Wednesday, October 25, 2006
7:30 am - 5:30 pm
Oakland Marriott

Get Connected Leadership Biographies

Barbara Adachi, Deloitte & Touche LLP

Nancy Alberti, Senior Consultant, Mlegal Consulting (Morning). Nancy has practiced as an attorney with two major law firms and served as general counsel for a real estate company before joining Mlegal in its start up phase. She was the first employee at Mlegal and has participated in all start-up operations to grow the company to 11 employees. Currently, Nancy acts as a legal recruiter aiding large national and international law firms in finding suitable lateral partner candidates from other firms. She lives in Berkeley with her Husband and two teenage children.

Terry Alderete, Alderete Business Visions (Morning)

Silvia Aldena, Senior External Relations Consultant, PG&E (Afternoon) has worked in a variety of different capacities over the last years at PG&E including marketing, customer service, and public affairs. She has been instrumental in identifying state organizations that provide vital services in California and has developed corporate and community partnerships with them on behalf of PG&E. Currently, Silvia works mostly in assisting PG&E’s community and public relations efforts.

Sindri Anderson, Managing Partner, Enact Global Consulting (Afternoon) After receiving her MBA from the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School, Sindri worked at Hewlett Packard and Levi Strauss & Co. in Organizational Development and Training. She was the head of Organizational Effectiveness at two high tech companies before co-founding Enact Global Consulting, a full-service Human Resources Development firm. She is married to an internet entrepreneur and is the mother of 3 daughters ages 24, 21 and 9. Building her own company has been both thrilling AND a huge learning experience!

Eduardo Arenas, Financial Planner, Met Life (Both). Eduardo works with families, professionals, and business owners in the areas of financial need analysis, estate conservation and business continuation. He has had an extensive career throughout the world in import and export, banking, and insurance. When he arrived in the United States, he spoke no English, but persevered to graduate from the University of Central Florida and develop a successful career as a financial planner for a major insurance company.

Loraine Binion, Women’s Foundation (Afternoon)

Natalie Berg, Forest City (Morning)

Elmy Bermejo

Adrienne Bousian, Barbara Boxer’s Office (Morning)

Jill Brachhausen, Business Development Manager, BearingPoint

Verna Brooks (Both)

Carmen Campollo, EVP Relationship Management, FTSE Americas Inc. (Afternoon)

Barbara Carey, CEO, The Carey Formula (Morning)

Christine Chang, Account Executive, Robert Half Management Resources (Both)

Darlene Crane, President, PCI Crane Consulting (Afternoon). Darlene is a business advisor, consultant, author, and speaker. Her specialties include strategy implementation, product development, and interdisciplinary management. Currently, Darlene is Executive Co-Chair of the East Bay Women in Business Round Table and a member of the Financial Women’s Association. She has received many honors, most recently, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce named her volunteer of the year for 2006.

Harmeet K. Dhillon, Esq, Gibbs & Oliphant LLP (Afternoon)

Eveyln Dilsaver, President and CEO, Charles Schwab Investment Management (Both)

Wendy Dougherty, KCMG (Afternoon)

Micaela Duboff, Enterprise Sales Goddess, TrainOne, Inc. (Afternoon) Macaela earned that title after selling to large enterprises across the USA for 23 years. In her first job out of college, Micaela sold mainframe computers for six years. She then sold for Apple Computer to K-12 and higher education for eight years. Her sales experience has led her to live and serve clients in South Florida, Atlanta, and San Francisco. Micaela has won numerous awards for sales including honors for Individual Performance, Achievement & Aggressiveness, President’s and Club Awards for the region and top elite nationwide. Micaela’s passion is to serve her customers and provide solutions that impact their bottom line. Her customers bring her joy and she considers many to be her dearest friends.

Dana DuFrane, Attorney (Morning). With 14 years experience behind her, Dana currently works as a consultant Attorney for labor and employment law in the Bay Area. She has succeeded in the difficult task of maintaining a balance between a satisfying professional career and raising her three young children.

Tassi Espos, Agency Field Consultant, State Farm Insurance (Both)

Tami Essis, Employment and Labor Attorney (Both)

Alison Fattore (Both)

Sandra Floyd, Outsource Consulting Services, Inc. (Both)

Hydeh Ghaffavi (Afternoon)

Sherri Goldsmith, Educational Partnerships Manager, Bay Area Newspapers (Morning) Sherri strives to develop a new generation of newspaper readers who are critical thinkers—ready to vote and participate in their community. She realizes that the ability to read and write—to be literate—is vital to our democracy. At Bay Area Newspapers, Sherri creates curriculum guides FREE to educators in public, private, and parochial schools. The newspapers cover history in the making in topic areas as diverse as financial literacy, diversity, and health. Sherri is responsible for fund development and considers securing funding for a Holocaust Education Program which yielded original poetry and essays written by students to be one of her biggest accomplishments. She has received numerous honors including First Place in original curriculum among newspapers across the United States and Canada and an award from the California Council of Reading and Literacy.

Judy Grant, President, Grant Associates (Afternoon)

Bendu Griffin, Assistant Compliance Officer, Port of Oakland (Morning)

Nina Grooms, Consultant, Cal State East Bay SBDC (Morning)

Paula Groves-Hawthorne, Consultant, Cal State East Bay SBDC (Morning)

Marianne Hampton, Partner, Hampton Associates (Both) Marianne Hampton has been in the recruiting industry for almost 20 years. She has worked for large, multinational staffing companies and small start-ups, as an individual contributor and as a manager. She has a strong network of colleagues, clients and candidates throughout the Bay Area. She specializes in placing technical sales, marketing, and training people for such firms as Lucent, Airtouch, Siebel Systems, DMR, Keane and Cambridge Consulting, and many dot.com start-ups. She has a BS degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Golden Gate University.

Shelley Hanson, Director, Bearing Point (Both). As Director in BearingPoint’s Global Alliance Partnership Program, Shelly’s role is to maximize client value by partnering with strategic and market-impacting global technology companies. Her responsibilities include fostering relationships with BearingPoint’s partners’ sales organizations for effective account identification and field engagement. She takes a leadership role in creating and executing a sustainable, growth oriented business plan that delivers high margin, profitable revenue to the firm. Shelley’s background is in finance and accounting which she couples with strong sales experience in the service industry. She has worked in European, ASPAC, and North American business cultures.

Bari Havlik (Afternoon)

Jim Healy, President and CEO, LogicVision, Inc (Afternoon) James T. Healy is the President and CEO of LogicVision, Inc. Prior to joining LogicVision he was the President of Spirox, USA. Mr. Healy also held the following positions at the following companies: President of ASAT USA., Executive Vice President and General Manager at FormFactor, Inc., President & CEO of Genus Corporation, President & CEO of Credence Systems, co-founded and President of the Trillium Corporation and various positions in marketing and engineering during his 15 years with the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, Test Systems Division. Mr. Healy has a Bachelor’s degree and a Masters of Science degree from California State University at Hayward. Mr. Healy received the Alumni of the Year in 1996 and the Semiconductor Associations Bob Graham award for marketing contributions to the industry in 2001. He has also published two books with Prentice Hall, “Automatic Testing and Evaluation of Digital Integrated Circuits”, 1981 and “Winning the High Tech Sales Game”, 1984. He received the Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award in 1982. Mr. Healy served 4 years on the Semiconductor Technical Advisory Committee of the Department of Commerce. He has taught a Marketing MBA course at Golden Gate University. Most recently he spoke at the Stanford University Executive Briefings on “Strategies for Selling.”

Get Connected Leadership Biographies

Barbara Adachi, Deloitte & Touche LLP

Nancy Alberti, Senior Consultant, Mlegal Consulting (Morning) Nancy has practiced as an attorney with two major law firms and served as general counsel for a real estate company before joining Mlegal in its start up phase. She was the first employee at Mlegal and has participated in all start-up operations to grow the company to 11 employees. Currently, Nancy acts as a legal recruiter aiding large national and international law firms in finding suitable lateral partner candidates from other firms. She lives in Berkeley with her Husband and two teenage children.

Terry Alderete, Alderete Business Visions (Morning)

Silvia Aldena, Senior External Relations Consultant, PG&E (Afternoon) has worked in a variety of different capacities over the last years at PG&E including marketing, customer service, and public affairs. She has been instrumental in identifying state organizations that provide vital services in California and has developed corporate and community partnerships with them on behalf of PG&E. Currently, Silvia works mostly in assisting PG&E’s community and public relations efforts.

Sindri Anderson, Managing Partner, Enact Global Consulting (Afternoon) After receiving her MBA from the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School, Sindri worked at Hewlett Packard and Levi Strauss & Co. in Organizational Development and Training. She was the head of Organizational Effectiveness at two high tech companies before co-founding Enact Global Consulting, a full-service Human Resources Development firm. She is married to an internet entrepreneur and is the mother of 3 daughters ages 24, 21 and 9. Building her own company has been both thrilling AND a huge learning experience!

Eduardo Arenas, Financial Planner, Met Life (Both) Eduardo works with families, professionals, and business owners in the areas of financial need analysis, estate conservation and business continuation. He has had an extensive career throughout the world in import and export, banking, and insurance. When he arrived in the United States, he spoke no English, but persevered to graduate from the University of Central Florida and develop a successful career as a financial planner for a major insurance company.

Loraine Binion, Women’s Foundation (Afternoon)

Natalie Berg, Forest City (Morning)
Elmy Bermejo

Adrienne Bousian, Barbara Boxer’s Office (Morning)

Jill Brachhausen, Business Development Manager, BearingPoint

Verna Brooks, (Both)

Carmen Campollo, EVP Relationship Management, FTSE Americas Inc. (Afternoon)

Barbara Carey, CEO, The Carey Formula (Morning)

Christine Chang, Account Executive, Robert Half Management Resources (Both)

Darlene Crane, President, PCI Crane Consulting (Afternoon) Darlene is a business advisor, consultant, author, and speaker. Her specialties include strategy implementation, product development, and interdisciplinary management. Currently, Darlene is Executive Co-Chair of the East Bay Women in Business Round Table and a member of the Financial Women’s Association. She has received many honors, most recently, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce named her volunteer of the year for 2006.

Harmeet K. Dhillon, Esq, Gibbs & Oliphant LLP (Afternoon)

Eveyln Dilsaver, President and CEO, Charles Schwab Investment Management (Both)

Wendy Dougherty, KCMG (Afternoon)

Micaela Duboff, Enterprise Sales Goddess, TrainOne, Inc. (Afternoon) Macaela earned that title after selling to large enterprises across the USA for 23 years. In her first job out of college, Micaela sold mainframe computers for six years. She then sold for Apple Computer to K-12 and higher education for eight years. Her sales experience has led her to live and serve clients in South Florida, Atlanta, and San Francisco. Micaela has won numerous awards for sales including honors for Individual Performance, Achievement & Aggressiveness, President’s and Club Awards for the region and top elite nationwide. Micaela’s passion is to serve her customers and provide solutions that impact their bottom line. Her customers bring her joy and she considers many to be her dearest friends.

Dana DuFrane, Attorney (Morning) With 14 years experience behind her, Dana currently works as a consultant Attorney for labor and employment law in the Bay Area. She has succeeded in the difficult task of maintaining a balance between a satisfying professional career and raising her three young children.

Tassi Espos, Agency Field Consultant, State Farm Insurance (Both)

Tami Essis, Employment and Labor Attorney (Both)

Alison Fattore (Both)

Sandra Floyd (Both)

Hydeh Ghaffavi (Afternoon)

Sherri Goldsmith, Educational Partnerships Manager, Bay Area Newspapers (Morning) Sherri strives to develop a new generation of newspaper readers who are critical thinkers—ready to vote and participate in their community. She realizes that the ability to read and write—to be literate—is vital to our democracy. At Bay Area Newspapers, Sherri creates curriculum guides FREE to educators in public, private, and parochial schools. The newspapers cover history in the making in topic areas as diverse as financial literacy, diversity, and health. Sherri is responsible for fund development and considers securing funding for a Holocaust Education Program which yielded original poetry and essays written by students to be one of her biggest accomplishments. She has received numerous honors including First Place in original curriculum among newspapers across the United States and Canada and an award from the California Council of Reading and Literacy.

Judy Grant, President, Grant Associates (Afternoon)

Bendu Griffin, Assistant Compliance Officer, Port of Oakland (Morning)

Nina Grooms, Consultant, Cal State East Bay SBDC (Morning)

Paula Groves-Hawthorne, Consultant, Cal State East Bay SBDC (Morning)
Marianne Hampton, Partner, Hampton Associates (Both) Marianne Hampton has been in the recruiting industry for almost 20 years. She has worked for large, multinational staffing companies and small start-ups, as an individual contributor and as a manager. She has a strong network of colleagues, clients and candidates throughout the Bay Area. She specializes in placing technical sales, marketing, and training people for such firms as Lucent, Airtouch, Siebel Systems, DMR, Keane and Cambridge Consulting, and many dot.com start-ups. She has a BS degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
Shelley Hanson, Director, BearingPoint, (Both) As Director in BearingPoint’s Global Alliance Partnership Program, Shelly’s role is to maximize client value by partnering with strategic and market-impacting global technology companies. Her responsibilities include fostering relationships with BearingPoint’s partners’ sales organizations for effective account identification and field engagement. She takes a leadership role in creating and executing a sustainable, growth oriented business plan that delivers high margin, profitable revenue to the firm. Shelley’s background is in finance and accounting which she couples with strong sales experience in the service industry. She has worked in European, ASPAC, and North American business cultures.

Bari Havlik (Afternoon)

Jim Healy, President and CEO, LogicVision, Inc (Afternoon) James T. Healy is the President and CEO of LogicVision, Inc. Prior to joining LogicVision he was the President of Spirox, USA. Mr. Healy also held the following positions at the following companies: President of ASAT USA., Executive Vice President and General Manager at FormFactor, Inc., President & CEO of Genus Corporation, President & CEO of Credence Systems, co-founded and President of the Trillium Corporation and various positions in marketing and engineering during his 15 years with the Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, Test Systems Division.
Mr. Healy has a Bachelor’s degree and a Masters of Science degree from California State University at Hayward. Mr. Healy received the Alumni of the Year in 1996 and the Semiconductor Associations Bob Graham award for marketing contributions to the industry in 2001. He has also published two books with Prentice Hall, “Automatic Testing and Evaluation of Digital Integrated Circuits”, 1981 and “Winning the High Tech Sales Game”, 1984. He received the Jesse H. Neal Editorial Achievement Award in 1982. Mr. Healy served 4 years on the Semiconductor Technical Advisory Committee of the Department of Commerce. He has taught a Marketing MBA course at Golden Gate University. Most recently he spoke at the Stanford University Executive Briefings on “Strategies for Selling.”

Mary Henderson, Vice President, Kaiser Permenante

Vivian Ho, Founder and President, Academy for Global Health Philanthropy (Morning) Vivian Ho is the Founder & President of the Academy for Global Health Philanthropy (AGHP), a 501c3 organization that develops and facilitates global health philanthropic ventures. With over twenty years experience in both the private and global health sectors, she also serves as Senior Advisor to select philanthropic foundations, individuals and corporate entities. Prior to this, Ms. Ho was President & CEO of Queens International (QIC), a first-tier global business development subsidiary of the Queens Health Systems based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her professional experiences include a range of accomplishments in corporate strategy during her tenure as a Principal of Paradigm Consulting Group and a Management Consultant at Towers Perrin. Ms. Ho is a member of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) CEO Summit, the UN Business Council, Philanthropy Roundtable, the Asia Society, and the International Health Futures network. She serves on several boards in Hawaii and maintains affiliations nationally and internationally. In 1998, the American Hospital Association recognized her as an International Emerging Leader in Healthcare in the U.S. under 40 years of age. Ms. Ho also volunteers with several not-for-profit organization boards in the Palo Alto community where she currently resides in California.

Pamela Hopkins, Managing Partner, Enact Global Consulting (Afternoon) Prior to co-founding Enact Global Consulting—a full services Human Resources Development firm—Pamela held leadership roles in a variety of organizations, ranging from Fortune 500 companies, worldwide consulting organizations to start-up ventures. Organizations include: Levi Strauss & Co., PeopleSoft, Interaction Associates, and Personnel Decisions International. Having completed her BA & MA degrees over 15 years ago, Pamela decided to return to graduate school to complete her PhD. She is in her second year at Fielding Graduate University, The School of Human & Organization Development. Being a lesbian mom with an adopted child from Guatemala, a personal passion is helping individuals embrace diversity of all kinds.

Rita Hovakimian, Inspiring Success (Morning)

Debra Jack (Both)

Astrid Juàrez, Human Resources Manager, Univision Television Group Inc. (Morning)

Mario Juarez, Fireside Realty

Kim King, King Security Services, (Morning)

Laurie Kretchmar, Bechtel (Afternoon) works in corporate communications for a San Francisco-based multinational corporation. She’s an experienced writer and editor who has worked for newspapers, magazines (including Fortune and Working Woman), the Internet (founding editor at Women’s Wire/Women.com) and intranets, in small companies (Laurie Kretchmar Associates at lauriekretchmar.com) and large. She is glad to be a Women’s Initiative Connector.

Michael Lee, Igloo Consulting/ Gap Inc.

Julie Lewis, Finacial Representative, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network (Both) Julie works together with her clients to identify financial goals and objectives and help protect them if life takes an unexpected turn. She uses her expertise in personal life insurance to help others protect what’s important to them, secure their future, and improve their life. It is Julie’s passion to help business women achieve personal and financial success.

Judy Biriano Lloyd, Vice President, Altamont Solutions, Inc (Afternoon)

Kathryn Lovell, KKL Image Consulting
Sarah Lyu, President, Sarah Lyu Consulting (Morning) Sarah Lyu, President of Sarah Lyu Consulting (SLC), assists corporations with services ranging from developing and implementing Supplier Diversity Programs to services that are geared toward enhancing current Supplier Diversity initiatives. Ms. Lyu understands how big companies operate and what they are looking for in a supplier. She is well-versed in the know-how and skills suppliers must possess to be considered "corporate ready" to do business with large corporations. Sarah Lyu's passion to promote Supplier Diversity is reflected in her pledge to the business community. She has been a board member of the Industry Council for Small Business Development (ICSBD) since 2003 and is a current board member of the Northern California Supplier Development Council (NCSDC) and Vice-Chair of the MBE Input Committee (MBEIC) of NCSDC. Additionally, SLC practices what she preaches – her firm is certified as a minority-owned business through NCSDC and a woman-owned business through WBENC.
Eva Martin-Long, Agency Field Executive, State Farm Insurance (Both) Eva is responsible for profitable growth in the insurance as well as financial services arena for State Farm. She manages a team of seven who provide coaching and consulting in the areas of business management, sales skills, and team development to 74 independent contractor agents ranging from Daly City south to Cupertino. She built a successful agency from the ground up at age 27, running it for 12 years prior to moving into a management position developing other entrepreneurs. Born in Germany, Eva has lived all over the world and is fluent in German, French, and English. Her strongest skills lie in the helping others to determine their path and develop a plan to achieve their goals.

Cindy Mascheroni, Tec International

Dalya Massachi, Founder, Writing for Community Success (Morning) Dalya F. Massachi specializes in helping social sector professionals advance their missions through outstanding written materials. She has worked with community-minded organizations for 15 years, and has authored countless successful marketing pieces, articles, and grant proposals. Since 2001, Dalya has taught writing techniques to several hundred workshop participants, and has coached dozens of professionals one-on-one. In January 2007, Dalya will publish "Writing to Make a Difference: 50 Tools & Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.” She currently pens a regular column on Idealist.org, entitled “Write Right with Dalya.” Her website and free e-newsletter are at www.dfmassachi.net.

Cecelia McCloy, President and CEO, Integrated Science Solutions (Afternoon)

Shuyler Morgan, Principal, Taku Group (Morning) Schuyler Morgan is an accomplished visionary and a highly creative strategist who is part of the Taku Group team of business and finance advisors. She brings broad expertise in building a sustainable competitive advantage, corporate board development and governance, communication based leadership, creating a signature presence, building a solid brand, high impact teaming, eliminating habits that waste company money, public and corporate relations. She has started, managed, and marketed companies both domestically and abroad and serves as interim business advisor for not-for-profits, high-school virtual enterprise programs, and regional open space development projects.
Ms. Morgan has worked in a variety of industries, has served as Director of Community Relations, Community Affairs, VP of Production, Owner, Founder and Managing Principal and CEO of several start-ups, and as Member and Chair of Boards of Directors, and State and Regional Delegate and Director of Government Relations for a Professional Association. . She has assisted local city business associations in designing an economic development program, was a Founding Board Member of the San Francisco Bay Area Trail Center, which developed a 450 mile continuous trail surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area, and was Assistant Director of Development for an Open Space Mounted Patrol Rescue Team. She was co-producer and host of a local TV program, Power Profiles, and has co-produced three local TV network community sports/entertainment events.

Claudia Medina, Marketing Strategist, Creativity a là Carte (Morning) Claudia is a successful marketing coach, trainer, and consultant working with business owners to motivate and encourage them to live their passion, promote and deliver their value, communicate and systemize their business activities—all with the support and application of proven market techniques. She considers her biggest accomplishment in life to be her two children, but is also quite proud of her recently completed first marketing workshop. Before starting Creativity a là Carte in 2004, Claudia was Director of Marketing and Community Relations with Bay Area BusinessWoman Newspaper. Anna Marks, Founder and Publisher of that paper had this to say about Claudia, “When it comes to writing marketing materials, there is no one better than Claudia. She understands how to communicate with a fresh and expressive appeal that will brighten up the face of any business, large or small.”

Monique Moyer, Executive Director, San Francisco Port (Morning) Monique Moyer is the Executive director of the Port of San Francisco, appointed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in April 2004. She is the second woman to serve as Executive Director in the Port’s 100-plus year history. As Executive Director, Ms. Moyer manages, through six deputy directors, all activities placed under the jurisdiction of the Port Commission. Prior to joining the Port of San Francisco, Ms. Moyer served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Public Finance & Business Affairs, for the City & County of San Francisco. Ms. Moyer was appointed to manage the department by then-Mayer Willie L. Brown, Jr. in February 1997. From February 1999 to March 2000, Ms. Moyer also served as director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. Prior to joining city government, Ms. Moyer worked as an investment banker in municipal finance.

Susan Muranishi, County Administrator, Alameda County (Morning) Susan Muranishi was appointed County Administrator by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in December 1994. She provides professional, innovative and proactive leadership to the Board of Supervisors, Agency/Department Heads and the public through responsible fiscal and administrative policy development and program oversight. She works closely with other public officials, jurisdictions, community-based organizations and special interest groups in order to give clear direction and the strategic management necessary to accomplish Board policies and deliver services efficiently and effectively. Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Muranishi was recently named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Public Service from the San Francisco Business Times.

Wendy Nation, Financial Sales Officer, City National Bank (Afternoon)

Courtney Newman, Director Public Affairs/Non Profit Group, Allison & Partners (Morning) Fluent in Spanish, Courtney’s client experience in public affairs and nonprofit communications includes Skoll Foundation, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Goldman Environmental Prize and Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program. For the past three years, she has been involved with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s ‘Spare the Air’ program to encourage residents to adopt air-friendly behaviors, which reached its highest level of public recognition (74%) under her direction.
Before joining Allison & Partners, Courtney managed community relations for
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. Her responsibilities included developing and executing media and public outreach strategies. Prior to joining Women’s Initiative, Courtney was an assistant account executive for Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations, where she secured speaking opportunities and media coverage for clients in the technology sector.

Shaula Pandya, Senior Vice President, Deposit Services, Community Bank of the Bay (Morning)

Pat Patterson, Senior Consultant, Kaiser Permenante

Sonjia Redmond, Vice President, CSU East Bay, (Morning)

Lola Robinson, San Francisco SBA (Afternoon)

Laura Roden, Managing Director, The Angels Forum (Afternoon) Laura Roden was a founding executive of three successive technology startups, the last of which was PowerTV which became the world’s larges provider of embedded operating systems for interactive television and was sold to Scientific Atlanta. Before entering the startup community she spent seven years at Chronicle Publishing Company, olding the positions of Chief Financial Officer of the television devision an dGeneral Manager of the cellular telephone group.
Active in the nonprofit community for many years, Ms. Roden was an original Board member of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs as well as a Board member and President of Pets In Need, Inc. She was nominated as one of the “most influential women in Silicon Valley” by the San Jose Business Journal.

Perla Rodriquez, Community Relations Manager, PG&E (Morning) Perla Rodriguez is the Community Relations Manger for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. She is part of the growing Civic Partnership and Community Initiatives team at PG&E, which includes the company’s charitable giving, employee volunteerism, and community relations programs. Perla was most recently the Community and Public Affairs Manager for Univision Channel 14 and TeleFutura Channel 66 in San Francisco where she was responsible for developing strategic partnerships with local community organizations to support community neets. She also spearheaded the stations’ ongoing community and public affairs initiatives addressing health, education, early literacy and civic participations, and produced a weekly half hour public affairs show.
Perla is a native of San Josè and a graduate of Stanford University. She currently serves on the board of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley and is actively involved with numerous organizations throughout the Bay Area.

Wendy Ross, Bank of San Francisco (Morning)

Rosemary Senegal, Community Bank of the Bay

Renè Shimada Siegel, President, High Tech Connect Renè Shimada Siegel is a public relations and marketing communications expert with more than 18 years experience in Silicon Valley. She is also a successful entrepreneur with extensive industry and media contacts and a reputation for exceeding client expectations.
In 1997, Renè founded High Tech Connect, LLC, providing marketing communications and public relations consultants for demanding technology clients. High Tech Connect boasts a nationwide network of 1300 expert consultants and a client list that includes Cisco Systems, Kaiser Permanente, Juniper Networks, Safeway, Hitachi and hundreds more. In 2006, the company was named 74th Largest Women-Owned Company in the San Francisco East Bay.
Renè holds a B.A. in Public Relations from San Jose State University and is an International Association of Business Communications 500 Club lifetime member. High Tech Connect has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Newsweek Japan, Inc., Working Woman, PR WEEK, Smart Money and Daniel Pink’s book, Free Agent Nation. Renè lives in Pleasanton, California with her husband and three children.

Cindy Skinner, Employee Volunteer Program Manager, AAA of Northern California (Both) Cindy coordinates the employee volunteer program in Northern California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado Springs, and Phoenix; she co-manages over 400 activities, 90 team leaders, and 2,500 volunteers in the areas of health/human services, traffic/pedestrian safety, and urban wildlife refuges. Cindy has been a small business owner since 1989 and has expertise in public accounting, marketing, community affairs, and technology. Among many awards, Cindy was recently nominated for the Governor’s Environmental Award (announced mid-October) and was a 2005 recipient of the PR News Media Award.

Mindy So, Gap Inc. Mindy Is a Distribution Planner at Gap Inc. where she strategize how to execute all of the Europe Girls style while reacting to changing trends and working with business partners to solve problems proactively in order to maximize profit for in that department. Mindy has worked as a Sales Associate, Host, and Personal Assistant for companies such as Coach, Neiman Marcus, Ross, and Gap. Mindy was born in Hong Kong and moved to the Bay Area at age 10. She is fluent both English and Chinese.

Tricia Stone, Founding Partner, Stone Communications In running her consulting business, Tricia develops presentations and caches executives on presentation delivery. She is experienced facilitating group discussions in order to arrive at the best answers. She has successfully built a consulting business while simultaneously raising three children. She volunteers extensively with her children’s schools, local, and national non-profits.

Maureen Taylor, SNP Communications

Adriane Tolefree-Davis, Classic Investments, Inc. (Afternoon)

Barbara Toothman (Morning)

Suzanne Tucker, Owner, One Stop Graphics (Afternoon) Suzanne was raised in Oklahoma where her amazing 95 year old Mom still lives and is very active on the civic scene. She attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts along with former First Lady and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Suzanne has two Masters degrees—one in Urban Planning and the other in Business—which prepared her well for her several careers. She has worked in Social Service, banking, real estate, and marketing before finally opening One Stop Graphics in 1987. She recognized a growing need among business people for intelligent, creative copy writing, design, photography, illustration, printing, ect. all handled in one place.

Jesus Vargas, VSCE (Both)

Paula Welsh, Founder, The Welsh Marketing Group (Afternoon) Paula relocated to San Francisco from Washington, D.C. with a degree in business, in 1981 with her husband Maurice—a White House Fellow with the National Security Agency and CIA, to work with the Bechtel Corporation. She began her career in Washington as an on-air personality at WHUR-FM at Howard University [the original Quiet Storm]. Her career took a turn that led to television – NBC-TV. After surviving a near tragic car accident that left her with eleven facial fractures—her career took another turn in working behind the camera. Maurice inspired Paula to become an entrepreneur; the premier of Center Stage West Salon debuted in 1982 which grew quickly with 25 employees. In 1992, her sisters, Bobbie and Brenda, corporate managers with IBM, joined her in now a family owned business. The salon has an “Angel Network” donating over $20,000 back to the community. Paula also worked with the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce for several years receiving many awards and is still currently an Ambassador since l992. As a result of working with Corporate, small business owners and non-profits, she and her technical husband started her second business in ’98 as business consultants. “She’s a great wife, super mother, grandmother [Grammie], role model businesswoman and my best friend” says her husband … “she just keeps on grooving”!

Susana Villarreal, City of Oakland (Both)

Allison Farris Wendelberger, Regional Sales Coordinator, Aflac (Both)

Dana Whitaker, Opening Eyes (Morning) Dana Whitaker is the author of the soon to be released, Transforming Lives $40 at a Time a book that brings to life through photos and stories, the heroic lives of women around the world including Asara Tsehai, a Women’s Initiative graduate, who are accessing microfinance to transform their lives. Dana is also an educator of 17 years, currently teaching World Cultures and Civics to high school students at an alternative school in Piedmont. She plans to launch a life and professional coaching career in the spring of 2007 with a focus on helping women in transition discover their passion(s) and supporting them as they work towards their goals.

Laurie Williams, Volunteer Action Center

Shari Wooldridge, Owner, Stepping Out – The Urban Shoe Spa (Both) Shari transforms women’s feet via brand name shoes, handbags, and accessories. She worked in retail for almost 30 years using her skills in preplanning, forecasting, decision making, and taking calculated risks to propel her open her own store. She continues to grow as a business owner and is now working with the Old Oakland Historic Business Association to brand and elevate her neighborhood. Shari is a member of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Secretary of OOHBD, and just last month she was inducted into the Oakland Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Lori Wren Elerts, Partner, Deloitte Tax LLP (Afternoon)

Julie Yim, BART

Vivian Ho, Founder and President, Academy for Global Health Philanthropy (Morning) Vivian Ho is the Founder & President of the Academy for Global Health Philanthropy (AGHP), a 501c3 organization that develops and facilitates global health philanthropic ventures. With over twenty years experience in both the private and global health sectors, she also serves as Senior Advisor to select philanthropic foundations, individuals and corporate entities. Prior to this, Ms. Ho was President & CEO of Queens International (QIC), a first-tier global business development subsidiary of the Queens Health Systems based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her professional experiences include a range of accomplishments in corporate strategy during her tenure as a Principal of Paradigm Consulting Group and a Management Consultant at Towers Perrin. Ms. Ho is a member of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) CEO Summit, the UN Business Council, Philanthropy Roundtable, the Asia Society, and the International Health Futures network. She serves on several boards in Hawaii and maintains affiliations nationally and internationally. In 1998, the American Hospital Association recognized her as an International Emerging Leader in Healthcare in the U.S. under 40 years of age. Ms. Ho also volunteers with several not-for-profit organization boards in the Palo Alto community where she currently resides in California.

Pamela Hopkins, Managing Partner, Enact Global Consulting (Afternoon) Prior to co-founding Enact Global Consulting—a full services Human Resources Development firm—Pamela held leadership roles in a variety of organizations, ranging from Fortune 500 companies, worldwide consulting organizations to start-up ventures. Organizations include: Levi Strauss & Co., PeopleSoft, Interaction Associates, and Personnel Decisions International. Having completed her BA & MA degrees over 15 years ago, Pamela decided to return to graduate school to complete her PhD. She is in her second year at Fielding Graduate University, The School of Human & Organization Development. Being a lesbian mom with an adopted child from Guatemala, a personal passion is helping individuals embrace diversity of all kinds.

Rita Hovakimian, Inspiring Success (Morning)

Debra Jack (Both)

Astrid Juàrez, Human Resources Manager, Univision Television Group Inc. (Morning)

Mario Juarez, Fireside Realty

Kim King, King Security Services (Morning)

Laurie Kretchmar, Bechtel (Afternoon) works in corporate communications for a San Francisco-based multinational corporation. She’s an experienced writer and editor who has worked for newspapers, magazines (including Fortune and Working Woman), the Internet (founding editor at Women’s Wire/Women.com) and intranets, in small companies (Laurie Kretchmar Associates at lauriekretchmar.com) and large. She is glad to be a Women’s Initiative Connector.

Michael Lee, Igloo Consulting/ Gap Inc.

Julie Lewis, Finacial Representative, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network (Both) Julie works together with her clients to identify financial goals and objectives and help protect them if life takes an unexpected turn. She uses her expertise in personal life insurance to help others protect what’s important to them, secure their future, and improve their life. It is Julie’s passion to help business women achieve personal and financial success.

Judy Biriano Lloyd, Vice President, Altamont Solutions, Inc. (Afternoon)

Kathryn Lovell, KKL Image Consulting
Sarah Lyu, President, Sarah Lyu Consulting (Morning) Sarah Lyu, President of Sarah Lyu Consulting (SLC), assists corporations with services ranging from developing and implementing Supplier Diversity Programs to services that are geared toward enhancing current Supplier Diversity initiatives. Ms. Lyu understands how big companies operate and what they are looking for in a supplier. She is well-versed in the know-how and skills suppliers must possess to be considered "corporate ready" to do business with large corporations. Sarah Lyu's passion to promote Supplier Diversity is reflected in her pledge to the business community. She has been a board member of the Industry Council for Small Business Development (ICSBD) since 2003 and is a current board member of the Northern California Supplier Development Council (NCSDC) and Vice-Chair of the MBE Input Committee (MBEIC) of NCSDC. Additionally, SLC practices what she preaches – her firm is certified as a minority-owned business through NCSDC and a woman-owned business through WBENC.

Eva Martin-Long, Agency Field Executive, State Farm Insurance (Both) Eva is responsible for profitable growth in the insurance as well as financial services arena for State Farm. She manages a team of seven who provide coaching and consulting in the areas of business management, sales skills, and team development to 74 independent contractor agents ranging from Daly City south to Cupertino. She built a successful agency from the ground up at age 27, running it for 12 years prior to moving into a management position developing other entrepreneurs. Born in Germany, Eva has lived all over the world and is fluent in German, French, and English. Her strongest skills lie in the helping others to determine their path and develop a plan to achieve their goals.

Cindy Mascheroni, Tec International

Dalya Massachi, Founder, Writing for Community Success (Morning) Dalya F. Massachi specializes in helping social sector professionals advance their missions through outstanding written materials. She has worked with community-minded organizations for 15 years, and has authored countless successful marketing pieces, articles, and grant proposals. Since 2001, Dalya has taught writing techniques to several hundred workshop participants, and has coached dozens of professionals one-on-one. In January 2007, Dalya will publish "Writing to Make a Difference: 50 Tools & Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.” She currently pens a regular column on Idealist.org, entitled “Write Right with Dalya.” Her website and free e-newsletter are at www.dfmassachi.net.

Cecelia McCloy, President and CEO, Integrated Science Solutions (Afternoon)

Shuyler Morgan, Principal, Taku Group (Morning) Schuyler Morgan is an accomplished visionary and a highly creative strategist who is part of the Taku Group team of business and finance advisors. She brings broad expertise in building a sustainable competitive advantage, corporate board development and governance, communication based leadership, creating a signature presence, building a solid brand, high impact teaming, eliminating habits that waste company money, public and corporate relations. She has started, managed, and marketed companies both domestically and abroad and serves as interim business advisor for not-for-profits, high-school virtual enterprise programs, and regional open space development projects.
Ms. Morgan has worked in a variety of industries, has served as Director of Community Relations, Community Affairs, VP of Production, Owner, Founder and Managing Principal and CEO of several start-ups, and as Member and Chair of Boards of Directors, and State and Regional Delegate and Director of Government Relations for a Professional Association. . She has assisted local city business associations in designing an economic development program, was a Founding Board Member of the San Francisco Bay Area Trail Center, which developed a 450 mile continuous trail surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area, and was Assistant Director of Development for an Open Space Mounted Patrol Rescue Team. She was co-producer and host of a local TV program, Power Profiles, and has co-produced three local TV network community sports/entertainment events.

Claudia Medina, Marketing Strategist, Creativity a là Carte (Morning) Claudia is a successful marketing coach, trainer, and consultant working with business owners to motivate and encourage them to live their passion, promote and deliver their value, communicate and systemize their business activities—all with the support and application of proven market techniques. She considers her biggest accomplishment in life to be her two children, but is also quite proud of her recently completed first marketing workshop. Before starting Creativity a là Carte in 2004, Claudia was Director of Marketing and Community Relations with Bay Area BusinessWoman Newspaper. Anna Marks, Founder and Publisher of that paper had this to say about Claudia, “When it comes to writing marketing materials, there is no one better than Claudia. She understands how to communicate with a fresh and expressive appeal that will brighten up the face of any business, large or small.”

Monique Moyer, Executive Director, San Francisco Port (Morning) Monique Moyer is the Executive director of the Port of San Francisco, appointed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in April 2004. She is the second woman to serve as Executive Director in the Port’s 100-plus year history. As Executive Director, Ms. Moyer manages, through six deputy directors, all activities placed under the jurisdiction of the Port Commission. Prior to joining the Port of San Francisco, Ms. Moyer served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Public Finance & Business Affairs, for the City & County of San Francisco. Ms. Moyer was appointed to manage the department by then-Mayer Willie L. Brown, Jr. in February 1997. From February 1999 to March 2000, Ms. Moyer also served as director of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. Prior to joining city government, Ms. Moyer worked as an investment banker in municipal finance.

Susan Muranishi, County Administrator, Alameda County (Morning) Susan Muranishi was appointed County Administrator by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in December 1994. She provides professional, innovative and proactive leadership to the Board of Supervisors, Agency/Department Heads and the public through responsible fiscal and administrative policy development and program oversight. She works closely with other public officials, jurisdictions, community-based organizations and special interest groups in order to give clear direction and the strategic management necessary to accomplish Board policies and deliver services efficiently and effectively. Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Muranishi was recently named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Public Service from the San Francisco Business Times.

Wendy Nation, Financial Sales Officer, City National Bank (Afternoon)

Courtney Newman, Director Public Affairs/Non Profit Group, Allison & Partners (Morning) Fluent in Spanish, Courtney’s client experience in public affairs and nonprofit communications includes Skoll Foundation, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Goldman Environmental Prize and Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program. For the past three years, she has been involved with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s ‘Spare the Air’ program to encourage residents to adopt air-friendly behaviors, which reached its highest level of public recognition (74%) under her direction. Before joining Allison & Partners, Courtney managed community relations for Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. Her responsibilities included developing and executing media and public outreach strategies. Prior to joining Women’s Initiative, Courtney was an assistant account executive for Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations, where she secured speaking opportunities and media coverage for clients in the technology sector.

Shaula Pandya, Senior Vice President, Deposit Services, Community Bank of the Bay (Morning)

Pat Patterson, Senior Consultant, Kaiser Permenante

Sonjia Redmond, Vice President, CSU East Bay (Morning)

Lola Robinson, San Francisco SBA (Afternoon)

Laura Roden, Managing Director, The Angels Forum (Afternoon) Laura Roden was a founding executive of three successive technology startups, the last of which was PowerTV which became the world’s larges provider of embedded operating systems for interactive television and was sold to Scientific Atlanta. Before entering the startup community she spent seven years at Chronicle Publishing Company, olding the positions of Chief Financial Officer of the television devision an dGeneral Manager of the cellular telephone group. Active in the nonprofit community for many years, Ms. Roden was an original Board member of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs as well as a Board member and President of Pets In Need, Inc. She was nominated as one of the “most influential women in Silicon Valley” by the San Jose Business Journal.

Perla Rodriquez, Community Relations Manager, PG&E (Morning) Perla Rodriguez is the Community Relations Manger for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. She is part of the growing Civic Partnership and Community Initiatives team at PG&E, which includes the company’s charitable giving, employee volunteerism, and community relations programs. Perla was most recently the Community and Public Affairs Manager for Univision Channel 14 and TeleFutura Channel 66 in San Francisco where she was responsible for developing strategic partnerships with local community organizations to support community neets. She also spearheaded the stations’ ongoing community and public affairs initiatives addressing health, education, early literacy and civic participations, and produced a weekly half hour public affairs show.
Perla is a native of San Josè and a graduate of Stanford University. She currently serves on the board of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley and is actively involved with numerous organizations throughout the Bay Area.

Wendy Ross, Bank of San Francisco (Morning)

Rosemary Senegal, Community Bank of the Bay

Renè Shimada Siegel, President, High Tech Connect Renè Shimada Siegel is a public relations and marketing communications expert with more than 18 years experience in Silicon Valley. She is also a successful entrepreneur with extensive industry and media contacts and a reputation for exceeding client expectations.
In 1997, Renè founded High Tech Connect, LLC, providing marketing communications and public relations consultants for demanding technology clients. High Tech Connect boasts a nationwide network of 1300 expert consultants and a client list that includes Cisco Systems, Kaiser Permanente, Juniper Networks, Safeway, Hitachi and hundreds more. In 2006, the company was named 74th Largest Women-Owned Company in the San Francisco East Bay. Renè holds a B.A. in Public Relations from San Jose State University and is an International Association of Business Communications 500 Club lifetime member. High Tech Connect has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Newsweek Japan, Inc., Working Woman, PR WEEK, Smart Money and Daniel Pink’s book, Free Agent Nation. Renè lives in Pleasanton, California with her husband and three children.

Cindy Skinner, Employee Volunteer Program Manager, AAA of Northern California (Both) Cindy coordinates the employee volunteer program in Northern California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado Springs, and Phoenix; she co-manages over 400 activities, 90 team leaders, and 2,500 volunteers in the areas of health/human services, traffic/pedestrian safety, and urban wildlife refuges. Cindy has been a small business owner since 1989 and has expertise in public accounting, marketing, community affairs, and technology. Among many awards, Cindy was recently nominated for the Governor’s Environmental Award (announced mid-October) and was a 2005 recipient of the PR News Media Award.

Mindy So, Gap Inc. Mindy is a Distribution Planner at Gap Inc. where she strategize how to execute all of the Europe Girls style while reacting to changing trends and working with business partners to solve problems proactively in order to maximize profit for in that department. Mindy has worked as a Sales Associate, Host, and Personal Assistant for companies such as Coach, Neiman Marcus, Ross, and Gap. Mindy was born in Hong Kong and moved to the Bay Area at age 10. She is fluent both English and Chinese.

Tricia Stone, Founding Partner, Stone Communications In running her consulting business, Tricia develops presentations and caches executives on presentation delivery. She is experienced facilitating group discussions in order to arrive at the best answers. She has successfully built a consulting business while simultaneously raising three children. She volunteers extensively with her children’s schools, local, and national non-profits.

Maureen Taylor, SNP Communications

Adriane Tolefree-Davis, Classic Investments, Inc. (Afternoon)

Barbara Toothman (Morning)

Suzanne Tucker, Owner, One Stop Graphics (Afternoon) Suzanne was raised in Oklahoma where her amazing 95 year old Mom still lives and is very active on the civic scene. She attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts along with former First Lady and New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Suzanne has two Masters degrees—one in Urban Planning and the other in Business—which prepared her well for her several careers. She has worked in Social Service, banking, real estate, and marketing before finally opening One Stop Graphics in 1987. She recognized a growing need among business people for intelligent, creative copy writing, design, photography, illustration, printing, ect. all handled in one place.

Jesus Vargas, VSCE (Both)

Paula Welsh, Founder, The Welsh Marketing Group (Afternoon) Paula relocated to San Francisco from Washington, D.C. with a degree in business, in 1981 with her husband Maurice—a White House Fellow with the National Security Agency and CIA, to work with the Bechtel Corporation. She began her career in Washington as an on-air personality at WHUR-FM at Howard University [the original Quiet Storm]. Her career took a turn that led to television – NBC-TV. After surviving a near tragic car accident that left her with eleven facial fractures—her career took another turn in working behind the camera. Maurice inspired Paula to become an entrepreneur; the premier of Center Stage West Salon debuted in 1982 which grew quickly with 25 employees. In 1992, her sisters, Bobbie and Brenda, corporate managers with IBM, joined her in now a family owned business. The salon has an “Angel Network” donating over $20,000 back to the community. Paula also worked with the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce for several years receiving many awards and is still currently an Ambassador since l992. As a result of working with Corporate, small business owners and non-profits, she and her technical husband started her second business in ’98 as business consultants. “She’s a great wife, super mother, grandmother [Grammie], role model businesswoman and my best friend” says her husband … “she just keeps on grooving”!

Susana Villarreal, City of Oakland (Both)

Allison Farris Wendelberger, Regional Sales Coordinator, Aflac (Both)

Dana Whitaker, Opening Eyes (Morning) Dana Whitaker is the author of the soon to be released, Transforming Lives $40 at a Time a book that brings to life through photos and stories, the heroic lives of women around the world including Asara Tsehai, a Women’s Initiative graduate, who are accessing microfinance to transform their lives. Dana is also an educator of 17 years, currently teaching World Cultures and Civics to high school students at an alternative school in Piedmont. She plans to launch a life and professional coaching career in the spring of 2007 with a focus on helping women in transition discover their passion(s) and supporting them as they work towards their goals.

Laurie Williams, Volunteer Action Center

Shari Wooldridge, Owner, Stepping Out – The Urban Shoe Spa (Both) Shari transforms women’s feet via brand name shoes, handbags, and accessories. She worked in retail for almost 30 years using her skills in preplanning, forecasting, decision making, and taking calculated risks to propel her open her own store. She continues to grow as a business owner and is now working with the Old Oakland Historic Business Association to brand and elevate her neighborhood. Shari is a member of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, Secretary of OOHBD, and just last month she was inducted into the Oakland Chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Lori Wren Elerts, Partner, Deloitte Tax LLP (Afternoon)

Julie Yim, BART