrusive or Productive?
258 - Learning Circle - HOW TO AMPLIFY YOUR PERSONAL & BUSINESS BRAND
Liz H. Kelly is Goody PR Founder, Award-Winning Author of "8-Second PR: New Public Relations Crash Course" (2nd Edition, Feb 2022), Podcast Host (8-Second Branding), Speaker and Goody Business Book Awards Founder.
After working as an executive at Paramount Pictures, myspace, Sprint PCS, and LA startups, Kelly decided to start Goody PR.
Based on 15+ years of marketing experience, Kelly is passionate about magnifying brands, experts and small businesses through timely public relations campaigns with a WOW Story.
Kelly's booked thousands of media interviews for clients, including the TODAY Show, Pioneer PBS Postcards, CNN, FOX Business, BBC World News, NPR, and in TIME, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and on hundreds of podcasts.
Kelly is a Johns Hopkins University Carey School of Business alumni from Baltimore, Maryland, loves photography (don't ask how many photos are on her phone), and is an autism advocate. Follow @LizHKelly @8SecondPR or visit https://goodypr.com
Jennifer Kloke is the Chief Technology Officer of AyasdiAI. For the last 10 years, Dr. Kloke has been responsible for the automation and algorithm development of unsupervised machine learning and artificial intelligence at AyasdiAI. In addition to algorithm development, she has led many efforts of business transformation through intelligent applications in diverse industries including finance, public sector, and bio-tech.
Dr. Kloke and her team's efforts landed AyasdiAI spots on Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in Big Data, AIconics, and consecutively on Forbes Fintech50. She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Stanford University.
112 - Workshop - HOW TO GO FROM BORED, BURNED OUT, AND UNFULFILLED TO DESIGNING WORK YOU LOVE
376 - Coaching Circle - CREATING YOUR "PERFECT WORK"
220 - Coaching Circle - CREATING YOUR "PERFECT WORK"
139 - Coaching Circle - REDESIGNING YOUR SUCCESS FOR MORE PASSION, PURPOSE & EASE
Renessa Boley Layne is author of the book Fast Lane, Wrong Direction: Insider Secrets to Redesign Your Success. She takes high-achieving women who have grown bored, burned out, or unfulfilled in their current career and helps them create their "Perfect Work" - be it radically changing careers, starting a business, or bringing a big idea to life. Renessa's mission is to equip women everywhere to discover, design, and get highly paid doing work they love!
Renessa has appeared as a leading authority on ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX TV affiliates across the country. She has also been featured in publications such as Career Builder, CNN.com, Heart & Soul magazine, and The Washington Post. Renessa holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Stanford University and brings 20 years of corporate and entrepreneurial success to her training. Her skill set ranges from keynotes and facilitation to career and life design coaching.
111 - Workshop - POWERFUL STRATEGIES FOR FEMALE FOUNDERS
377 - Coaching Circle - POWERFUL STRATEGIES FOR FEMALE FOUNDERS
Jennifer S. LeBlanc is the best-selling author of Launching for Revenue: How to Launch Your Product, Service or Company for Maximum Growth, and curator of Changing Tides: Powerful Strategies for Female Founders. She is also the founder and president of ThinkResults Marketing, and owns the publishing house, HAL House. Her speaking and workshop events are designed to galvanize her audiences into action.
In her private coaching work, Ms. LeBlanc works with female founders, entrepreneurs, and change agents to provide them with the tools and connections they need to succeed. Silicon Valley Business Journal gave Ms. LeBlanc its Silicon Valley Women of Influence Award in 2016, and ranked her company, ThinkResults, as the 10th Fastest Growing Private Company in Silicon Valley in 2017. Under her leadership, ThinkResults has also been recognized as one of the top Silicon Valley agencies (2013-2018). Ms. LeBlanc has been an advisor to President Obama, Congress, and the SBA via the National Women's Business Council. She is an advisor to Women's Startup Lab and Founders Network.
Carolyn Leighton founded WITI in 1989 as a worldwide e-mail network for women in all technology sectors. At the time WITI was established, Ms. Leighton was President of Criterion Research, a research consulting firm for the high tech industry which she founded in 1984, as well as chair of the Core Competency Database Project at Stanford University.
Due to Ms. Leighton's leadership and vision, WITI has grown to be the premiere brand and worldwide organization dedicated to empowering women worldwide to achieve unimagined possibilities and transformations through technology, leadership and economic prosperity.
Ms. Leighton has 35 years of experience as an educator and entrepreneur. In addition to WITI, she founded four start-ups in the high-tech, legal sectors and, most recently, the pet industry. She attended the University of Michigan and has a bachelor's degree in human development from Pacific Oaks College. Ms. Leighton has received numerous accolades, twice named as one of the "Top 100 Women in Computing." More recently, she was named one of Fast Company Magazine's "Most Influential Women in Technology."
Hailey Lennon is a shareholder in Anderson Kill's Technology, Media, and Distributed Systems Group. She is based in California and affiliated with Anderson Kill's Los Angeles office. Hailey is also Regulatory Analyst at Forbes Crypto and Founder of Crypto Connect. Prior to joining Anderson Kill, Hailey was regulatory counsel at leading cryptocurrency platforms Coinbase and bitFlyer. At Coinbase, Hailey helped oversee regulatory relationships with the SEC, CFTC, OFAC, and state regulators. She worked with the New York Department of Financial Services to obtain approvals for new products, services, and digital assets, and managed the organization's Bitlicense and Trust Company supervisory relationships, reporting, and audits. Prior, Hailey helped bitFlyer Japan's expansion into the United States, obtaining money transmitter licenses for 33 states, as well as the coveted New York BitLicense. At bitFlyer, Hailey served as board secretary for the Virtual Commodity Association, a working group seeking to establish an industry-sponsored self-regulatory organization for the cryptocurrency industry. Previously, Hailey was AVP of regulatory compliance at Silvergate Bank.
310 - Tech Trends and The Future of Work
Jennifer Leung is a designer, mobilizer, and champion of digital innovation and transformation.
In her current role as Sr. Director of Innovation Labs for AppDynamics, she leads a multidisciplinary SWAT team responsible for driving and scaling the company's organic innovation portfolio including culture, product, and productivity initiatives.
Prior to AppDynamics, Jennifer held product and technology leadership roles at the National Football League, MSNBC, and NBC Sports where she brought new world-class digital experiences to life while transforming how those businesses operated. These experiences include wholesale refreshes of the NFL and MSNBC digital web properties, the launching of an exclusive 24/7 online news network, a new integrated TV and digital debate platform for MSNBC TV network, and the build and launch of the first-generation live video experience and streaming platform for Sunday Night Football, The Golf Channel, and the NHL.
She won a 2013 Sports Emmy Award - the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award - for her video production and operations work during the 2012 London Olympics and received the 2014 News Group Transformer Award from Comcast and NBC News Group's executive committee for her work at MSNBC. In 2016, she was named TVNewsCheck's Women in Technology Woman to Watch.
Jennifer graduated with honors from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
As Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Developer Division, Julia Liuson leads the technical and business strategy, product development, and engineering teams for Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, .NET and .NET core framework, and developer platform for Microsoft Azure - including all programming languages, runtime, tools for building Azure, AI, Mobile and Windows-oriented applications.
Previously, Ms. Liuson served in a variety of leadership roles on product and engineering in the Microsoft Visual Studio product line. She also worked as General Manager for Microsoft Server and Tools Business in Shanghai while running engineering teams on both sides of the Pacific. Ms. Liuson began her career as a Microsoft software design engineer, working on Office clients and various developer-oriented products. She was the first woman promoted to Corporate Vice President of Engineering at Microsoft. She received the Asian American Executive of the Year award in 2013. Ms. Liuson earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington.
309 - Building A WITI Network - in Your City, in Your Company
341 - Keynote Luncheon Panel: Executive Chat
Kathy Lomax is Vice President, Office of the CIO at First American Title. In that role she manages the business of IT within the Business Technology Services organization, which includes budget, marketing and communications, training, service desk, organizational change management, portfolio management, IT performance, governance, process, and methodologies. As an IT executive with over 25 years' experience in leading financial services and healthcare, Kathy has led a variety of global teams across IT disciplines including infrastructure, web administration, application quality management, application support, IT finance and vendor management. Prior, Kathy served in roles as Deputy CIO at L. A. Care Health Plan, IT Vice President and Sr. Manager at Capital Group Companies, and as Administrative Director at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Fueling her passion in supporting women, Kathy led the WITI (Women in Technology International) Orange County regional network for four years, earning her a seat on the Global Advisory Board since 2017. Additionally, Kathy has served on the board of SCSIM (Southern California Society of Information Management) since 2018 and is currently serving as Programs Chair.
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
351 - Job Search Strategies, v2
Scott Ludlum began his professional life as a physical therapist before being lured by the pace and unique challenges of the tech world. His 20-year career as a talent leader spans from early-stage Silicon Valley startups like 2Wire and Hightail to global high-growth companies such as Amazon, Adobe, and Western Digital. Father, musician, and philanthropist, Mr. Ludlum is passionate about building Talent programs that catalyze diversity and "imaginative rigor" - creative and disruptive practices that scale with ease.
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
351 - Job Search Strategies, v2
Ashley Malone works in recruiting and talent acquisition at Dine Brands Global, franchisor of two of the world’s largest full-service restaurant brands - Applebee's (established in 1980) and IHOP (founded in 1958).
356 - Ever Thought of Getting a Patent?
As a Regional Outreach Officer at the West Coast Regional U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in San Jose, Julie Mason manages outreach and education programs for inventors, entrepreneurs, startups, intellectual property practitioners, K-12 STEM education students and teachers, and numerous other communities within the West Coast region which includes California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Previously, Ms. Mason served as assistant director and co-founder of IE LEADS, a grant program that provided graduate education and professional development for library staff in Southern California. She was also the Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) representative at the University of California, Riverside (UCR). Before her tenure at UCR, Ms. Mason was a client service specialist for the Intellectual Property (IP) Division of Dialog Information Services, and also worked as a chemical information specialist at Monsanto Research Headquarters.
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
With over 30 years of leadership experience in IT VP and Director roles and an expert bridge builder, Coleen McCray currently is responsible for Acquisition Integration at Inmar where she leads a corporatewide team that works to join acquired firms with Inmar and achieve exponential growth. In prior roles in the financial services and law firm software industries, Ms. McCray led the realignment of software development organizations to meet product demand and built trusted organizations that engendered cooperation and genuine alliances between IS organizations and their stakeholders needed to achieve maximized value-based results.
Expert in developing leaders and assisting seasoned leaders with path formation to their goals, Ms. McCray is a Board Certified Coach (BCC) and an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC). She is also an Executive Coach for the WITI PowerSource Coaching Program, the CIO Executive Council Pathways program, and President of her own company, The Paragon Coaching Group. She holds an MBA from Wake Forest University, an MS in Counseling from Stetson University, and a BS in Economics from Duke University. She is a graduate of the College of Executive Coaching and a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and the NeuroLeadership Institute. As well, Ms. McCray is a Certified Facilitator for Meyers Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) as well as for Conversational Intelligence™, The Results System™, EQI 2.0/EQI 360, and Center for Creative Leadership Suite of Assessments.
Marguerite Mcleod-Fleming is Principal of Propelle Women's Leadership and Innovation Culture Group. She works with companies, educational institutions, and non-profit clients to facilitate creative thinking that achieves innovative ideas using a proprietary Actionable Innovation System. Many business leaders partner with Innovation Culture Group to identify opportunities to solve complex problems in their diversity and inclusion portfolio.
Marguerite received her MBA from the Schulich School of Business, where her studies spanned the fields of strategic management and organization development. Her work in the area of how to apply creative and inventive thinking to the diversity and inclusion space is driving the conversation of how to operationalize the impact of awareness training. Marguerite is a SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking) Innovation Associate and is certified to deliver the ISPI (Innovation Strengths Preference Indicator) assessment LEGO SERIOUS PLAY engagements. She is also co-director of the Toronto WITI Forums.
101 - Workshop - MAXIMIZE YOUR SEAT AT THE TABLE
217 - Coaching Circle - NAVIGATE OFFICE POLITICS WITH CONFIDENCE AND INTEGRITY
254 - Coaching Circle - AUTHENTIC SELF-PROMOTION STRATEGIES TO RAISE YOUR INFLUENCE & VISIBILITY
378 - Coaching Circle - YES, YOU CAN BE NICE *AND* RESPECTED AT WORK
141 - Coaching Circle - BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE TO ADVANCE YOUR CAREER
Kim Meninger is an executive coach, TEDx speaker and host of the Impostor Syndrome Files podcast. She helps individuals/organizations to understand and embrace the human experience at work to reach their full leadership potential. Kim has coached hundreds of clients and has presented on career advancement and leadership topics to corporate, non-profit and academic audiences. She leverages her psychology degree, MBA and over a decade of experience as a high-tech leader to empower professionals to lead themselves and others more effectively. Kim is especially passionate about helping women and members of other historically marginalized groups to become more confident, visible and influential leaders.
Kim has a BA in psychology and an MBA from Boston College. She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach and CCE Board Certified Coach with certifications in confidence, career, executive and leadership development coaching. Kim also holds a certificate in Executive Leadership from Cornell University.
306 - Job Search Strategies, v1
Amelia Merrill is currently the VP of People at Guardant Health. Prior to Guardant Health, she was the SVP of People Strategy at RMS, Head to Talent Acquisition/Management at Juniper Networks, WebMethods, and held a variety of HR related roles at VeriSign. Her HR career has varied greatly from leading the People function, creation, development and implementation of M&A, and workforce reduction programs to Talent Acquisition Leader. Ms. Merrill is also an advisor for Wepow, RolePoint and HROnboard.
307 - Secret to Higher ROI: Invest in Women
Gillian Muessig is CEO of Outlines Venture Group and Managing Director/General Partner of the Sybilla Masters Fund, a global gender-lens venture capital fund based in Seattle, WA. An active entrepreneur, Ms. Muessig cofounded both Moz (the world's most popular search marketing software) and brettapproved (the first algorithm to power standardized accessibility data gathering and dissemination for travelers with disabilities and mobility challenges).
A former tech advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and thought leader in diversity and inclusion in private equity, Ms. Muessig speaks worldwide about gender equity in entrepreneurship, emerging entrepreneurial markets and the impact of global trends on startup activity. Her weekly radio podcast, CEOcoach, has been running for over a decade on WebmasterRadio.fm, iTunes, and other platforms. Ms. Muessig serves as a board director at companies on four continents and has helped thousands of companies to launch, grow, pivot, and thrive.
218 - Coaching Circle - SETTING GOALS LIKE A BOSS
125 - Coaching Circle - CRUSHING YOUR FEAR
379- Coaching Circle - MOVING UP THE LADDER
Keiko Munechika is the co-founder of Daisuki Coaching. Being a scientist herself, she is passionate about supporting women/men in the tech/science field to move forward in their careers. She firmly believes that success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics. For that reason, she works on her clients' mindset as she helps them go from where they are to where they want to be.
Keiko holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is also a Chief Executive Officer of a technology company (HighRI Optics, Inc.) in the San Francisco/Bay Area. She brings in the on-the-field experience of leadership and management into her coaching. Her private clients include individuals in medicine, science, and technology.
386 - Career Circle - STAYING TECHNICAL & BEING AN ENGINEERING LEADER
Preethi Narayanan, Director of Software Engineering at Roku, is an experienced engineering manager in embedded product development. Her specialties include: managing software teams; embedded Linux-based software system; GSM, LTE, WLAN, UMTS, HSPA technology and solution in cellular technologies; modem and DSP software development.
306 - Job Search Strategies, v1
Diane Oard is Director of Talent Management for Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies, Workers Compensation Division, one of the larger dedicated work comp insurance companies in the United States. Passionate in her belief that people are our greatest resource, Ms. Oard not only leads the recruiting efforts in sourcing for all roles within the rapidly growing company, but also is actively involved in mentorship and development of its emerging leaders. She joined Berkshire Hathaway in 2010 and served as the Director of Claims for Southern California.
Ms. Oard has over two decades of talent acquisition and organizational planning experience, primarily concentrated within insurance, banking, and real estate. She was drawn to Berkshire Hathaway's steadfast dedication to its core values of integrity, financial, and operational discipline, service, collaboration, accountability, respectful and courteous communication, continuous improvement, creativity and innovation, and drive for results, ever holding the company's commitment to "doing the right thing."
351 - Job Search Strategies, v2
Amit Pandya has been a corporate attorney, mediator, executive coach, and recruiter, consistently building upon skills surrounding a singular passion: talent development. What drives him is finding opportunities and creating ways by which individuals can excel. He lives for moments when one can say, "I love what I do, and I'm amazing at it."
219 - Coaching Circle - GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN YOUR CAREER
380 - Coaching Circle - BREAK FREE FROM OVERWHELM, PROCRASTINATION, AND SELF-DOUBT
Manuela Pauer is a Career and Leadership Coach in Silicon Valley. She works with professional women in their mid-career who are craving more meaning, fulfillment, and happiness. Through her signature "Create a Career and Life You Love" program, she helps them uncover their purpose, passions, and strengths and clearly define what they want to do, so they can create a fulfilling career and life they love. Manuela has over 20 years of experience in helping professionals thrive in their life and career. She is an ICF-certified Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from UC Berkeley. She had a successful corporate career spanning Strategy Consulting at Bain & Company, Product Management and Strategic Development at a Silicon Valley startup, and Executive Director of Product Management and Strategic Planning at AOL.
126 - Coaching Circle - WHAT ARE YOU REALLY COMMUNICATING? 11 ASSUMPTIONS IN 7 SECONDS
Judy Peebles - an international speaker, trainer, and coach - is creator of The Knowledge Series™, High Heeled Haven™, The Journaling Jenius™, and Journaling Jems™. An NLP Master Results Coach and Performance Consultant, Ms. Peebles is known for her dynamic and playful style while delivering interactive presentations and trainings designed to be not only informative, but transformational.
After a successful corporate career, Ms. Peebles now works with driven, tenacious individuals and groups, who are committed to their own success, and looking for that extra edge and guidance to assist them to reach the next level.
Lisa Pierosara is a Professional Certified Coach, facilitator & Team Effectiveness Advisor with a history of fostering career transformation, communications excellence, and leadership effectiveness. She has a particular focus and advocacy in supporting the advancement of women.
Lisa has 25+ years of experience across corporate Canada and one of Canada’s top business schools, including a background in MarComm in telecom. She currently serves as Principal at Elevation Coaching GTA and is Co-Founder of Propelle Leadership, a boutique consulting firm that helps tech-driven organizations become inclusion leaders through a unique innovation methodology.
351 - Job Search Strategies, v2
Petra Pino is a Silicon Valley veteran recruiter and staffing leader. Having worked at startups and larger companies, the theme of her career has been “growth mode. Petra is passionate about creating scalable and low-impact solutions that allow companies to expand rapidly … and with the right people.
387 - Career Circle - NAVIGATING YOUR CAREER IN THE CLOUD
302 - Breaking Barriers & Survival: Reaching the Top
188 - Celebration Kick-Off & Founders Reception
Rene Redwood, CEO of Redwood Enterprise informs the debate, policies, and practices on equity and inclusion while directing winning initiatives for public, non-profit, and private sectors. She is a chemist by training, was director of the Presidential Glass Ceiling Commission, was court-appointed to oversee a Fortune 100 corporation class action settlement, and currently chairs the Equality Task Force for a security agency.
Rene conducts: workplace audits, culture assessments, and barrier analysis on human capital organizational risk; workforce systems and process transformation; and qualitative research with internal and external customers on policies, institutional practices, values, and attitudes impacting morale and the bottom line. She facilitates learning on: EEO, DEI, sexual harassment; and the impact of bias on individual and institutional success.
306 - Job Search Strategies, v1
Brenda Rogers, PHR, CPC, ELI-MP is Head of People and HR at Electric Imp, a leader in the IoT space in Silicon Valley, the UK, and China. She is passionate about connecting the talent in an organization to the business results, developing mindful leaders, driving critical business initiatives, cultivating high performance organizations with talent acquisition, development, planning and execution in technology companies where human capital is a key strategic advantage.
Ms. Rogers has successfully led teams through major global change initiatives at Seagate Technology. She drove the hyper-growth at Portal SW (now Oracle) with a hugely successful lPO, and headed up the people and culture strategy at Perlegen Sciences during a major turnaround and commercial launch. At Roku Ms. Rogers built the HR/Talent function, created compensation strategy, and exceeding all growth goals by 3x yoy, attracting exceptional talent to support the business road map. She is also the founder of HR Strategies. Ms. Rogers holds a BA degree in Communications from UCSC and studied at the University of Michigan's Advanced HR Executive Program, under David Ulrich. She is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC), and an Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner.
203 - Applying Critical Thinking Skills in Today's Marketplace
Sheryl Root is currently Director/Professor for the Masters in Technology Ventures and Professor for Masters in Software Management at Carnegie Mellon University, Silicon Valley. Ms. Root is a strategy, marketing, and product development executive with over 18 years of experience at Hewlett-Packard Company and 10 years of software systems experience and leadership in the financial and computing industries. Her strategic and program leadership experience focused on the definition and delivery of technology-based products and solutions, and her marketing operations experience has been in creating new business models, organizational structures, cost reductions, and revenue generation programs. She has demonstrated proven leadership in business strategy development/execution, marketing operations, and software systems delivery working across departments, functional areas and geographic regions.
In addition to her work at CMU, Ms. Root is President/CEO of RootAnalysis, and consults in business strategy creation and execution, program management, and marketing effectiveness for companies including HP, PeopleSoft, Santa Clara University, Novell, and Philips.
Ms. Root sits on several boards, including Sloan School of Business, WITI (Women in Technology International), Teach for America, and the Stanford Institute on Research in Women and Gender. She holds a Sloan Master's in Business from Stanford University.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
Sara Rushinek is a Professor of Business Technology and Health Informatics at the University of Miami Business School. She is also a Professor in the Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Investigation (MSCTI) Research Program at the Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Rushinek specializes in Expert and Artificial Intelligence Systems, Big Data Analytics, cutting-edge Hybrid Collaborative Tools & Techniques, SEO App Development, Computer Litigation Support, Health Informatics, Cyber Security, Blockchain Applications, and Automated Algorithmic Trading Systems. She serves on the Leadership Team of WITI (Women in Technology International), the Government Blockchain Association, and as an Academic Advocate for ISACA. As well, she serves as an advisor, consultant, and mentor to the business, tech, and startup community.
Dr. Rushinek has been a visiting Professor at the University of Southern California (USC), University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Tel Aviv University, and the Technion. She earned her undergraduate degree from Tel Aviv University and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
308 - Cars of the Future: New Technologies and New Opportunities
Neerja Saran is a founder of Pacific Consulting LLC, providing solutions with core focus on technology, strategy, and operations. Previously, Ms. Saran held roles in Product Management and Engineering leadership at startups including Byton and GoPro, and also worked in Samsung, South Korea. She is passionate about delivering technology into products, with a number of product launches in consumer market.
Ms. Saran's current focus is driving digital revolution in the automotive industry and the ways AI, ML will help shape the consumer experience. She holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Texas at Dallas, and is an active volunteer at Girls Crushing it, a non-profit focused on entrepreneurship and leadership of middle and high school girls.
121 - Coaching Circle - TRANSFORMING INTO A THOUGHT LEADER
310 - Tech Trends and The Future of Work
A tech evangelist, Parna Sarkar-Basu serves as a strategic advisor to transformational leaders and technology pioneers, and helps them launch and reinvent companies. Her expertise includes changing industry perception, building market relevance, corporate (re)-positioning and new market entry as well as helping companies raise funds and navigate the digital era. Recipient of multiple awards, Parna has been instrumental in turning experts into thought leaders and propelling tech companies into innovation leaders in highly competitive markets, including artificial intelligence, enterprise software, storage systems, robots, consulting services. A Forbes contributor, she regularly hosts executive sessions on emerging technologies and frequently speaks on a range of topics, including cognitive robotics, innovation for social good, digital transformation, AI, and impact on the workforce.
309 - Building A WITI Network - in Your City, in Your Company
Mimi Shalash is an experienced data software & technical product account executive currently working at Quest Software. Her roles have encompassed data analytics, disaster recovery, performance monitoring and cloud optimization. Mimi also serves on the leadership team for WIA (Women in Analytics) and DAMA (the Central Ohio Chapter of the Data Management Association). Among her many leadership engagements, you can find her championing on behalf of underrepresented groups in STEM while also presenting businesses with impact data on the importance of driving social change in the Columbus technology community.
341 - Keynote Luncheon Panel: Executive Chat
352 - Marketers: Intrusive or Productive?
306 - Job Search Strategies, v1
Megan Smith is the Vice President of MSP Accounts for Modis. She is a results-driven, client service, account management professional with experience in client development, process management, talent identification, and supplier partnership. Ms. Smith has 19 years' experience in the Staffing Industry with a focus on IT, Engineering, and Telecommunications.
307 - Secret to Higher ROI: Invest in Women
Wendy Spies is the Director of Business Development for Data and AI across Microsoft globally. In more than 15 years of successful product leadership experience, she has brought multiple companies from product conception to financial exit - from 21.co, with a 100x return on investment to trialpay.com, whose offering still powers Visa's advertising network, to Voltage Security where more than one third of the Fortune 500 use it as their corporate encryption standard.
Ms. Spies is now focused on furthering Microsoft's mission of personal and organizational empowerment by guiding technology investments. Her primary focus is to build, buy, and partner to develop game-changing solutions for customers in the Cloud and Enterprise, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning divisions. In three and a half years she has developed product and driven investment in blockchain, containers, AI, data, and OSS. On a mission to grow with others by driving efficient, iterative innovation practices that lead to exponential growth in business value, Ms. Spies holds a B.S. in Engineering from Stanford.
309 - Building A WITI Network - in Your City, in Your Company
355 - Cybersecurity: Taking a Hard Look
Niha Srivastav is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Sanovatech, a services company focused on simplifying cybersecurity for non-techies, business managers, and executives. Niha has extensive experience in information technology and is very passionate about educating people on cybersecurity threats and risks. She is associated with various non-profit organizations in the Bay area that work towards the education of underprivileged children.
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
Lori Sundberg is Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer for Western Digital Corporation, leading key global human resources initiatives and people strategies.
Lori has over 20 years of experience in developing and aligning HR strategy with business needs. Prior to Western Digital, she served as an HR Leader at Jacobs, Arizona Public Services Company and American Express. In 2018, she was named a Top 50 Most Powerful Woman in Technology by the National Diversity Council for her various contributions to the technology field and deep HR expertise
113 - Workshop - EMPOWERING WOMEN AS AGILE AND DEVOPS THOUGHT LEADERS
142 - Learning Circle - FROM TRADITIONAL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TO AGILE DELIVERY
Mica Syjuco is the Industry Network Director for Agile and DevOps at Women in Technology International (WITI). She is also the Global Agile Capability and Delivery Director at multinational company Avanade, the joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture. She was the first woman to take on the role of Global Head of DevOps and Agile Coaching at the organization as well. For over 17 years, Mica has led the successful delivery of complex product development for multiple clients -- some of which are counted among the biggest companies in the world (Fortune 500). She has a strong expertise in implementing and leading both Traditional and Agile / Scrum based development and delivery processes supporting distributed teams on medium to large-scale .NET based enterprise projects.
Mica graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Information Technology and completed Wharton Executive Education's Leadership and Management Certificate Program. She is based in Chicago, and works with teams located across the globe -- from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. She is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST), Professional Scrum Master, Professional Scrum Developer, Professional Scrum Product Owner, Professional Agile Leader, and certified in Scaled Professional Scrum, Professional Scrum with Kanban, and Professional Scrum with User Experience. She is also a Certified SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) and certified in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
AJ Thomas is the founder of Infuse Program Foundation and the founder and Chief Explorer at BrainCandy Labs, powered by Women in Technology International (WITI). She also works at X, the Moonshot Factory, leading the Human Experience Design Team. These roles have allowed AJ to be a key contributor to developing talent for the future. A lot of what fuels AJ’s interests and passions intersect at bridging the gaps in talent, culture, and career. The result of what she does moves people and organizations forward to create a future of infinite possibilities.
341 - Keynote Luncheon Panel: Executive Chat
Linda built her love for product development through experiences working on early teams at Google (on Chrome & Android), Tapjoy and Nextbit. As an original Android team member, she helped launch and shape the developer ecosystem for the Android OS. She then went on to join Tapjoy as a founding team member where she helped grow the company to 250+ employees.
As Tapjoy's Chief Product Officer, she created the developer monetization & advertising value exchange as well as Tapjoy's direct to consumer product. She went on to become a founding member and COO at Nextbit Systems where she worked on a cloud OS and mobile phone (the Robin). After Nextbit, Linda joined the National Football League where she could pursue her love of product and football. She was the VP of Product and Innovation managing the product vision for the owned and operated digital properties across all 32 clubs and the league.
Now, Linda is the VP of Product, Experience & Innovation at AppDynamics where she's driving development of their next generation product experience and innovation strategy.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
Natalia Trayanova is the Murray B. Sachs Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and a Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She directs the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation, as well as the Computational Cardiology Laboratory. Dr. Trayanova is the primary innovator and trailblazer in the use of modern computation and modeling approaches in cardiac arrhythmia research and in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart rhythm disorders. Through her first-of-their-kind personalized virtual hearts, she is pioneering advances in personalized medicine for patients with cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Trayanova has published over 350 scientific papers and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the NIH Director's Pioneer Award for her groundbreaking work in computational cardiology. She is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow of HRS, a Fellow of AHA, a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and a Fellow of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering.
241 - Hall of Fame Awards Induction Banquet
297 - Words of Wisdom from Women Who Persisted
In 1982, Blanca Trevino co-founded Softtek, with a small group of entrepreneurial-minded students. Under her leadership, the company has since grown to more than 12,000 employees with 30 offices in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the US. Throughout her career at Softtek, Ms. Trevino has gained international recognition as a promoter of the IT services industry, collaborating with various government administrations promoting the nearshore model. She has been an advisor to several government leaders at state and federal levels on crafting policies that promote the use of technology, and the development of talent in the IT space.
In 2009 CNN Expansion magazine named Ms. Trevino as one of the most powerful women in Mexico. She was the first woman to be inducted into the International Association of Outsourcing Hall of Fame, and her appointment to the Mexico Business Council necessitated the organization change its name from the Mexican Council of Businessmen. Ms. Trevino is an active board member of Walmart Mexico and The Mexican Stock Exchange, along with several associations and universities, and served as a member of the World Economic Forum B20 Task Force on ICT and Innovation.
356 - Ever Thought of Getting a Patent?
After holding technical and management positions at Schering Plough and HP where she developed and took several products to market, and practicing law at Hewlett-Packard, a successfully acquired medical device startup, and two national law firms (HellerEhrman and Townsend and Townsend) - Soody Tronson formed the boutique intellectual property law firm STLGip, where she counsels domestic and international clients in IP and technology transactions in a wide range of technologies. In 2016 she formed Presque, a company developing solutions for mothers and infants. Ms. Tronson started with the vision for Presque after learning that a family member was not able to breastfeed her newborn due to insufficient milk. She continued developing that vision and recruited a team who shares the same vision with the mission to take the solution to market.
Ms. Tronson serves in board, advisory, and leadership capacities with several organizations including STEM to Market, a national accelerator started by the Association for Women in Science (AWIS); California Lawyers Association Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section, Licensing Executives Society USA/Canada Women in Licensing Committee, and the Palo Alto Area Bar Association. As well, she is an active hands-on volunteer with several civic organizations including Defy Ventures, an entrepreneurship, employment, and character development training program for currently and formerly incarcerated men, women, and youth. Ms. Tronson holds a J.D., M.S. in industrial chemistry, and B.S. in chemistry, and is licensed to practice before the State of California and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She is co-author of "Women Securing the Future with TIPPSS for IoT: Trust, Identity, Privacy, Protection, Safety, Security for the Internet of Things." To stay energized, she co-founded HighNoteCoffee Co., a third wave coffee roasting company in Silicon Valley.
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
361 - The Impact and Future of AI in Recruiting
Grant Weinberg studied Finance in South Africa before joining the Gaming Industry. After an eight-year career in Casinos in various management roles, he decided to transfer his Human Capital skills into the Recruitment Sector. His career has covered Agency, Onsite, In-House recruitment and HR Management across multiple sectors with a strong focus on Recruitment Business Partnering excellence.
Grant is currently the Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition at TriNet. His skill set combines both strategy and operational excellence across Talent Acquisition/Management, combined with HR best practice, all underpinned by a strong business acumen. In 2013 Grant was independently recognized as one of the 11 most influential In-House Recruitment professionals in the UK.
341 - Keynote Luncheon Panel: Executive Chat
Bene Werle brings an extensive background in operations, organizational change management, and engineering to her role as Vice President, Transformation. Werle and her team are focused on delivering scalable and sustainable processes that transform TriNet and the Customer Experience organization. Her responsibilities include Transformation PMO, Portfolio Management, Process and Optimization Services.
Additionally she served 10 years in the United States Navy as an Engineering Duty Officer and diver.
Werle has a strong track record of collaborating globally and cross-functionally to create efficient processes, infrastructure, and virtual teams that support and help drive the success of the organization.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from U.C. Berkeley and dual masters' degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
306 - Job Search Strategies, v1
Cindy White is a Senior Talent Acquisition Manager and the longest tenured HR professional at Illumio (a $350M venture back cybersecurity leader in the micro segmentation market). Since joining as employee number 70 in 2014, Ms. White has hired nearly 50% of the Illumio team members and help scale the company from 70 to 350+ employees. She has hiring responsibility for global professional services, product management, marketing, legal, security, finance, technical marketing, information technology, business development, sales, and the office of the CTO.
Prior to joining Illumio, Ms. White was the Talent Point of Contact to the Senior Vice President of WW Support for Riverbed - a $500M multiple award-winning division which included consecutive JD Powers, TSIA Global Excellence and SSPA Star Awards. Earlier in her career, Ms. White held positions at Silicon Magic, Luminous Networks, and Brilliant Telecommunications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from University of California at Santa Cruz.
353 - Unlock the Secrets of Digital Transformation - Innovation, Technology, Scalability
341 - Keynote Luncheon Panel: Executive Chat
Elizabeth Xu, Ph.D., is a public company board member and the CEO of A2C Academy. She has served as two CTO positions of billion-dollar revenue companies: CP Group and BMC Software. She became a C-level executive in 2005 at a public company. She provides coaching in Leadership, Digital Transformation, AI, and cloud. She is also an investor for early-stage companies. Elizabeth has taught at Stanford University for six years about leadership, and currently is a guest lecturer at Stanford University Teaching Digital Transformation at the Department of Engineering Management Science. She is also the advisor for MIT Innovation Initiatives. Elizabeth received the TOP 50 Diversity Leader in the United States award in 2020, the Presidential Award in 2019, the Global Leadership Award in 2018, and Women of Influence in Silicon Valley in 2013, along with several other prestigious awards. In 2017 Elizabeth was inducted into the WITI Hall of Fame. A trailblazer who leads a creative and proven path to the top, she lives by The Credo of the Four Ls: 1- Live to my fullest potential; 2-Live to enable others to reach their fullest potential; 3-Learn continuously; 4-Leave a legacy. Elizabeth earned her M.S. and B.S. degrees from Peking University, and a Ph.D. and a Master's Degree from the University of Nevada; as well, she is a Harvard certified board member and attended the Stanford Executive Program.
353 - Unlock the Secrets of Digital Transformation - Innovation, Technology, Scalability
June Yang is a technology executive passionate about building great products and developing great teams. She is currently VP of Engineering and Product Management at VMware, incubating a new cloud business focusing on taking VMware Cloud experience to enterprises' datacenter and edge infrastructure. Previously, Ms. Yang was VP of Product Management responsible for a portfolio of products including vSphere - VMware's flagship product with multi-billion dollar annual revenue.
Prior to VMware, Ms. Yang held leadership roles at Oracle in product management and product marketing. Earlier in her career, she held positions across high tech, strategic consulting, and investment management areas. Ms. Yang holds an M.S. from Stanford Graduate School of Business, an M.S. from the University of California at Berkeley, and a B.S. from Caltech.