Women in Business. Conference 2008

Linda T. Alepin is Founding Director of the Global Women's Leadership Network (www.GWLN.org) and Dean's Professor of Entrepreneurship, Santa Clara University. GWLN is sponsored by the Leavey School of Business and the School of Engineering. It is a capacity building organization dedicated to igniting a new world for humanity by liberating women leaders to bring us all to a world built upon human rights and gender equality, sustainable development and global integrity.

Linda has been a pioneer and visionary all her career. She was one of the few women graduates from Stanford University in the sixties to choose a career in the information technology industry. She first joined IBM in its newly formed emerging business segment. As this part of IBM grew into a thriving division, she made a name for herself in sales, development, and management.

In 1978 she joined Amdahl Corporation as it rapidly morphed from a startup to a major force in the mainframe industry worldwide. She helped to build its systems engineering practice, a $25 million distributorship in Brazil and Japan, and to lead its billion dollar turnaround in 1993-5. She held positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, finance, and strategy, culminating with her election to corporate officer.

Linda discovered the Internet in 1995 and nurtured several experimental technologies in her role as Amdahl's VP of Strategy. She was so fascinated by the Internet's potential that she spun out one potential product and founded an early Internet startup called Pebblesoft where she was CEO and President. In an era when there were less than 2% women CEO's, she raised $5 million in seed capital, took a product to market, and eventually sold it to a large international firm.

Linda next pursued her passion for leadership. She became the CEO of Center for New Futures, a leadership consulting company. Here she studied methodologies for creating breakthrough results.

In 2004, her long term partnership with Barry Posner at the Leavey School brought her the opportunity to found a women's leadership organization. From her vision of women all over the world coming to study and being held together by the Internet, the Global Women's Leadership Network was born. In its first three years, this organization has built a reputation worldwide for its leadership programs and the accompanying network of support that is helping to fuel worldwide change.

Linda is a noted public speaker on leadership and management. She is the recipient of the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status on Women's award for contributions to the equality of women. She is a wife and the mother of four.

Contact information: lalepin@scu.edu; 650 948-4122; cell 650 867-9925; fax 650 948-4932.

Sheri Benjamin
San Francisco Bay Area Chair, Vistage International (formerly TEC)

Sheri Benjamin is a former company founder and CEO who has parlayed a successful entrepreneurial career in communications services into other "new lives" — first (and briefly!) as a young retiree, then as a chair for Vistage International, a Knowledge Universe company that increases the effectiveness and enhances the lives of CEOs through monthly peer think-tank groups and one-on-one executive coaching.

In 1988 Sheri and her husband founded Benjamin Group Inc., a boutique West Coast technology public relations firm that she sold to communications holding company Interpublic Group in 1999. Benjamin Group was the largest agency in both the Silicon Valley and in Orange County, with additional offices in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. For four consecutive years, Working Mother magazine named Benjamin Group to its prestigious 100 Best Companies in America list for its unique work/life and development programs, its first-of-its-kind on-site childcare center and its unique culture, making it by far the smallest company to receive that honor. After selling the firm, Sheri headed the US Technology Practice for the world.s largest public relations firm, Weber Shandwick-- one of the three PR agency brands within Interpublic Group.

Sheri has more than 25 years of communications experience and specialized in gaining the .unfair mindshare. of pivotal audiences for a wide range of companies. During the course of her career, Sheri created and implemented communications and marketing programs for both emerging and Fortune 500 organizations, and was frequently called in to spearhead strategic CEO engagements and key messaging/positioning assignments. She has led large-scale repositioning programs for companies such as General Electric and Hewlett-Packard, guerrilla marketing programs for niche service and product companies, and crisis work for companies embroiled in multi-billion dollar lawsuits, massive product recalls and Wall Street messes. She was named by industry trade publication PR Week as one of the Top 50 Women in PR.

On the operational side, Sheri.s Benjamin Group was one most respected and highest margin PR firms on the West Coast, even after investing substantial resources in its two on-site childcare centers, a comprehensive and robust learning/development program and many proprietary operational and client-related software technologies. A big fan of Kaplan and Norton.s Balanced Scorecard methodology, Sheri firmly believes that the most successful entrepreneurs are those who pay attention to both the yin and yang.key operational metrics and controls, combined with way, way, WAY out-of-the-box thinking.

Prior to founding Benjamin Group, Sheri ran West Coast offices for several large PR firms, worked in both start-up companies and major corporations, and was once a journalist before becoming a capitalist.

She is a past president and board member emeritus of the San Francisco Bay Area.s famous Churchill Club, and is a frequent speaker throughout the United States on marketing and communications issues. In her spare time, she reads incessantly, and when torn away from her books, newspapers and magazines can be found in horse arenas across the US and Europe where she supports her daughter, Megan, as an international equestrian vaulting competitor (gymnastics on a cantering horse). As an equal opportunity mother, she also spends a good bit of time trailering motocross bikes and driving the wakeboard boat for her son, Cody.

Sonia Clark
Vice President, Human Resources

Sonia Clark has served as Vice President, Human Resources since October 2006. She is responsible for leading the global human resources team for Align's operations and facilities around the world. Prior to joining Align, Ms. Clark served as Vice President, Human Resources at Avago Technologies, a spin-off of the Semiconductor Products Group (SPG) of Agilent Technologies.

Ms. Clark brings extensive human resource leadership experience from previous senior level roles at Cadence Design Systems, Black & Decker, Colgate Palmolive and several startups. Ms. Clark received her bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology from California State University Northridge, and has earned numerous certifications in organizational development programs. She currently serves on the advisory board for Santa Clara University's Human Resource Leadership Development group and is a member of the Leadership Council for the East Bay Leadership Foundation.

Susan C. Felix
CEO - Felix Consulting Group

Susan C. Felix has over 25 years experience moving software and services up the growth curve through well executed corporate strategies, including mergers and acquisitions. She has been instrumental in focusing the efforts of startup companies, expanding product lines at a 35% compound annual growth rate from a few million dollars to over $170 million, and accelerating the operations of multi-billion dollar global companies. As CEO of Felix Consulting Group in Saratoga CA, Susan has built her consulting business primarily through networking. She enjoys coaching others to leverage networking as a primary tool in landing new jobs and clients. Susan is a Santa Clara University alum with an MBA in finance and marketing, and received a BS in mathematics from the University of Maryland.

Jean Fuller
Fuller Coaching

Jean Fuller works with emerging technology leaders and senior executives facing major change. Clients include Silicon Valley technology executives, VC's and bright emerging stars in their field who engage Jean to bring together an innovative combination of coaching, leadership development, and organizational consulting to help achieve critical objectives. Jean also facilitates off-sites to build innovative and resilient teams through working together on the highest business priorities.

Jean has held roles as a VP in a retained executive search firm, an executive in a national recruiting firm, and a technology manager in software engineering and operations. Her experience provides Jean with a unique set of perspectives to help technology leaders fast track their own professional growth. Jean is the executive coach and facilitator for the 2006 -2008 Stanford University Graduate School of Business Founders Forum for startup CEO's.

Jean leads seminars including "Advisory Boards for Growth?" and co-facilitates "In The Boardroom", a case-based interactive executive series. Program offerings were held for the National Association of Corporate Directors, Harvard Graduate School of Business, VC Taskforce, FWE&E, and other groups.

Coaching Focus

Driving your own executive leadership development utilizing real life situations
Charting your career future - short and long term - with your strengths and preferences profile
Influencing with and without authority
Negotiating for the engineering and research professional
360s - The Glorious Truth: Seeing yourself as others do
Communication strategies for tough conversations, difficult feedback
Networking and building influential alliances cross department, company, industry
Presenting powerfully to senior executives and groups

Education & Certifications

Professional Coach Certification (PCC, International Coach Federation); Certified Integral Coach from New Ventures West; Certified 360 Feedback Facilitator by Center for Creative Leadership; Certified Strategic Talent Management Consultant, IPAT (Institute for Personality and Ability Testing,16PF); Qualified MBTI consultant;
Certified Project Manager, UCSC; NACD Certificate of (Board) Director Education (National Association of Corporate Directors);
B.A., University of Massachusetts; Advanced Business Institute, Harvard University.

Professional Memberships

Professional Memberships: ICF (International Coach Federation); FWE&E (Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives) Advisory Board member; HBA, Healthcare Business Women's Association and prior Committee Chair.

Francine Gordon
Ph.D.

Francine Gordon, Ph.D. is an organization consultant and executive coach who helps improve the effectiveness of clients by sharpening their interpersonal and organizational skills. Her special interests include enhancing creativity in individuals and organizations and facilitating the development and advancement of women executives. A recovering perfectionist, she also helps professionals who have self-limiting beliefs and unrealistically high standards find ways to free themselves to achieve their full potential.

Before starting her own business, F Gordon Group, Francine spent over five years with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as the global knowledge expert on Human Resources issues. Clients included Global 500 companies in high technology, finance, biotechnology, industrial goods, and pharmaceuticals in North America, Europe and Asia.

Dr. Gordon began her professional life as assistant professor of Organization Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). She was one of the first two women on the GSB faculty and the youngest person to hold that position. In addition to teaching M.B.A. and Ph.D. candidates, she consulted with major companies and co-edited a book, Bringing Women Into Management (McGraw-Hill), which provided unique solutions to integrating women into executive management.

Her experience also includes executive roles in HR, Marketing and Training at Tandem Computers, UB Networks, and Pacific Bell (now AT&T). She he also served as General Manager of California Actors Theatre, a fully professional (i.e., Actors Equity) repertory theater.

Francine graduated from Vassar College, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She went on to earn both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Yale University. Francine is a certified integral coach.

Rebecca Guerra
Vice President, Human Resources

Rebecca Guerra is a seasoned Human Resources executive with over 30 years experience working for market-leading companies in Silicon Valley.

During the most recent five years, Guerra served with the founding executive team as the Vice President, Human Resources for Extreme Networks and immediately prior to that, in the same capacity for Riverstone Networks.

Prior to August of 2000, she was the first Vice President of Human Resources at eBay Inc., the world's largest person-to-person on-line trading community establishing the strategic direction of the HR function and assisted with the formation of the eBay Foundation. Prior to joining eBay, she was Sr. Vice President of HR and Community Relations for Adobe Systems, Inc.

Guerra has demonstrated success in all aspects of the Human Resources field. She has directed staffing and talent management, compensation and incentive strategies and organization and executive team development in rapidly evolving businesses. She has handled the human side of multiple mergers and acquisitions, senior leadership succession and the development of high integrity, employee-centric cultures.

Rebecca joined Adobe following the Mips Computer Systems merger with Silicon Graphics, where she was Director of International HR. Prior to joining Mips, Guerra held a variety of HR positions at Hewlett Packard.

She sits on the Board of Trustees for the University of Santa Clara. She holds both her BS degree and MBA in finance from Santa Clara University. In her spare time, she runs her Jack Russell Terriers, collects wine, reads voraciously and when it isn.t snowing in the Sierras, allowing her and her husband to ski, they can be found riding their motorcycles in the south Silicon Valley area where they live.

Natasha Gurevich
Director of Global Procurement, eBay

"Natasha Gurevich is the Director of Global Procurement at ebay, a position that she has held since 2005. Natasha brings a plethora of experience from her previous role as Strategic Sourcing Manager at both the Gap and Visa International. In addition to these accredations, Natasha was the founder and CEO for Managerial School "Superreferent" for eight years after she graduated Master's in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. Having received her Bachelor's degree in Education, Natasha continued to support academia even after she graduated through her role as Member of Board of Directors at the Masagung School of Business at the University of San Francisco from 2003-2007. Natasha's professional interests include the negotiating approach in cross-functional teams, analyzation of product and process lifecycles to enhance supply chain management, and guest auditing for customer support and financial service operations. Natasha is looking forward to sharing her knowledge with the attendees of this year's conference."

Mahnoush Haririfar
Director of Client Services

Mahnoush Haririfar has over 23 years experience in various industries including environmental, pharmaceuticals, Biotech, medical device manufacturing, immunodiagnostics, semiconductor, telecommunications, scientific information management, and biotech & pharmaceuticals consulting. She has managed to transition her career from research chemist to lab supervisor to product & project management to quality management and finally Sales & Marketing in several industries. She is currently Director of Client Services managing clients' relationships for a consulting firm. She has managed to follow her career passion by acquiring valuable experiences in every industry she has worked for. Mahnoush loves to travel around the world and learn about other countries. She is a Santa Clara University alum with an MBA in marketing and management. She also holds a MS and a BS in Chemistry.

Linda Holroyd
CEO, FountainBlue

Linda is an experienced leader who balances her passionate heart-side with her business-oriented head side. Linda grew her first company, a technical web consulting practice, to over 4 million in sales with a 38 member staff and a 96% customer satisfaction rate. Now a serial entrepreneur, Linda founded FountainBlue in January 2006 to foster transformative change for high-tech, life science and clean energy decision-makers one conversation, one leader, one organization at a time through our monthly events, our growing communities, our consulting services, and the connections we facilitate through these activities.

A graduate of UC Davis with a major in Psychology and a minor in Education, Linda also has certificates in nonprofit, executive and program management from San Jose State, UC Santa Cruz Extension and San Francisco State. She is a frequent speaker on leadership, entrepreneurship, networking and clean energy and is working on a series of FountainBlue 101 books on those same topics. Linda is married and lives with her husband and daughter in the Silicon Valley. She enjoys, cooking, writing, wellness and fitness, history, hiking, meeting people, and almost any board or card game.

Michael Johnson
Founder of Diamond Dynamic

Michael Johnson, founder of Diamond Dynamic helps corporations improve revenues, innovation and communication through nderstanding and appreciation of the customs, views, communication styles nd unique skills of the world's two most diverse cultures: male and female.

Before starting his consulting business, Mike enjoyed a successful sales career or more than 25 years. During his ten years at General Electric, Mike received any top sales honors, including Top Salesman and the Chairman's Award for outstanding Performance. Mike also developed and taught sales skills courses to GE employees.

Later in his career, Mike started his own electronics manufacturers' rep firm, Mike earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a master's degree in Electrical Engineering, and taught these subjects at the University of Kentucky prior to joining GE. He is a Master Practitioner and Certified Trainer in Neuropsychology. Mike holds two United States patentslectures at San Jose State College of Business, UCSC and the Haas Graduate School of Business at U.C. Berkeley on entrepreneurship.

Mike will be quick to tell you that his highest and most rewarding achievement was raising his two daughters from the ages of 4 and 6 as a single father. "That was the greatest and most rewarding gift, life has ever given me." It was this experience as a single father that fostered Mike's interest in gender communication. "My daughters would come home with stories about how badly some boy treated them. After inquiring about the particulars, invariably I realized that the boy had treated my daughter like another boy. I am certain in most cases the boy was oblivious to hurt he caused. In fact he probably thought it was a compliment (as another boy would). In other words; it wasn't personal!"

Today's his daughters enjoy successful careers in two very male dominated occupations; law enforcement officer and professional chef.

Mike is an active member of Boardroom Bound™ an organization dedicated to assisting women prepare for and obtain board positions in corporate America. He is also a mentor for Astia, a nonprofit that helps women owned business get the necessary funding and resources to start their own business.

Mike is on the Board of the Association for Corporate Growth. He hosts "Control Your Destiny," a motivational series designed to help professionals move out of their comfort zones and achieve new levels of success on TAZA Radio. Mike has been featured in INC Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management, San Jose Business Journal, BizInk, the San Jose Mercury News and the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Mike is coauthor of Getting the Business Breakthrough You Want, a book on mentoring with Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul).

His new book: "It's not personal" (Morgan James) will be available in August 2008

Mike is a popular speaker and has addressed many national and international organizations.

Heidi Kraft

Heidi Kraft is a Leadership and Career coach and founder of Kraft Your Success Coaching and Consulting.

Prior to launching her business, she spent 17 years on the agency side of the advertising industry developing and implementing media strategies for numerous high—profile clients such as Microsoft, Intel, Intuit, Siebel Systems, 24 Hour Fitness and Harley-Davidson. Her last role prior to launching her business was as SVP Media Director for Hill Holliday, a mid-sized Boston based agency.

Although media was always her primary responsibility, Heidi increasing gained recognition for her skill in working with clients at all organizational levels - from mid-management to C-level executives. Her internal departmental leadership, combined with her natural inclination to help people achieve their fullest potential, inspired her to spearhead innovative programs in employee retention, career- pathing, team- building and organizational development. It was through watching individuals and organizations become more productive, more harmonious, and more inspired that sparked her passion to launch her business and move fully into coaching as her career. Her work focuses on helping her clients develop into high potential leaders, improve their professional relationships and find the work that they love!

Heidi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute and a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. She is also a member of the International Coaches Federation and serves as Program Director for San Francisco Coaches. She also serves on the BAARC board (Bay Area Advertising Relief Committee), a local non-profit organization that helps individuals in the Bay Area who are having severe difficulty after job loss.

Her other passions include extensive international travel, wine tasting, and singing with her blues band.

Dee McCrorey
Chief Risk Guru, Risktaking for Success LLC

Dolores "Dee" McCrorey, Chief Risk Guru, and Innovation Coach of Risktaking for Success LLC is a curious life long learner with a passion for exploring new territory and forging new paths.

Over two decades of corporate experience in a variety of front-line, management and leadership roles, Dee enjoys leading professionals through career transition and success by tapping and harnessing their entrepreneurial spirit. She collaborates with global thought leaders and provides enterprise-wide training programs on innovation, Responsible Risktaking™, workplace reinvention, and "homegrown" corporate entrepreneurship.

Dee's most recent reinvention occurred two years ago following the launch of her blog The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur. Her Web 2.0 social media mix now includes a video blog Road to Innovation.TV and two Internet radio shows Coach for Innovation and Big Dreamers!

Roberta (Bobbie) LaPorte
Founder and Principal of RAL & Associates

Roberta (Bobbie) LaPorte, is Founder and Principal of RAL & Associates, a consulting firm providing leadership and career development services to financial services, healthcare and technology organizations. As an industry senior executive with more than 20 years of cross-functional experience, Bobbie has established a track record building market share, revenue and profit growth, and helping hundreds of industry professionals achieve career excellence and resiliency.

Before founding RAL & Associates, Ms. LaPorte served in GM, COO and CMO roles in several Fortune 100 companies, including IBM, GE, Citigroup and United Healthcare. Through her consulting practice, Bobbie has helped hundreds of career professionals discover the "best next step" in their career. She is passionate about helping professionals find their place in the workplace. A certified career coach, she holds membership in the Professional Coaches and Mentors Association (PCMA), the International Coach Federation (ICF) and The Career Masters Institute (CMI).

Ms. LaPorte has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, and an MBA from Harvard. A frequent speaker and author on the powerful relationship between physical fitness and career success, she is also an accomplished triathlete and multi-sport coach. Bobbie is currently training for her fourth Ironman triathlon. When she is not coaching executives or Ironman triathletes, she proudly serves on a number of Bay Area non-profit Boards, and happily rescues Golden Retriever dogs.

Diana Schlott
Corporate Trainer/Facilitator

"Making a difference, one action at a time, since 1995."

Diana Schlott is a dynamic and energetic facilitator with nearly 20 years experience in all aspects of training and presentations. In 1995, Diana launched Artemis Training, a local organization dedicated to corporate education. She has consulted with many Bay Area municipalities and private organizations to provide management skills training and personal employee development. While coaching local leaders, it became apparent the generational diversity was creating a gap in the diverse workforce of today. Diana's current mission is to increase the understanding of generational differences and to help others accommodate the needs of the different generations in today's workforce.

Sandra Wales
MBA, CMA, CFP®

Sandra is the President of WALES INVESTMENTS INC. a Registered Investment Advisory firm with the State of California. She specializes in retirement planning and investment services to individuals, corporate employees, business owners and retirees. Sandra is a Certified Financial Planner CFP® and a licensed accountant (CMA). She is a member of the Security Analysts Society of San Francisco. Sandra has passed the NASD Securities License Series 7, 6, 63 (not current) and 65 and is a licensed insurance agent with the State of California. Sandra is active in the financial planning community, and is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA). She is currently serving on Board of the FPA of Silicon Valley as chair of the Public Relations Committee and teaches Pension and Benefits planning at UCSC. Sandra is a licensed real estate associate with the State of California, as well as the State of Florida.

Sandra has over 22 years of experience as a business and finance executive with Fortune 500 companies such as Silicon Graphics and Gap Inc. as well as a background in Venture Capital. She has worked in the securities industry for Sun America Securities, as well as private investment advisory firms. Her background in business finance, working with high-ranking executives and business owners in both the domestic, as well as international arenas, gives her a skill set that is highly valued. Her background includes working on strategic as well as operational aspects of businesses, allowing her to aid business owners in succession planning, employment benefits, retirement planning and cash flow/financial statement management. Sandra holds a MBA from Santa Clara University and a Bachelors Degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Norma Watenpaugh
Founding Principal, Phoenix Consulting Group
Best Practices Editor, Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals

Norma Watenpaugh is the founding principal of Phoenix Consulting Group which provides partnering and marketing consulting services with expertise in partner strategy, alliance management and program development. An IDC Authorized Partner, Phoenix Consulting Group offers consulting services to complement IDC research and advisory services. Prominent clients include Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems, Dupont, Microsoft, SAP, and UPS.

Her twenty-five years of professional experience includes executive positions architecting multi-channel and alliance partner programs at Sun Microsystems, Amdahl Corp. and BEA Systems. At BEA, Norma repositioned the company's business strategy to embrace a partnering model. Additionally, she launched the acclaimed Star Partner Program to consolidate all partner relationships into a single, manageable, scaleable, world-wide program, leveraging 70% of the company's revenue of $1 billion. She defined and deployed operational systems and infrastructure to support over 2000 partners and an acquisition rate of over 100 new partners per month.

Norma has taught alliance seminars for the San Jose State University Professional Development and Duke Corporate Education and is a frequently requested speaker at industry events.

Founding president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Association of Strategic Alliances Professionals (ASAP). Norma is currently ASAP vice chair of the global board of directors and best practices editor. Most recently she led the Standards Advisory Board in developing professional certification for alliance managers.

Norma was a Regents Scholar at the University of Nebraska with B.S. in Physical Sciences and has an MBA from Santa Clara University.

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