FountainBlue

This Month's Event: It Takes a Village: The Case for Collaborative Leadership

The 'It Takes a Village' concept of successful, cross-cultural, cross-role, cross-functional support of critical societal and business issues are a fundamental requirement for making sustainable progress and changes. This month's 'When She Speaks' event will profile women who have successfully taken a stand on a key issue of critical importance, coalesced a following around the initiative, and forged ahead in making real changes for people in need.

We are pleased to announce that Rosemary Straley National Coordinator of the HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON SUPPORT NETWORK will help frame the discussion, based on the 'It Takes a Village' concept coined by Senator Clinton. We are also pleased to present our esteemed facilitators and panelists for this month's event.

Facilitator Katharine Fong, Deputy Managing Editor for the San Jose Mercury News, www.mercurynews.com , oversees the newsroom's convergence and new media efforts, including the website and multimedia. Katharine encourages us to draw on our knowledge of the creative, innovative strength of the region as we face the unique social issues for the region.

Panelist Patricia Burbank, psychologist, community activist and co-founder of One World Children's Fund http://www.owcf.org/, will share her perspectives working with professionals at all levels in discovering the significant progress people can make in partnership. Through her inspiring work at One World Children's Fund, Patricia is personally making a stand in support of grass-roots organizations around the world, serving the fundamental physiological and educational needs of individual communities.

Panelist Dyan Chan, a former corporate community relations manager and currently a partner at communication and community relations consulting firm Lighthouse Blue http://www.lighthouseblue.com. Dyan will share her extensive experience working in corporate community affairs and communication, along with her views on the importance of working collaboratively with businesses and community service organizations, as well as community activists and fellow parents, to address the unique challenges facing busy executives in Silicon Valley.

Panelist Mona Hudak is the Women’s Action Network and Diversity Program Manager for Cisco Systems http://www.cisco.com. Mona has embraced the collaborative leadership model through her involvement with the affinity groups within Cisco. Trained as an engineer, Mona's engaging and empowering style and her leadership with the women's action network affinity group has spawned 32 others around the world and has become a model of support for fostering women's leadership within Cisco.

Katharine will facilitate the discussion covering the panelists' personal experience and involvement with collaborative ventures for social, business and community benefit, as well as words of wisdom on how to contribute to collaborative local and global causes.