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FountainBlue's When She Speaks, 
Women in Leadership Series
FountainBlue's When She Speaks was launched in May 2006 and provides ongoing networking and program benefits for 50-200 high tech women and men-who-support-having-women-in-leadership positions across Silicon Valley and beyond. Our monthly events are held on the second Fridays of the month, from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at high tech companies across the valley. Every month, we profile a panel of women senior executives in high tech companies speaking on a range of leadership challenges and issues for Silicon Valley high tech women in particular.

Tech companies across the Silicon Valley have leveraged FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership series to profile their women leaders, to connect their staff with other professionals across and within companies, and to inform, inspire and educate their staff and partners. Our current and upcoming list of host companies include the marquis tech companies in the valley, who proudly advertise their commitment to developing women and leaders within their organizations. 

Our series is designed to celebrate women leaders in Silicon Valley, stimulate critical thinking and conversation around leadership challenges and issues, empower and inspire all participants, including the next generation of leaders, and build a proactive, collaborative and supportive leadership community overall. 


Subscribe to our weekly When She Speaks event invitations or our monthly high tech mailing list.

Friday, June 14, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Millennials in Our Midst!

Location: Aruba Networks, 1344 Crossman Avenue, Sunnyvale

Registration Fee: $25 for members, $35 for community and corporate partners, $45 for general admission, or $150 for corporate pass for up to 10 people. Please note that there will be a $3 processing fee.

Become a 2013 FountainBlue Member and receive a complementary admission to this event for $100

Late and On-site Registrations: $40 for members, $50 for non-members, plus $3 fee

Register for any of the above options at: https://www.wepay.com/stores/whenshespeaks

Lunch will be graciously provided by our event hosts.

For more information and for general and partner registration, visit http://www.whenshespeaks.com

 

Millennials in Our Midst!

The Millennial Generation otherwise known as Generation Y is no longer made-up of just kids and teens. The eldest are now graduating college and entering the professional workforce. They are in our workplace, impacting what we do, how we do it! They bring their share of perspectives and challenges, but they also bring new ideas and innovations and approaches, a mix of pluses and minuses.

A successful corporation will embrace the diversity offered by this influential generation. Our panel will speak on the general profile of millennials, recruiting and engagement strategies for millennials, and how to embrace all the millennials in our midst!

 

Facilitator Pat Cross, Consultant, Trainer, and Co-Founder of CrossApps.net

Panelist Joanna Bloor, VP of Sales Operations, Pandora

Panelist Monique LeFors Edmondson, Manager, IT, Cisco

Panelist Jen Lamorena, Sr. Manager of University Programs and Youth Innovation, eBay

Panelist Julia McConaughy, Director, Channel Operations, Aruba

Profiled Millennials:

  • Panelist from Aruba, to be confirmed
  • Panelist Ilene Rafii, Virtual Systems Engineer, Cisco



Register here for an upcoming FountainBlue When She Speaks event as a member, partner, or purchase general admission tickets or a corporate pass.
 
Become a FountainBlue member for 2013, and receive a complementary admission.
Reserve your ticket to our March 15 When She Speaks event, or become a FountainBlue member for 2013, and you will receive a complementary admission. Buy Now

Panelist Bios


Facilitator Pat Cross, Consultant, Trainer, and Co-Founder of CrossApps.net

Pat Cross is currently an independent consultant and senior trainer. Her areas of focus are job search strategy, executive coaching, management/leadership development and understanding generations at work. and customer service. In addition, she is Co-Founder of CrossApps.net, developing applications for the Android phone and has successfully released "Interview Prep" which has been downloaded by job-seekers in the U.S., Asia and Europe. Prior to setting up her own consultancy, Pat was the VP of Career Management Services at Right Management. She holds an MA Ed from Washington University, St. Louis, BA in Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College, New York. She is also a certified ESL instructor and actor.


Panelist Joanna Bloor, VP of Sales Operations, Pandora

Joanna Bloor is the Vice President of Sales Operations for Pandora. With close to two decades of business operations and sales experience, Joanna brings a valuable leadership perspective to Pandora. A seasoned veteran of operations and sales with both start-up and established organizations, she has worked within the technology, online media, restaurant and retail sectors to deliver top notch, strategically significant process system design and implementation for all levels of an organization from coordinator to executive. 

Most recently, Joanna was AVP of Sales Operations with CBS Interactive, where she drove the custom design and implementation of a +$800MM supply chain system for their digital and subscription businesses, and directed the strategy for the $18MM second tier revenue business. Joanna’s tenure also includes sales, operations and strategy at Opentable.com, Classified Ventures, Interactive Corp / Ticketmaster - Citysearch. 

Joanna received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1990 from Goldsmith’s University, London.


Panelist Monique LeFors Edmondson, Manager, IT, Cisco

As Senior Manager for IT Talent Strategy and the IT University Program, Monique LeFors Edmondson has been instrumental in transforming these spaces into best-in-class, highly visible company initiatives. Under Edmondson’s leadership, the IT University Program has become the benchmark within Cisco for recruiting, retaining, and growing new college hires and interns. In partnership with Human Resources, she created the vision and plan for IT Talent Strategy that would ensure a strong foundational team structure, and establish the pillars for success and agility to help propel IT talent as a competitive differentiator.  

Edmondson joined Cisco in 2001, where she worked for four years in Sales IT on infrastructure and application development for the Asia Pacific region. She transitioned into Sales Operations and worked directly with the field supporting go-to-market strategies. She was responsible for the first global deployment of the sales coverage tool, and brought all Cisco’s theaters together to define and implement a consistent approach for global account planning.

After five years in Sales, Edmondson returned to IT as a business operations manager, and later expanded her responsibilities to oversee Cisco on Cisco content creation, events, and social media in the IT Customer Strategy and Success organization.  

She has a degree in Management Information Systems from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.  


Panelist Jen Lamorena, Sr. Manager of University Programs and Youth Innovation, eBay

Jennifer Lamorena is the leader of Community & Learning Programs, an arm of our University Programs team at eBay Inc. She is responsible for the experience of all interns and entry level employees joining from universities. This is the first year ramping the program up towards our goal of 25% of all hires coming from university hires.

Prior to eBay Inc., Lamorena worked for Cisco Systems Inc. holding numerous strategic & operational roles. Highlights included launching Cisco’s first ecommerce platform, developing the channel partner programs and re-launching Cisco’s university campus program efforts.

Lamorena received a master certificate in project management from George Washington University, and a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Santa Clara University. She lives in Campbell, CA where she enjoys subjecting her two young sons and husband to HGTV-inspired gardening and home improvement projects.


Panelist Julia McConaughy, Director, Channel Operations, Aruba


Panelist Ilene Rafii, Virtual Systems Engineer, Cisco

Ilene Rafii is a virtual systems engineer at Cisco, where she designs datacenters for customers around the world. Prior to joining Cisco, she organized the first annual USC Entrepreneurship Panel, which connected USC students, startups, and alumni venture capitalists. Ilene is also active in encouraging young girls to pursue engineering and recently mentored a team through the 2013 Tech Museum Tech Challenge. In her spare time she is learning Chinese and also enjoys running and yoga. Ilene received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a minor in English with honors from USC in 2011. 



We would like to thank and acknowledge our hosts for FountainBlue's When She Speaks Series for 2012-2013.

 
 
 
 
 

Below is a list of past and upcoming FountainBlue When She Speaks hosts, topics and speakers for 2013. Please join us in thanking them for their engagement and participation.

Date, all events held from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

Topic and Speakers

Description

Jan 18 @ UCSC Extension, 2505 Augustine Drive, Santa Clara, Room 106

Expanding Your Circle of Influence, With or Without Direct Authority

 

Facilitator Camille Smith, Work In Progress Coaching

 

Panelist Michelle Nix, Relationship Leader, Information Risk Management, PayPal

Panelist Preethy Padmanabhan, Sr. Mgr. Solutions Marketing, Dell

 

Panelist Shalika Pargal, Product Manager, Cisco

 

Panelist Kelly Ripley Feller, Director of Social Media & Community Marketing, Citrix

 

Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Director - Professional Practice, Tectura

Women who make an impact in business know that you do not need to hold an impressive job title to be a leader who makes a difference. Being an influencer requires knowledge of effective influencing techniques, leveraging your personal influencing style, as well as the determination and persistence to make great things happen. Hear first-hand how our panelists establish credibility, gain buy-in for ideas, engage co-workers and lead business results, with or without direct authority.

Feb 8 @  Altera,  101 Innovation Drive,

San Jose

How to Throw More Balls Up Higher: Juggling Work-Life Balance in Demanding Times

 

Facilitator Kristi Royse, KLR Consulting

 

Panelist Anne Griswold, Principal and Organizational Specialist, Altera

 

Panelist Punam Nagpal, Engineer SW Success, Cisco

 

Panelist Komal Lahiri, Director, Payments & Credit Products Risk, PayPal

 

Panelist Phyllis Stewart Pires, Director of WorkLife Strategy, University Human Resources, Stanford University

 

Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions, while still juggling the personal demands of life and family, and squeezing in time for yourself. Each ball, from the heavy, urgent demands in a corporate environment to the home-and-personal demands of children, spouses, friends and others, to your own always-addressed-last personal needs for balance, health and growth - is important.

Yet each balls keeps coming at you from more angles, and each ball is coming at you faster! So how do you juggle these often-competing balls and what we can do to adjust our own expectations and that of others on us, in order to ease the load and the stress? Our speakers will share their stories, commiserate with us, and challenge us to re-evaluate how roles, our priorities, and our own expectations for ourselves.

March 15 @  eBay Inc, 2161 North First Street, Town Hall building,  San Jose

Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career

 

Facilitator Christy Tonge, Executive Coach & Organizational Consultant at Leadership Expedition Partners, Blessing White Inc.

 

Panelist Diane Bisgeier, Program Manager, WebFWD Open Innovation Program, Mozilla Corporation

 

Panelist Roli Saxena, Global Director Product Consulting and Customer Success, LinkedIn

 

Panelist Barbara Williams, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Oracle 

 

Panelist Kirsten Wolberg, VP, Technology, PayPal

Global megatrends are making it much more difficult to plan your career path, as there is more fluidity within and across corporations, across global markets, plus greater acceptance of people moving from one role or industry to another. Our panelists will focus on agility as the key to building a successful career, regardless of gender, featuring women who have changed roles and industries, positions and companies. They will share their stories of successes and challenges, and also share how they are supporting others to do the same.

April 12 @ EMC, 2831 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara

Building and Reinforcing

Your Executive Brand

 

Facilitator Nancy Monson, Nancy Monson Coaching

 

Panelist Erin Jurgeleit, Chief of Staff, Global Compliance, PayPal

 

Panelist Vijaya Kaza, Director of Engineering, Cisco

 

Panelist Merline Saintil, Vice President, Technology Operations, Joyent

 

Panelist Praveena Varadarajan, Vice President - Architecture, Technology & Services, FICO

 

Panelist from EMC to be confirmed

Your brand tells people who you, and what to expect from you whether at work or at home. It helps people decide whether to trust you, and what to trust you about. Effective executives, both women and men, proactively build their brand, to ensure that others think highly of them, and have the confidence that they can execute under specific circumstances, and even in situations where they have little connections and expertise. Indeed, your executive brand can limit or launch your success. This month, our panel of women leaders will talk about what they have done to build and reinforce their executive brand, and how they leverage that brand to build credibility, position themselves and their teams and organizations for success, and strategically manage their career development.

May 10 @  EMC, 2831 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara

Standing on the Shoulders of Mentors

 

Facilitator Ann Tardy, Founder and CEO, LifeMoxie Mentoring

 

Panelist Monica Bajaj, Senior Engineering Manager, NetApp

 

Panelist Gina Ferguson, Director, Finance IIG, EMC

 

Panelist Catherine Moore, Board Advisor, Teamitt and ConnectBright, former Head of HR for Nokia Research Centers

 

Panelist Leila Pourhashemi, Director, Technology Business Operations at PayPal, an eBay company

As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stood. We carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us. Our panelists this month will focus on our mentoring relationships, how we can share more of what we know with others and how we can identify the potential mentors available to us. Our panelists will share the ways that their mentors have impacted their thinking and development, and how this has, in turn, stimulated thoughts and actions in support of others. In addition, we will discuss how you can promote mentoring in your organization.

June 14 @ Aruba Networks, 1344 Crossman Avenue, Sunnyvale

Millennials in Our Midst!

 

Facilitator Pat Cross, Consultant, Trainer, and Co-Founder of CrossApps.net

 

Panelist Joanna Bloor, VP of Sales Operations, Pandora

 

Panelist Monique LeFors Edmondson, Manager, IT, Cisco

 

Panelist Jen Lamorena, Sr. Manager of University Programs and Youth Innovation, eBay

 

Panelist Julia McConaughy, Director, Channel Operations, Aruba

 

Profiled Millennials:

  • Panelist from Aruba, to be confirmed
  • Panelist Ilene Rafii, Virtual Systems Engineer, Cisco

The Millennial Generation otherwise known as Generation Y is no longer made-up of just kids and teens. The eldest are now graduating college and entering the professional workforce. They are in our workplace, impacting what we do, how we do it! They bring their share of perspectives and challenges, but they also bring new ideas and innovations and approaches, a mix of pluses and minuses.

A successful corporation will embrace the diversity offered by this influential generation. Our panel will speak on the general profile of millennials, recruiting and engagement strategies for millennials, and how to embrace all the millennials in our midst!

July 12 at @ Cisco

Leveraging Social Media for

Work and Play

 

Facilitator Kim Wise, CEO, Mentor Resources

 

Panelist Kelly Ripley Feller, Director of Social Media & Community Marketing, Citrix

 

Panelist Olivia Shen Green, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Cisco

 

Panelist Shveta Miglani, Deputy Director for Training, Globalfoundries

 

Panelists to be confirmed

FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn; Blogs, Web, E-mail . . . They are all tools for communicating your brand and your message. They can help you tout your expertise, expand your network, clarify your position, advance your cause. But they can also deter from your message, distract from your objectives, taint your brand. Come hear our panel of experts share their advice on their social media strategy for themselves personally, as well as for their company, product and team.

August 9 @ Symantec, 350 Ellis Street, Mountain View   

Politics in the Workplace:

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

 

Facilitator Pat Obuchowski, Chief Empowerment Officer, InVisionaria

 

Panelist Shubha Govil, Sr. Manager Product Management, Cisco

 

Panelist Kavitha Mariappan, Director, Product Marketing, Stingray Business Unit, Riverbed Technology

 

Panelist Charlotte Tueckmantel, Director of Product Line Management, EFI

 

Panelist Kelly Vincent, Director of Product Management, eBay 

 

Symantec panelist to be confirmed

Office politics is a reality for everyone, regardless of the size of your organization or your position. As professionals we have all dealt with the challenges of doing our job while watching our backs, managing up, and dealing with difficult co-workers who treat others around them badly. With all the advances women have made in the workplace, why is this issue still holding us back? Our panel of high tech leaders will share how they have achieved their leadership positions by successfully navigating office politics, amplifying the contributions of others (men  and women), and generously supporting high potentials on the leadership track.

These and other questions on navigating politics in the workplace will be explored by our panel this month.

Sept 13 @ Cadence, 2655 Seely,

San Jose

 

Building 10, in the Kirra Point conference room

(intersection of Montague Expressway and Trimble)

Women Making Their Own Rules

 

Facilitator Natascha Thomson, MarketingXLerator, Co-Author of 42 Rules for B2B Social Media Marketing Book

 

Panelist Kamini Dandapani, Director, Quality Engineering, eBay   

 

Panelist Mona Sabet, Founder, Viblio

 

Corporate Panelists to be confirmed

Successful women create their own brand - their own personal way of making things happen. Sometimes they play within the rules, sometimes they make up their own rules, but the results speak for themselves. Join us and hear the stories from dynamic women who are making up the rules as they go. Learn from them, and start thinking about how you can change the rules that are hindering your own success.

Oct 11 @ Texas Instruments, Texas Instruments Building E Conference Center,

2900 Semiconductor Dr., Santa Clara

Women Leading Innovation

 

Facilitator Karen Catlin, Founder, Karen Catlin Consulting

 

Panelist Athena Maikish, PhD., Global Director, Strategic Analysis and Insight, StubHub

 

Panelist Monique Morrow, Distinguished Sales Consultant, Cisco

 

Corporate Panelist to be confirmed

 

Panelist from Texas Instruments to be confirmed

Innovation is the heart of all success, the antithesis of complacency. And in the new economy, innovation is what will continue to separate those who succeed and those who have become obsolete. Not just a buzzword, innovation is ever more integral to an organizations culture, its competitive advantage. As women rise in leadership positions in the tech companies in Silicon Valley, how are they approaching the question of culture and innovation? How have they successfully navigated the challenges of advancement in high tech companies of today? What is their advice to the rest of us?

Nov 8 @  LifeScan

The Business Case for Diversity

 

Facilitator Radhika Emens, Founder and CEO, Tanjah Partners, Network Chair, WITI Silicon Valley

 

Panelist Alka Gupta, Head of Strategy and Operations, Global Communications, eBay  

 

Corporate Panelists to be confirmed

 

LifeScan panelist to be confirmed

In our fast-paced, global world, both men and women leaders are faced with the need to communicate clearly and rapidly to teams in all corners of the globe and drive results. Gender and culture and other factors affect how well any exec can perform. Our panel will discuss best practices on cross-cultural communication, suggest tips for enlarging your sandbox, and strengthen your capacity to collaborate with people extremely unlike you to maximize business results.

Dec 13 @ EMC, 2831 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara

Getting The Most Out Of Both You and Your Team

 

Facilitator Mary Mills, Mary Mills Coaching

 

Panelist Nora Grasham, Director, Product Development, PayPal

Corporate Panelists to be confirmed

 

EMC panelist to be confirmed

The two adages are true: It’s all about the team, and there’s no ‘I’ in team. With a more diverse and distributed workforce, it has become increasingly more difficult to creating bonding experiences for teams, to help teams collaborate on goals, and to celebrate achievements. Come hear our panel of experts share stories about team successes and challenges, and their advice on how to get the most out of and for your team.



Below is a list of our past upcoming 2012 themes, topics and locations. We would again like to thank each of our hosts, facilitators and panelists.

Date, all events held from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

Topic and Speakers

Description

Jan 20 @ NetApp, 495 East Java Drive

Sunnyvale

Expanding Your Influence, With or Without Direct Authority

 

Facilitator Camille Smith, Work In Progress Coaching

 

Panelist Claudia Galvan, Lead International Program Management Group, Microsoft Corporation

 

Panelist Amy Love, Vice President Brand Communications, NetApp

 

Panelist Mary McDougall, Director, SaaS Strategy & Product Management, BMC Software

 

Panelist Kristi McGee, Principal Consultant with Office of the CIO and acting Director of Business Applications at Rambus Inc.

Women who make an impact in business know that you do not need to hold an impressive job title to be a leader who makes a difference. Being an influencer requires knowledge of effective influencing techniques, leveraging your personal influencing style, as well as the determination and persistence to make great things happen. Hear first-hand how our panelists establish credibility, gain buy-in for ideas, engage co-workers and lead business results, with or without direct authority.

Feb 10 @  Symantec, 350 Ellis Street, Mountain View

How to Throw More Balls Up Higher: Juggling Work-Life Balance in Demanding Times

 

Facilitator Melissa McDonell, Brand Voice Marketing Consulting

 

Panelist Gina Diaz, Director, License Management Services (LMS) Group, Oracle

 

Panelist Jane Helfen, Director, Human Resources, Huawei

 

Panelist Irena Halsey, Director Women's Initiative, eBay

 

Panelist Shilpa Kolhatkar, Engineering Manager, Cisco

 

Panelist Cheryl Miller, Sr. Director, Product Management, Symantec

 

Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions, while still juggling the personal demands of life and family, and squeezing in time for yourself. Each ball, from the heavy, urgent demands in a corporate environment to the home-and-personal demands of children, spouses, friends and others, to your own always-addressed-last personal needs for balance, health and growth - is important.

Yet each balls keeps coming at you from more angles, and each ball is coming at you faster! So how do you juggle these often-competing balls and what we can do to adjust our own expectations and that of others on us, in order to ease the load and the stress? Our speakers will share their stories, commiserate with us, and challenge us to re-evaluate how roles, our priorities, and our own expectations for ourselves.

March 9 @  EMC, 2831 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara

Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career

 

Facilitator Caroline Margozzi, Director, Business Development, Tangence

 

Panelist Karyn Corbett, Senior Director, Cisco Services

 

Panelist Kim Fox, Chief of Staff to the President, Sr. Director Operations, Information Intelligence Group,  EMC

 

Panelist Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, Senior Director and GM, International, eBay

 

Panelist Mona Sabet, Corporate VP, Business Development, Cadence

Global megatrends are making it much more difficult to plan your career path, as there is more fluidity within and across corporations, across global markets, plus greater acceptance of people moving from one role or industry to another. Our panelists will focus on agility as the key to building a successful career, regardless of gender, featuring women who have changed roles and industries, positions and companies. They will share their stories of successes and challenges, and also share how they are supporting others to do the same.

April 13 @  HP, 1501 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, Yosemite Conference Room, Bldg 3L

Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand

 

Facilitator, Lynn Hunsaker, Customer Experience Optimization Strategist at ClearAction LLC, CEO & President at Marketing Operations Partners, Inc. & Marketing Operations Future Forum

 

Panelist Monica Bajaj, Senior Engineering Manager, Cisco

 

Panelist Megan Bozio, Senior Director, License Management Services, Oracle

 

Panelist Susan Hailey, Director, Executive Talent Acquisition, eBay

 

Panelist Jennifer Millier, Vice President, Management and Solutions Development Unit, Hewlett-Packard Company

Your brand tells people who you, and what to expect from you whether at work or at home. It helps people decide whether to trust you, and what to trust you about. Effective executives, both women and men, proactively build their brand, to ensure that others think highly of them, and have the confidence that they can execute under specific circumstances, and even in situations where they have little connections and expertise. Indeed, your executive brand can limit or launch your success. This month, our panel of women leaders will talk about what they have done to build and reinforce their executive brand, and how they leverage that brand to build credibility, position themselves and their teams and organizations for success, and strategically manage their career development.

May 11 @  Altera,  101 Innovation Drive,

San Jose

Standing on the Shoulders of Mentors

 

Facilitator Sasha Grinshpun, Founder, Talent Mosaic

 

Panelist Carol Evanoff, former Director, Lockheed Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific

 

Panelist Monica Kaldani-Nasif, Director of Talent Acquisition for the Americas, Hitachi Data Systems

 

Panelist Jocelyn King, Director of Corporate Marketing, Altera  

 

Panelist Gayatri Patel, Director of Product Management, Analytics Platform, eBay

 

Panelist Joyce Reitman, VP and Banker, JP Morgan

As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stood. We carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us. Our panelists this month will focus on our mentoring relationships, how we can share more of what we know with others and how we can identify the potential mentors available to us. Our panelists will share the ways that their mentors have impacted their thinking and development, and how this has, in turn, stimulated thoughts and actions in support of others. In addition, we will discuss how you can promote mentoring in your organization.

June 8 @ Cisco, 3600 Cisco Way, San Jose, Building 18, Deep Space 9 Conference Room

 

Millennials in Our Midst!

 

Facilitator Cathy Light, Assessment Leaders and Business Builders

 

Panelist Bella D'mar Shimun, HR Business Partner, eBay

 

Panelist Stefi Ganesan, Program Manager, Engineering Talent and I&D, Cisco

 

Panelist Nupur Srivastava, Product Manager, Cisco Telepresence, Health Solutions, Cisco Systems

 

Panelist Vidya Venkatesh, Technical Training Specialist, Life Technologies

 

Panelist Erica Wright, Vice President of Human Resources, Agilent Technologies

The Millennial Generation otherwise known as Generation Y is no longer made-up of just kids and teens. The eldest are now graduating college and entering the professional workforce. They are in our workplace, impacting what we do, how we do it! They bring their share of perspectives and challenges, but they also bring new ideas and innovations and approaches, a mix of pluses and minuses.

A successful corporation will embrace the diversity offered by this influential generation. Our panel will speak on the general profile of millennials, recruiting and engagement strategies for millennials, and how to embrace all the millennials in our midst!

July 13 at @ Adobe, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose

Leveraging Social Media

for Work and Play

 

Facilitator Cherie Del Carlo, President, Gather Your Crowd

 

Panelist Deepika Bajaj, Associate Director, Social Media, CapCom

 

Panelist Rachel Luxemburg, Group Manager, Community, Adobe Systems

 

Panelist Brenda Rogers, Vice President of HR, Roku

 

Panelist Natascha Thomson, founder and owner, MarketingXLerator

FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn; Blogs, Web, E-mail . . . They are all tools for communicating your brand and your message. They can help you tout your expertise, expand your network, clarify your position, advance your cause. But they can also deter from your message, distract from your objectives, taint your brand. Come hear our panel of experts share their advice on their social media strategy for themselves personally, as well as for their company, product and team.

August 10 @ eBay Inc, Whitman Campus,

Building 7

Voices Conference Room

2065 Hamilton Ave

San Jose   

Politics in the Workplace: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

 

Facilitator Jerri Barrett, Vice President of Marketing, Anita Borg Institute

 

Panelist Peggy Abkemeier Alford, VP, CFO, PayPal North America

 

Panelist Sridevi Koneru, Director of Business Development, Cisco Services

 

Panelist Sandy Orlando, Vice President Marketing, IP Infusion

 

Panelist Amy Rubin, VP Marketing and PR, ArcSoft

Office politics is a reality for everyone, regardless of the size of your organization or your position. As professionals we have all dealt with the challenges of doing our job while watching our backs, managing up, and dealing with difficult co-workers who treat others around them badly. With all the advances women have made in the workplace, why is this issue still holding us back? Our panel of high tech leaders will share how they have achieved their leadership positions by successfully navigating office politics, amplifying the contributions of others (men  and women), and generously supporting high potentials on the leadership track.

These and other questions on navigating politics in the workplace will be explored by our panel this month.

Sept 14 @ EMC, 2831 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara

Women Making Their Own Rules

 

Facilitator Pat Obuchowski, Chief Empowerment Officer, InVisionaria

 

Panelist Daniela Busse, Design Futurist, Samsung UX Innovations Lab

 

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

 

Panelist Nancy Long, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Hitachi Data Systems

 

Panelist Preethy Padmanabhan, Sr. Product Marketing Manager for Cisco Video Security and Business Intelligence

 

Panelist Smiti Sharma, Principal Technologist, Office of the CTO, Greenplum EMC

Successful women create their own brand - their own personal way of making things happen. Sometimes they play within the rules, sometimes they make up their own rules, but the results speak for themselves. Join us and hear the stories from dynamic women who are making up the rules as they go. Learn from them, and start thinking about how you can change the rules that are hindering your own success.

Oct 12 @ Applied Materials, Building 12, 3223 Oakmead Village Drive,

Santa Clara

Women Leading Innovation

 

Facilitator Francine Gordon, FGordon and Associates

 

Panelist Hillary Barnhart, Senior Director, Business Operations, Applied Global Services, Applied Materials

 

Panelist Elisa Jagerson, CEO, Speck Design

 

Panelist Catherine Moore, Head of HR, Nokia Research

 

Panelist Leila Pourhashemi, Director Technical Services, eBay

Innovation is the heart of all success, the antithesis of complacency. And in the new economy, innovation is what will continue to separate those who succeed and those who have become obsolete. Not just a buzzword, innovation is ever more integral to an organizations culture, its competitive advantage. As women rise in leadership positions in the tech companies in Silicon Valley, how are they approaching the question of culture and innovation? How have they successfully navigated the challenges of advancement in high tech companies of today? What is their advice to the rest of us?

Nov 9 @ Adobe, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose

Tips for Enlarging Your Sandbox: Learn to play with people who don't act right (like you)

 

Facilitator Radhika Emens, Founder and CEO, Tanjah Partners, Network Director, WITI

Panelist Shari Begun, Regional Sales Manager, Texas Instruments

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Priscilla Knoble, Director, Product Management, Strategic Growth Markets, Intl Market Development, Adobe

Panelist Christine Westland, Director of Account Management, Intl. OEMs, Japan Channel, Brocade

In our fast-paced, global world, both men and women leaders are faced with the need to communicate clearly and rapidly to teams in all corners of the globe and drive results. Gender and culture and other factors affect how well any exec can perform. Our panel will discuss best practices on cross-cultural communication, suggest tips for enlarging your sandbox, and strengthen your capacity to collaborate with people extremely unlike you to maximize results.

Dec 14 @  Life Technologies, 850 Lincoln Centre Drive

Foster City

Getting The Most Out Of Both You and Your Team

Facilitator Lucie Newcomb, President and CEO, The NewComm Global Group, Inc.

Panelist Maryanne Flynn, Director, Operations Group, Cisco

Panelist Rosy Lee, Director, Life Technologies 

Panelist Marie Tahir, VP, Design, Marketplaces, eBay

Panelist Luciana Vecchi, Business & Product Manager (International Development), Strategic Growth Markets, Adobe

The two adages are true: It’s all about the team, and there’s no ‘I’ in team. With a more diverse and distributed workforce, it has become increasingly more difficult to creating bonding experiences for teams, to help teams collaborate on goals, and to celebrate achievements. Come hear our panel of experts share stories about team successes and challenges, and their advice on how to get the most out of and for your team.



We would like to thank and acknowledge our speakers and hosts for
FountainBlue's 2011 When She Speaks events: 

Date

Title and Speakers

Description

Jan 21 @ Hitachi, 750 Central Expwy, Bldg 700, Santa Clara

Expanding Your Influence, With or Without Direct Authority

 

Facilitator Leila Bulling Towne, The Bulling Towne Group, LLC

 

Panelist Barbara Adey, Senior Director, Strategy and Operations, Borderless Networks, Cisco

 

Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Senior Director Technology Alliances, EMC Corporation

 

Panelist Claudia Galvan, Lead, International Program Management Group, Microsoft

 

Panelist Cecily Joseph, Director, Corporate Responsibility, Legal and Public Affairs, Symantec

 

Panelist Jean Stein, Vice President, GSSD Business Operations, Hitachi Data Systems

Women who make an impact in business know that you do not need to hold an impressive job title to be a leader who makes a difference. Being an influencer requires knowledge of effective influencing techniques, leveraging your personal influencing style, as well as the determination and persistence to make great things happen. Hear first-hand how our panelists establish credibility, gain buy-in for ideas, engage co-workers and lead business results, with or without direct authority.

Feb 11 @ NetApp, 495 East Java Drive,
Sunnyvale

How to Throw More Balls Up Higher: Juggling Work-Life Balance in Demanding Times

 

Facilitator Laura Lowell, President, Impact Marketing Group

 

Panelist Deborah Coburn, Manager, Sales & Operations Planning, Americas, Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Franchise, LifeScan & Animas

 

Panelist Komal Lahiri, Senior Product Manager, eBay

 

Panelist Lilia Rose, Senior Corporate Counsel, NetApp

 

Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions, while still juggling the personal demands of life and family, and squeezing in time for yourself. Each ball, from the heavy, urgent demands in a corporate environment to the home-and-personal demands of children, spouses, friends and others, to your own always-addressed-last personal needs for balance, health and growth - is important.

 

Yet each balls keeps coming at you from more angles, and each ball is coming at you faster! So how do you juggle these often-competing balls and what we can do to adjust our own expectations and that of others on us, in order to ease the load and the stress? Our speakers will share their stories, commiserate with us, and challenge us to re-evaluate how roles, our priorities, and our own expectations for ourselves.

March 11 @ Life Technologies, 850 Lincoln Centre Drive, Foster City

Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career

 

Facilitator Melissa McDonell, BrandVoice Marketing

 

Panelist Caroline Cornely, Senior Finance Manager, Cisco

 

Panelist Nancy Cryer, HR Director for Global Finance and Global HR, Hitachi Data Systems

 

Panelist Phyllis Stewart Pires. Director Community Experience and Learning and Talent Management lead, SAP Labs North America

 

Panelist Shirley Welsh, Senior Director, Market Development, qPCR Platform, Life Technologies

Global megatrends are making it much more difficult to plan your career path, as there is more fluidity within and across corporations, across global markets, plus greater acceptance of people moving from one role or industry to another. Our panelists will focus on agility as the key to building a successful career, regardless of gender, featuring women who have changed roles and industries, positions and companies. They will share their stories of successes and challenges, and also share how they are supporting others to do the same.

April 8 @ Adobe, 163 S. Almaden Blvd, San Jose

Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand

 

Facilitator Linda Popky, Founder and President, Leverage2Market Associates

 

Panelist Erna Arnesen, Head of Global Services Channels and Alliances, Cisco

 

Panelist Aditi Dhagat, Director of Client Engagement & Business Architecture, Adobe

 

Panelist Praveena Varadarajan, VP of Product Management, FICO

 

Panelist Alexandra Woody, Program Director, EFI

Your brand tells people who you, and what to expect from you whether at work or at home. It helps people decide whether to trust you, and what to trust you about. Effective executives, both women and men, proactively build their brand, to ensure that others think highly of them, and have the confidence that they can execute under specific circumstances, and even in situations where they have little connections and expertise. Indeed, your executive brand can limit or launch your success. This month, our panel of women leaders will talk about what they have done to build and reinforce their executive brand, and how they leverage that brand to build credibility, position themselves and their teams and organizations for success, and strategically manage their career development.

May 13 @ EMC, 2831 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara

Standing on the Shoulders of Mentors

 

Facilitator Renee Remy, Dovetail Consulting

 

Panelist Barbara Clayton, Senior Manager, Product Lifecycle, eBay

 

Panelist Carol Evanoff, former Director, Lockheed Strategic Weapons Facility Pacific

 

Panelist Stefi Ganesan, Marketing Program Manager, CDO, Cisco

 

Panelist Sara Hepner, Sr. Direct Worldwide Support Sales at IIG, a Division of EMC

 

Panelist Maria Olson, SAP

As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stood. We carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us. Our panelists this month will focus on our mentoring relationships, how we can share more of what we know with others and how we can identify the potential mentors available to us. Our panelists will share the ways that their mentors have impacted their thinking and development, and how this has, in turn, stimulated thoughts and actions in support of others. In addition, we will discuss how you can promote mentoring in your organization.

June 10 @

EMC, 2831 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara

Millennials in Our Midst!

 

Facilitator Pat Cross, Consultant, Trainer, and Co-Founder of CrossApps.net

 

Panelist Marla Britt, Process Engineering SSG/FEP/Anneals, Applied Materials

 

Panelist Nehal Mehta, Senior Leader, Quality Assurance, NetApp

 

Panelist Kristin E. Nelson, Inside Sales Manager, Americas Renewals, EMC Corporation

 

Panelist Josie Zimmermann, Global Marketing Team, Juniper Networks

The Millennial Generation otherwise known as Generation Y is no longer made-up of just kids and teens. The eldest are now graduating college and entering the professional workforce. They are in our workplace, impacting what we do, how we do it! They bring their share of perspectives and challenges, but they also bring new ideas and innovations and approaches, a mix of pluses and minuses.

A successful corporation will embrace the diversity offered by this influential generation. Our panel will speak on the general profile of millennials, recruiting and engagement strategies for millennials, and how to embrace all the millennials in our midst!

July 8 at @ Oracle, 300 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores

Your Gender and Its Impact on Your Leadership Styles

 

Facilitator Nancy Monson, Nancy Monson Coaching

 

Panelist Caroline Cornely, Senior Finance Manager, Cisco System

 

Panelist Natalie Guillen, Integrated Business Planning, PayPal

 

Panelist Luanne Tierney, VP of Global Channel Marketing, Juniper Networks

 

Panelist Barbara Williams, Sr. HR Manager, Oracle, and President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Oakland Bay Area Chapter

This month, women technology executives will share how they have adapted their leadership styles to succeed to a male-dominated technology world. Come hear their thoughts on gender-specific leadership traits, woman-to-women and woman-to-men interactions, and overcoming adversarial conversations with both men and women. Also hear their stories of successes and challenges under different circumstances and most importantly, their learnings from these encounters. You are sure to leave with new ideas, and be inspired by our accomplished panel of speakers.

August 12 @ LifeScan, 1051 S Milpitas Blvd. Bldg 2

Cafeteria Annex Room in

Milpitas

Politics in the Workplace: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

 

Facilitator Karen Mathews, Real Change Experts

 

Panelist Sandy Orlando, VP of Marketing, IP Infusion

 

Panelist Niamh Pellegrini, Vice President, Rhinology, Acclarent

 

Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Director of IT, Symantec

 

Panelist Margie Thomas, SR Director, Services GTM Operations, Cisco

Office politics is a reality for everyone, regardless of the size of your organization or your position. As professionals we have all dealt with the challenges of doing our job while watching our backs, managing up, and dealing with difficult co-workers who treat others around them badly. With all the advances women have made in the workplace, why is this issue still holding us back? Our panel of high tech leaders will share how they have achieved their leadership positions by successfully navigating office politics, amplifying the contributions of others (men and women), and generously supporting high potentials on the leadership track.

These and other questions on navigating politics in the workplace will be explored by our panel this month.

Sept 9 @ Symantec, 350 Ellis Street, Mountain View

Women Making Their Own Rules

 

Facilitator Roberta LaPorte, RAL & Associates, Career and Leadership Consultants

 

Panelist Wendy Wei Liang, Director, Program Management and Globalization at Oracle

 

Panelist Judy Priest, Distinguished Engineer and Engineering Manager, Scalable Networks Group, Cisco

 

Panelist Merline Saintil, Chief of Staff to VP of Architecture, eBay

 

Panelist Yvonne Thomson, Senior Director, Internal Communications, Symantec

Successful women create their own brand - their own personal way of making things happen. Sometimes they play within the rules, sometimes they make up their own rules, but the results speak for themselves. Join us and hear the stories from dynamic women who are making up the rules as they go. Learn from them, and start thinking about how you can change the rules that are hindering your own success.

Oct 14 @ EMC, 2831 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara

Women Leading Innovation

 

Facilitator Francine Gordon, FGordon Group

 

Panelist Raji Arasu, VP Product Development, eBay

 

Panelist Cornelia Davis, Senior Technologist, Office of the CTO, EMC Corporation

 

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

 

Panelist Vijaya Kaza, Director of Engineering, Cisco

Innovation is the buzzword, considered integral to an organizations culture, its competitive advantage. As women rise in leadership positions in the tech companies in Silicon Valley, how are they approaching the question of culture and innovation? How have they successfully navigated the challenges of advancement in high tech companies of today? What is their advice to the rest of us?

Nov 11 @ Synopsys

Building 2

455 N. Mary Ave.,

Sunnyvale

Tips for Enlarging Your Sandbox: Learn to play with people who don't act right (like you)

 

Facilitator Rossella Derickson, Performance and Culture Strategist, Stanford Graduate School of Business

 

Panelist Sabina Burns, Sr. Director Corporate Marketing, Synopsys

 

Panelist Gina Diaz, Director, License Management Services (LMS) Group, Oracle

 

Panelist Monali Jain, Head of Salesforce.com Engineering at PayPal, eBay

 

Panelist Natascha Thomson, Sr. Director, Social Media Audience Marketing, SAP AG

In our fast-paced, global world, both men and women leaders are faced with the need to communicate clearly and rapidly to teams in all corners of the globe and drive results. Gender and culture and other factors affect how well any exec can perform. Our panel will discuss best practices on cross-cultural communication, suggest tips for enlarging your sandbox, and strengthen your capacity to collaborate with people extremely unlike you to maximize results.

Dec 9 @ eBay Inc, Whitman Campus,

Building 7

Voices Conference Room

2065 Hamilton Ave

San Jose

Leadership in a Time of Accelerated Change

 

Facilitator Amy Gonzales, Director, Women Unlimited

 

Panelist Erna Arnesen, Head of Global Services Channels and Alliances, Cisco

 

Panelist Deepika Bajaj, Marketing Director, Fierce Wombat Games, Inc.,

 

Panelist Elisa Jagerson, Founder and CEO, Speck Design

 

Panelist Leila Pourhashemi, Director, Technical Services, PayPal, an eBay company

In business, you have to keep moving quickly, in response to market and customer demands. Standing still can mean a death sentence, even if the short-term numbers look good! This is especially true today and will become more pervasive and REAL, with the acceleration of technology development, the expanding global markets, the rapid evolution of business trends, and of course the hot M&A market.

Our panel this month has found a way to manage these rapid changes within their organizations, both strategizing to stimulate change, and quickly assimilating changes in teams, products and markets, while keeping an eye on the all-important of the bottom-line impact of change.


We would like to thank and acknowledge our speakers and sponsors for 2010.  

 

Date

Title

Panelists

Description

Jan 15 @ NetApp, 495 East Java Drive,
Sunnyvale

Expanding Your Influence, With or Without Direct Authority

Facilitator Jo Miller, CEO, Women's Leadership Coaching Inc.

Panelist Kristine Gallegos-Haehl, Trade Professional Manager, PG&E

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Gwen McDonald, SVP, Human Resources, NetApp

Panelist Titina Ott, Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness, Oracle

Women who make an impact in business know that you do not need to hold an impressive job title to be a leader who makes a difference. Being an influencer requires knowledge of effective influencing techniques
finding your own unique influencing style, as well as the determination to make great things happen.
Hear first-hand how our panelists establish credibility, gain buy-in for ideas, engage co-workers and lead business results, with or without direct authority.

Feb 12 @ Adobe, 345 Park Avenue,
San Jose

How to Throw More Balls Up Higher: Juggling Work-Life Balance in Demanding Times


Facilitator Deborah Campbell, Director, Western Region, Catalyst

Panelist Karen Catlin, Vice President, Core Services, Adobe Systems Inc.

Panelist Pat Cross, VP Career Management, Right Management

Panelist Lisa Dearborn, Vice President, Leadership Development, Hitachi Data Systems

Panelist Natascha Thomson, Director, Global Ecosystem and Partner Marketing, SAP

 

Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions, while still juggling the personal demands of life and family, and squeezing in time for yourself. Each ball – from the heavy, urgent demands in a corporate environment to the home-and-personal demands of children, spouses, friends and others, to your own always-addressed-last personal needs for balance, health and growth - is important.

 

Yet each balls keeps coming at you from more angles, and each ball is coming at you faster! So how do you juggle these often-competing balls and what we can do to adjust our own expectations and that of others on us, in order to ease the load and the stress? Our speakers will share their stories, commiserate with us, and challenge us to re-evaluate how roles, our priorities, and our own expectations for ourselves.

March 12 @ Hitachi, 750 Central Expwy, Bldg 700, Santa Clara

Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career


Facilitator Linda Popky, L2M Associates

Panelist Amanda Dutra, Senior Vice President of Career Management, Practice Leader for the Global Transition Center of Excellence in the Pacific Region NA, Right Management

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Lisa Jing, Program Manager, Cisco

Panelist Shari H. Moore, GPHR, SPHR, Vice President, Human Resources-Global and Americas Sales and Services, Hitachi Data Systems

Panelist Phyllis Stewart Pires, Director Community Experience and Learning and Talent Management lead, SAP Labs North America

Global megatrends are making it much more difficult to plan your career path, as there is more fluidity within and across corporations, across global markets, plus greater acceptance of people moving from one role or industry to another. Our panelists will focus on agility as the key to building a successful career, regardless of gender, featuring women who have changed roles and industries, positions and companies. They will share their stories of successes and challenges, and also share how they are supporting others to do the same.

April 9 @ Applied Materials, 3050 Bowers,
Santa Clara

Building and Reinforcing Your Executive Brand


Facilitator Lisa Orrell, CPC, The Promote U Guru

Panelist Erna Arnesen, Vice President, Worldwide Services Partners and Alliances, Cisco Systems

Panelist Christine Crandell, Senior VP of Marketing, Accept Software

Panelist Cissy Leung, Chief of Staff, Applied Solar

Panelist Whitney Tidmarsh, Chief Marketing Officer, Content Management and Archiving Division, EMC Corporation

Panelist Luciana Vecchi, Globalization Business Manager, Core Services, Adobe Systems Incorporated

Your brand tells people who you, and what to expect from you whether at work or at home. It helps people decide whether to trust you, and what to trust you about. Effective executives, both women and men, proactively build their brand, to ensure that others think highly of them, and have the confidence that they can execute under specific circumstances, and even in situations where they have little connections and expertise. Indeed, your executive brand can limit or launch your success. This month, our panel of women leaders will talk about what they have done to build and reinforce their executive brand, and how they leverage that brand to build credibility, position themselves and their teams and organizations for success, and strategically manage their career development.

May 14 @ Cisco in their New Frontier Conf Room, 225 East Tasman Dr, Bldg 3, 2nd floor, San Jose

The Mentors in Our Lives


Facilitator Kim Wise, Mentor Resources

Panelist Erna Arnesen, Vice President, Worldwide Services Partners and Alliances, Cisco Systems

Panelist Claudia Galvan, Principal Lead Program Manager, Windows Live, Microsoft

Panelist Vidya Venkatesh, Senior Specialist, Global Product Support, Life Technologies

As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stood. We carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us. Our panelists this month will focus on our mentoring relationships, how we can share more of what we know with others and how we can identify the potential mentors available to us. Our panelists will share the ways that their mentors have impacted their thinking and development, and how this has, in turn, stimulated thoughts and actions in support of others. In addition, we will discuss how you can promote mentoring in your organization.

June 11 @ LifeScan, 1051 S Milpitas Blvd. Bldg 2

Cafeteria Annex Room

Milpitas

Millennials in Our Midst!


Facilitator Camille Smith, Work In Progress Coaching

Panelist Cyndi Stargiotti, Synaptics

Panelist Jenny Xu Woo, HR Manager, Talent and Executive Assessment, Cisco

Panelist Joan Watkins, IT Manager, LifeScan

The Millennial Generation otherwise known as Generation Y is no longer made-up of just kids and teens. The eldest are now graduating college and entering the professional workforce. They are in our workplace, impacting what we do, how we do it! They bring their share of perspectives and challenges, but they also bring new ideas and innovations and approaches, a mix of pluses and minuses.

 

A successful corporation will embrace the diversity offered by this influential generation. Our panel will speak on the general profile of millennials, recruiting and engagement strategies for millennials, and how to embrace all the millennials in our midst!

July 9 at Pillsbury in Palo Alto

Women's Leadership Styles: What's Right for You?


Facilitator Kristi Royse, KLR Consulting

Panelist Shalini Govil-Pai, Group Manager, YouTube and TV, Google

Panelist Ruchi Goyal, Product Manager, NetApp

Panelist Robin Kwok, Technical Program Manager, Energy and Display Systems, Applied Materials Inc.

 

Panelist Allison Leopold Tilley, Partner, Co-Head Corporate Securities & Technology Section, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

 

Panelist Shobhana Viswanathan, Senior Marketing Manager, Global Alliances, VMware

This month, women technology executives will share how they have adapted their leadership styles to succeed to a male-dominated technology world. Come hear their thoughts on gender-specific leadership traits, woman-to-women and woman-to-men interactions, and overcoming adversarial conversations with both men and women. Also hear their stories of successes and challenges under different circumstances and most importantly, their learnings from these encounters. You are sure to leave with new ideas, and be inspired by our accomplished panel of speakers.

August 13 @ Synopsys, 700 East Middlefield Rd.
Mountain View

Politics in the Workplace: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Facilitators Krista Henley and Rossella Derickson, Corporate Wisdom and SBODN

 

Panelist Haripriya Devnath, Pricing Manager, NetApp

 

Panelist Yvette Huygen, Worldwide PR Director, Synopsys

 

Panelist Kim Elisha Proctor, Senior Manager Holistic Quality, PayPal and BAODN

 

Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Group Director, Cadence

Office politics is a reality for everyone, regardless of the size of your organization or your position. As professionals we have all dealt with the challenges of doing our job while watching our backs, managing up, and dealing with difficult co-workers who treat others around them badly. With all the advances women have made in the workplace, why is this issue still holding us back? Our panel of high tech leaders will share how they have achieved their leadership positions by successfully navigating office politics, amplifying the contributions of others (men  and women), and generously supporting high potentials on the leadership track.

These and other questions on navigating politics in the workplace will be explored by our panel this month.

Sept 10 @ LifeScan, 1051 S Milpitas Blvd. Bldg 2

Cafeteria Annex Room

Milpitas

Women Making Their Own Rules

Facilitator Pat Obuchowski, inVisionaria

Panelist Daniela Bayer, Business Intelligence Manager for Central & Eastern Europe, Cisco


Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Director VMware Technology Alliance, EMC

 

Panelist Sudha Jamthe, Social Media Strategist, PayPal

Panelist Sharon Vondera, Director, Americas Customer Solutions, LifeScan

Successful women create their own brand - their own personal way of making things happen. Sometimes they play within the rules, sometimes they make up their own rules, but the results speak for themselves. Join us and hear the stories from dynamic women who are making up the rules, as they go, while succeeding and advancing within the traditional system. Learn from them, and start thinking about how you can change the rules that are hindering your own success.

Oct 8 @ EMC, 2831 Mission College Boulevard
Santa Clara

Women Leading Innovation


Facilitator Francine Gordon, FGordon Group and SDForum Tech Women's Program

Panelist Nina Bhatti, Principal Scientist, HP Labs, Hewlett Packard

Panelist Jenny Dormoy, VP of Customer Experience, EMC

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Mirjana Spasojevic, Research Leader, Nokia Research Center

Innovation is THE buzzword - considered integral to an organizations culture, its competitive advantage. Our panel will feature women who are leading innovation within tech companies. Come hear them speak passionately about innovation, and how their leadership practices are fostering a cultural shift embracing innovation and entrepreneurship, and facilitating collaboration between women, people with diverse viewpoints and the management team.

Nov 12 @ eBay Inc, Whitman Campus,

Building 7

Voices Conference Room

2065 Hamilton Ave

San Jose

Tips for Enlarging Your Sandbox: Learn to play with people who don't act right (like you)


Facilitator Kare Anderson, Say It Better

Panelist Karen Bartleson, Sr. Director, Interoperability and University Programs, Synopsys

Panelist Adriane McFetridge, Director, eBay

Panelist Preethy Padmanabhan Manager, Business Development in Cisco's Smart + Connected Communities team and Advisory board member - iCON Inclusion & Diversity Group

Panelist Luciana Vecchi, Globalization Business Manager, Adobe Systems, Inc.

In our fast-paced, global world, both men and women leaders are faced with the need to communicate clearly and rapidly to teams in all corners of the globe and drive results. Gender and culture and other factors affect how well any exec can perform. For this special When She Speaks session, we will first feature a panel discussing best practices on cross-cultural communication, with thoughts on Enlarging Your Sandbox: Learn to play with people who do not act right (like you).

Dec 10 @ Oracle in Redwood Shores

Leadership in a Time of Accelerated Change


Facilitator Marcia Ruben, Ruben Consulting Group Ltd.

Panelist Swati Dasgupta, IBM Venture Capital Group

Panelist Vijaya Kaza, Director of Security, Cisco

Panelist Michelle Kerby, Senior Manager, Technical Marketing and Communications, CTO Office, EMC Corporation


In business, you have to keep moving quickly, in response to market and customer demands. Standing still can mean a death sentence, even if the short-term numbers look good! This is especially true in our current economy, with the acceleration of technology development, the expanding global markets, the rapid evolution of business trends, and of course the hot M&A market.

Our panel this month has found a way to manage these rapid changes within their organizations, both strategizing to stimulate change, and quickly assimilating changes in teams, products and markets, while keeping an eye on the all-important of the bottom-line impact of change. 



Please join us in thanking our speakers and facilitators and sponsors for FountainBlue's 2009 When She Speaks events.

Date

Title

Panelists

Description

Jan 16, Hosted by EMC

Breaking Through The Glass Ceiling

Facilitator Jo Miller, CEO, Women's Leadership Coaching Inc.

Panelist Sheri Atwood, VP of Global Solutions and Programs, Enterprise Marketing, Symantec

Panelist Nina Bhatti, Principal Scientist, HP Labs

Panelist Jennifer Bleakney, VP, Worldwide Distribution and Customer Support, National Semiconductor

Panelist Jan Schlossberg, Senior Mgr, Intellectual Property & Compliance, Cisco

It has been 22 years since the term glass ceiling was coined by the Wall Street Journal to describe the apparent barriers that prevent women from reaching the top of the corporate hierarchy; and it has been twelve years since the American government's specially appointed Glass Ceiling Commission published its recommendations. In 1995 the commission found that women had 45.7% of America's jobs and more than half of master's degrees being awarded. Yet 95% of senior managers were men, and female managers' earnings were on average a mere 68% of their male counterparts'.
Twelve years later women account for 46.5% of America's workforce and for less than 8% of its top managers.
Join us for a stimulating panel and discussion about why progress is so slow and what we must do to effect real, and rapid, change.

Feb 13, hosted by Symantec

Juggling Work-Life Balance in Demanding Times

Facilitator Francine Gordon, FGordon Group and SDForum Tech Women's Program

Panelist Jennifer Hall, VP of HR, Intuit

Panelist Kristi McGee, Senior Director, Open Work Services Group, Sun Microsystems

Panelist Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Phyllis Stewart Pires, Director of Community Experience, SAP Labs

Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions, while still juggling the personal demands of life and family. In today’s streamlined, fast-moving workplace, it’s more important than ever to make the most of every day and every moment.
This month's When She Speaks event focuses on how successful women are juggling these often-competing goals and what we can do to adjust our own and others' expectations on us, in order to ease the load and the stress. Our speakers will share their stories, commiserate with us, and challenge us to re-evaluate our roles, our priorities, and our own expectations for ourselves.

March 13, hosted by HP

Agility - The Key to Building a Successful Career

Facilitator Sandra Wales, President, Wales Investments, Inc.

Panelist Pat Cross, Vice President, Career Management, Right Management

Panelist Lisa Dearborn, Vice President, Leadership Development, Hitachi Data Systems

Panelist Lisa Jing, Program Manager, Integrative Health, Cisco

Panelist Patricia Wimberly, Sr. Manager, Solutions Practice, Global Services - Western Division, EMC Corporation

In this century, it is much more difficult to plan your career path, as there is more fluidity within and across corporations, across global markets, plus more acceptance of people moving from one role or industry to another. This month's panel will focus on agility as the key to building a successful career, featuring women who have changed roles and industries, positions and companies. They will share their stories of successes and challenges, and also share how they are supporting others to do the same.

April 10, hosted by EMC

Leading with Power, Influence and Integrity

Facilitator Camille Smith, Work In Progress Coaching

Panelist Erna Arnesen, VP of Global Services, Channels and Alliances, Cisco

Panelist Nina Bhatti, Principal Scientist, HP Labs

Panelist Nancy Long, Sr Vice President of Human Resources, Hitachi Data Systems

Panelist Alexandra Woody, Sr. Dir. Program Management & FPLC, Flextronics

We admire and applaud the heroes and mentors in our lives who are leading with power, influence and integrity. For this event, we will meet a panel of women who are successfully leading with power, influence and integrity, who will candidly share their barriers to and best practices for more effectively leading others and producing results that create successful businesses and fulfilling lives. 

May 8, hosted by Symantec

The Mentors in Our Lives

Facilitator Kim Wise, CEO, Mentor Resources

Panelist Martha Galley, Senior Director, Windows Live Business Development, Microsoft

Panelist Ruth Gaube, VP and Deputy Executive Council, Symantec

Panelist Amy Gonzales, Regional West Coast Director, Women Unlimited

Panelist Shivani Govil, Corporate Strategy Group, Office of the CEO, SAP

Panelist Darcy Kiefaber, HR, LifeScan

As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stood. We carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us. This month's event will focus on our mentoring relationships, how we can share more of what we know with others and how we can identify the potential mentors available to us. Our panelists will share the ways that their mentors have impacted their thinking and development, and how this has, in turn, stimulated thoughts and actions in support of others. In addition, we’ll discuss how you can promote mentoring in your organization.

June 12, hosted by Cisco

Working with Millennials

Facilitator Lisa Orrell, The Generation Relations Expert, The Orrell Group, author of Millennials Incorporated

Panelist Urvi Bhandari, AT&T

Panelist Megan Campi, Customer Service Relationship Manager, Cisco

Panelist Kristen Dearing, Sun Microsystems

Panelist Claudia Galvan, Lead, International Program Management Group, Microsoft

Panelist Shalini Govil-Pai, Lead PM, Google

Panelist Lori Smith, Director of HR, Cisco

The Millennial Generation otherwise known as Generation Y is no longer made-up of just kids and teens. The eldest are now graduating college and entering the professional workforce.

How will this affect corporations looking to recruit and retain them?

What is unique about this generation, and how and why should corporations recruit and retain them?

Our panel of esteemed hiring managers and HR professionals work closely with Millennials and proactively plan recruitment and management strategies for these uniquely prized workers.

July 10, hosted by EMC

Women's Leadership Styles: What's Right for You?

Facilitator Rosemarie Carbone, Serial VP of HR

Panelist Nora Calvillo, Senior Product Manager, Adobe

Panelist Michaela Guiney, Product Engineering Director, Cadence

Panelist Nancy Long, Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources, Hitachi Data Systems

Panelist Marleen McDaniel, Serial Entrepreneur and Business Adviser

In other months of our When She Speaks Series, we touch upon the gender issue tangentially, but this month, the gender issue will be the theme. Questions may include:

What makes an effective woman leader, particularly one in a high tech world?

What are some typically feminine leadership traits, and how can they be leveraged in a male-dominated world?

How does one interact with other women, and their unique leadership styles?

How can one better understand her one style, and proactively expand it?

These and other questions on gender and leadership in high tech will be explored by our panel this month.

Aug 14, hosted by Symantec

Politics in the Workplace: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Facilitator Bobbie LaPorte, RAL & Associates

Panelist Mercedes De Luca, Global Customer Experience and Chief Information Officer at myShape.com, previously VP of Global IT at Yahoo!

Panelist Lise E Edwards, Oracle Women's Leadership (OWL), Program Manager, Oracle Human Resources

Panelist Susan Lai, Senior Director, Finance, Symantec Corporation

Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Group Director, Cadence

Let’s face it – office politics is a reality for everyone, regardless of the size of your organization or your position. As professionals we have all dealt with the challenges of doing our job while watching our backs, managing “up”, and dealing with difficult co-workers who treat others around them badly. With all the advances women have made in the workplace, why is this issue still holding us back? Our panel of high tech leaders will share how they have achieved their leadership positions by successfully navigating office politics, amplifying others’ contributions (men  and women), and generously supporting high potentials on the leadership track.

These and other questions on navigating politics in the workplace will be explored by our panel this month.

Sept 11, hosted by LifeScan

Cross-Cultural Communications

Facilitator Francine Gordon, FGordon Group and President SDForum Tech Women’s Group

Panelist Roya Afshar, Software Development Director, Oracle

Panelist Khrystyne Heard, Manager, Human Resources, LifeScan

Panelist Debi Hirshlag, VP, Worldwide Human Resources, Flextronics

Panelist Neerja Raman, Research Fellow, Stanford University, MediaX Distinguished Visiting Scholar

Panelist Peggy Wolf, Manager, Cisco Services Global I&D

In our fast-paced, global world, both men and women leaders are faced with the need to communicate clearly and rapidly to teams in all corners of the globe and drive results. Gender and culture and other factors affect how well any exec can perform. This month's panel of women executives will share their secrets on how to effectively communicate across cultures to drive results.

Oct 9, hosted by EMC

Women Leading Innovation

Facilitators Krista Henley and Rossella Derickson, Corporate Wisdom and SBODN

Panelist Nina Bhatti, Principal Scientist, HP Labs

Panelist Daniela Busse, Director of User Experience, SAP Labs LLC

Panelist Christine Duran, Translation Technology Manager, Globalization, Core Services Group, Adobe

Panelist Claudia Galvan, Lead, International Program Management Group, Microsoft

Panelist Jessica Roland, Director, International Product Operations, Content Management & Archiving, EMC Corporation

Innovation' is today's buzzword - considered integral to an organization's culture, its competitive advantage. As women rise in leadership positions in the tech companies in Silicon Valley, how are they approaching the question of culture and innovation? How have they successfully navigated the challenges of advancement in today's high tech companies? What is their advice to the rest of us?

Nov 13, hosted by Symantec

Corporate Women On Nonprofit Boards

Facilitator Wendy Beecham, FWE&E

Panelist Pamela E. Evans, Director, Executive Programs, NetApp

Panelist Cecily Joseph, Director, Corporate Responsibility, Legal and Public Affairs, Symantec

Panelist Marilyn Nagel, Director, WW Diversity & Inclusion, Cisco

Panelist Keren Pavese, Program Manager, Western Division Office of Sustainability, Community Outreach & Diversity Councils, EMC

Corporate leaders have the experience, impact, and authority to support their communities, yet often times, they don't have the time or bandwidth to actively participate in nonprofit boards. This month, we will feature some inspirational corporate women who are passionate and dedicated to their corporate AND their community causes, and they will share how supporting one cause, benefits the other.

Dec 11, hosted by LifeScan

Leading Through a Changing of the Guard

Facilitator Marcia Stein, Stein Consulting Inc. and HR Women and Friends

Panelist Deborah Colburn, Sales Manager, LifeScan

Panelist Laura Debacker, Sr. Director of Leadership Development and Employee Engagement, Sun Microsystems

 

Panelist Julie Criscenti Heck, Director, Global Partner Marketing, VMware - Virtualization Software Solutions

Panelist Lori Smith, Director of HR, Cisco

In business, you have to keep moving quickly, in response to market and customer demands. Standing still can mean a death sentence, even if the short-term numbers look good!
So corporate strategies are proactively changed, and new corporate executive teams assume the reigns in the quest of proactive change.
Our panel this month has participated in many of these 'changing of the guards' as an executive from the incumbent and from the newly-hired perspective. They will share their insights on how new corporate management teams really hit the ground running:
- by leading a smooth changing of executive suite members,
- by minimizing cultural impact, while ushering in necessary near processes, people and procedures, and
- by maximizing efficient bottom-line progress through a transition?




Below is a list of our past events for 2008, all of which were hosted at EMC. We would like to thank our speakers and our sponsors for their support.

Date Title Panelists Description
1/10/2008 The Glass Ceiling And Other Tragedies Facilitator Linda Prowse Fosler, Linda Prowse Fosler and Associates

Panelist Sarah Jane Militello, former Manager at HP, former General Manager at Agilent, President Varnare LLC

Panelist Marilyn Nagel, Director, WW Diversity & Inclusion, Cisco

Panelist Conchita Franco Serri, Ed.M., J.D., former Director of Affirmative Action, Santa Clara University; President Serri Compliance Training

Panelist Darlene Solomon, Ph.D., Agilent Chief Technology Officer and VP Agilent Laboratories

Panelist Whitney Tidmarsh, EMC Corporation, VP, Marketing, Content Management & Archiving
It has been 22 years since the term glass ceiling was coined by the Wall Street Journal to describe the apparent barriers that prevent women from reaching the top of the corporate hierarchy; and it has been twelve years since the American government's specially appointed Glass Ceiling Commission published its recommendations. In 1995 the commission found that women had 45.7% of America's jobs and more than half of master's degrees being awarded. Yet 95% of senior managers were men, and female managers' earnings were on average a mere 68% of their male counterparts'.
Twelve years later women account for 46.5% of America's workforce and for less than 8% of its top managers.
Join us for a stimulating panel and discussion about why progress is so slow and what we must do to effect real, and rapid, change. 
2/14/2008 The Up and Comers Four-Star Panel

Facilitator Nancy Monson, Nancy Monson Coaching

Panelist Katy Levine, Cisco

Panelist Connie Lin, The Zitter Group

Panelist Keren Pavese, EMC Corporation

Five-Star Panel

Facilitator Nancy Monson, Nancy Monson Coaching

Panelist Terri Jordan, VP, Tech Operations, eBay

Panelist Sridevi Koneru, Director, Engineering, Wireless Networking Business Unit, Cisco

Panelist Susan Mernit, Senior Director for the Yahoo! Personals products

Panelist Kathleen Murtha, EMC Corporation

Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Group Director, Cadence
Women are making a difference in at all levels within corporations. In honor of Valentine’s Day, FountainBlue is pleased to partner with ATW and GWLN and EMC Corporation to produce a half day, interactive program which celebrates women in leadership roles and their contributions.

Join us as we applaud their contributions and investigate questions such as:

• What are the secrets to being recognized as an up and comer?
• How did they get help along the way?
• How can up and comers make work-life balance choices while climbing the corporate ladder?
• How can we as women support each other whether we’re on the leadership tract or not?
• How are up-and-comers giving back to the community?

The event will provide much food for thought for women at all levels within organizations, whether they are up and comers or not. 
3/13/2008 Work-Life Balance Facilitator Kristi Royse, KLR Consulting

Panelist Raji Arasu, eBay

Panelist Lisa Jing, Program Manager, Integrated Health Team, Cisco

Panelist Allison Leopold Tilley, Partner and Co-Head Corporate Securities & Technology Section, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Panelist Linda Levenson, CEO, Morphosis Rejuvenation Center

Panelist Catherine Moore, Director Business HR, Nokia Research Center
Silicon Valley women leaders are challenged by the corporate and business pressures of high-stress, high-impact positions, while still juggling the personal demands of life and family. In today’s streamlined, fast-moving workplace, it’s more important than ever to make the most of every day and every moment.
This month's When She Speaks event focuses on how successful women are juggling these often-competing goals and what we can do to adjust our own and others' expectations on us, in order to ease the load and the stress. Our speakers will share their stories, commiserate with us, and challenge us to re-evaluate how roles, our priorities, and our own expectations for ourselves.
4/10/2008 Leading with Power, Influence and Integrity Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Bettina Koblick, VP of HR, Global Talent, Symantec

Panelist Su Lim, VP of Business Development, EMC Corporation

Panelist Bev Strand, Diversity and Inclusion, Cisco

Panelist Barbara Williams, Sr. HR Manager, Sun Microsystems and President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Oakland Bay Area Chapter 
We admire and applaud the heroes and mentors in our lives who are leading with power, influence and integrity. For this event, we will meet a panel of women who are successfully leading with power, influence and integrity, who will candidly share their barriers to and best practices for more effectively leading others and producing results that create successful businesses and fulfilling lives.  
5/8/2008 The Mentors in Our Lives Facilitator Kim Wise, Mentor Resources

Panelist Denise Brosseau, Invent Your Future

Panelist Shelli Hendricks, Education Consultant, EMC

Panelist Tanja Miller, Learning & Organizational Development, Genentech

Panelist Greta Mowry, Keiretsu Forum

Panelist Maria Schaffer, Strategic Alliances, Cisco
As leaders, we appreciate the mentors, leaders and role models upon whose shoulders we stood. We carefully consider the support and guidance we are consciously and unconsciously providing for those who come after us. This month's event will focus on our mentoring relationships, how we can share more of what we know with others and how we can identify the potential mentors available to us. Our panelists will share the ways that their mentors have impacted their thinking and development, and how this has, in turn, stimulated thoughts and actions in support of others. In addition, we’ll discuss how you can promote mentoring in your organization.
6/12/2008 Staying On Top In a Changing Global World Facilitator Amy Gonzales, Women Unlimited

Panelist Judy Armstrong, former CIO, Logitech

Panelist Shirley Olerich, VP of Human Resources, Adaptec

Panelist MeMe Rasmussen, VP and General Counsel, Adobe Systems

Panelist Lisa Simpson, VP, Business Operations, Market Analysis and Messaging, Alcatel-Lucent
The World is changing - getting bigger, but better connected, with more opportunities, and more barriers.

Are there more opportunities for women in lead in a more global world? What are the unique challenges and opportunities for women to take that next leadership step? How will networking, mentoring and education support that growing community of women leaders with global impact?

This month's program will feature some of these women leaders as they share the challenges of leading in a changing, ever more global world.
7/10/2008 Women at the Top of Their Game Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Panelist Sandra Hassett, Director of Customer Service, LifeScan

Panelist Barbara Massa, Senior Director, Recruiting Services, EMC Corporation

Panelist Patricia Perry, Vice President, Digital Health Group, Intel Corporation

Panelist Amy Rubin, Marketing Director, Sandisk

Panelist Jackie Seto, Vice President, Product and Strategic Marketing, Lam Research
For this month's When She Speaks conversation, we will gather women who leverage the disciplines of sports - endurance, strength, flexibility, stamina, and perseverance - to address the daunting work-life demands imposed on women leaders in today's corporations.
We will cover the challenges and opportunities that leadership presents and how the important practices of self-leadership and personal accountability help them to more effectively leverage their leadership style and inspire others to also lead with power, influence and integrity. 
8/14/2008 The Value of Culture Facilitator Cathy Light, Business Builders and Assessment Leaders

Panelist Denise Herrick, VP of HR, Panasas

Panelist Dr. Bee Ng, Director Learning and Development, Intuit

Panelist Titina Ott, Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness &  Managing Director of Women's Leadership, Oracle

Panelist Mary Stanton-Stern, HR Director, EMC Corporation

Panelist Erica Wright, Director of Human Resources, Life Sciences Solutions Unit, Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis, Agilent
Leaders define the overall direction of an organization, and whether it achieves results for its stakeholders and shareholders. How leaders conduct themselves, and communicate and work with those around them sets the tone for an organization’s culture. This month’s When She Speaks panel will profile examples and counterexamples of company cultures and share advice on how you, as a leader, from any chair, can positively impact the organization for which you work.
9/12/2008 The Feminine Face of Leadership Facilitator Beata Lewis, Bridging Lives

Panelist Azlina Ahmad, Director of Engineering, Cisco

Panelist Jessica Chan, R&D Group Director, Cadence

Panelist Karen Pieper, Director of Synthesis at Tabula, Inc.

Panelist Samantha Thomas, CSO, Information Security, California State Department of Financial Institutions

Panelist Kathleen Murtha, QA Automation Manager, EMC Corporation
The pre-dominant gender of leaders, particularly in the high tech sector, are males. But the questions arise:
How are women who gravitate to technology fields different than their peers?
What unique challenges do women leaders in science face?
What do women need in order to succeed and lead in their chosen technology field?
How can women technology leaders shape leadership practices to be more inclusive of others, including women? 
10/10/2008 Women Leading Innovation Facilitator Krista Henley and Rossella Derickson, Corporate Wisdom and SBODN

Panelist Elizabeth Churchill, Principal Research Scientist, Yahoo! Research

Panelist Penny Howie, Director of Training and Technical Support, Varian Medical Systems, Executive on Loan to United Way

Panelist Janice Nickel, Senior Research Scientist, HP Laboratories

Panelist Liz Rajaram, Director of Engineering, Cisco Network Management

Panelist Sandra Toms LaPedis, AVP/GM, RSA Conference
Innovation' is today's buzzword - considered integral to an organization's culture, its competitive advantage. As women rise in leadership positions in the tech companies in Silicon Valley, how are they approaching the question of culture and innovation? How have they successfully navigated the challenges of advancement in today's high tech companies? What is their advice to the rest of us? 
11/14/2008 Overcoming Adversity Facilitator Mary Beth Deans, Douglas Partners

Panelist Lilly Chung, Lead Client Service Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Regional Managing Principal, Initiative for the Retention and Advancement of Women, Deloitte

Panelist Pat Dando, CEO, San Jose Chamber of Commerce

Panelist Sharon Durey, Training Manager, Field Development, Content Management and Archiving, EMC Corporation

Panelist Natascha Thomson, Director of Global Ecosystem and Partner Marketing, SAP
As we have heard from many past sessions, the leaders and heroes of today had experienced and overcome much adversity before achieving success. This event invites successful women to share their tales of adversity and offer advice and inspiration for the rest of us as we face our own obstacles.
12/12/2008 Leveraging Diversity for Business Results Facilitator Deepika Bajaj, Invincibelle

Panelist Genevieve Haldeman, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Symantec Corporation

Panelist Michelle Kerby, Sr. Manager; Technical Marketing and Communications, CTO Office, EMC Corporation

Panelist Catherine Moore, Director of Business HR, Nokia Research Center

Panelist Connie Osborne, Director of Business Development, Singer Lewak

Panelist Preethy Padmanabhan, Director of Professional Development, iCON Inclusion & Diversity Group, Cisco Systems
This month, we will celebrate the successes of women leaders who foster diversity within their organizations and demonstrate how and why diversity stimulates innovation, engages teams, and delivers results. Our esteemed panel will share their success stories, talk about how they rose to positions of authority, despite representing diverging viewpoints, and provide advice on how to embrace diversity within a team and an organization.


See below for a list of program topics and facilitators for 2007. Register for any upcoming program by visiting http://www.acteva.com/go/FountainBlue by noon the day before the event.

Date Title Panelists
Friday, January 12 Succeeding in a Man's World Patti Wilson, The Career Company
Panliest Linda Prowse Fosler, Prowse-Fosler and Associates
Panliest Francine Gordon, ATW and FGordon Group
Panliest Mona Hudak, Cisco
Panliest Praveena Varadarajan, Sun Microsystems
Friday, February 9 Healthy Lifestyle Choices Facilitator Geetha Rao
Panliest Lisa Jing, Cisco Systems, Integrated Health Initiative
Panliest Julie Johnston, El Camino Hospital
Panliest Linda Williams, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Friday, March 9 Women in Policy Facilitator Leslee Guardino, Canyon Snow
Panelist Cindy Chavez, former Vice-Mayor, City of San Jose
Panelist Kathleen King, City of Saratoga City Council
Panelist Liz Kniss, Supervisor, County of Santa Clara
Panelist Bev Strand, Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Worldwide Diversity & Inclusion, Cisco, Member, California Commission on the Status of Women
Panelist Michelle Wright-Conn, Cisco Global Policy and Government Affairs
Thursday, April 12 Leading with Power, Influence and Integrity Facilitators Camille Smith, Work In Progress Coaching
Panelist Michele Forte, Senior Director of Development, CARE
Panelist Afsaneh Laidlaw, Senior Director of Engineering, Cisco 
Panelist Tammi Smorynski, Intel Capital
Panelist Natascha Thomson, Senior Manager, Market Intelligence, EMC, Women's Leadership Forum at EMC
Thursday, May 10 The Mentors in Our Lives Moderator Catherine Ngo, Startup Capital Ventures
Panelist Joan Banich, Cisco
Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Global Alliance Manager, EMC and Chair of Mentorship Program, ATW
Panelist Carol Muller, MentorNet
Panelist Eileen Sullivan, Cadence
Thursday, June 14 Optimizing Your Team Moderator Rossella Derickson and Krista Henley, Corporate Wisdom and SBODN
Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Global Alliance Manager, EMC, Director ATW Mentorship Program
Panelist Vickie Grove, Development Director, Child Advocates
Panelist Amy Heidersbach, Vice President, Product and Merchant Marketing, VISA
Panelist Hali White, Director Process Excellence Office, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
Thursday, July 12 Women at the Top of Their Game Moderator Roberta LaPorte, RAL & Associates
Panelist Lisa Felder, Team in Training, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Panelist Tracy Hughes, Global Lead for Cisco Sport and Entertainment
Panelist Barbara Massa, Director of Recruiting Services, EMC
Panelist Amy Rubin, Director, Digital Marketing Strategies and Programs, Intel
Panelist Jackie Seto, Managing Director of SW, MEMS & 3D IC, Lam Research 
Thursday, August 9 Corporate Social Responsibility and the Bottom Line Moderator Theresa Wilson, Partner, Lighthouse Blue
Panelist Brenda Hendricksen, AMD
Panelist Tracy Meersman, EMC
Panelist Joni Podolsky, Director of Community Programs, The Entrepreneurs' Foundation
Panelist Kathy Wheeler, Senior Manager, Global Community Involvement, Cadence
Thursday, September 13 Leadership Styles: What's Gender Got to Do With It? Moderator Bonita Banducci, Banducci Consulting
Panelist Carolyn Crandall, Vice President Marketing and Channels, Seagate
Panelist Pat Cross, VP, Career Management Consulting, Right Management
Panelist Eileen Fussner, Vice President of Channel Sales for the Content Management & Archiving division, EMC Corporation
Panelist Vinie Zhang, Vice President, Hitachi Corporate Ventures
Thursday, October 11 Women Leading Innovation Moderator Beata Lewis, Bridging Lives
Panelist Karri Carlson, Senior Product Manager, AOL, LLC
Panelist Jenny Dormoy, Director Customer Deployability, EMC 
Panelist Joy Mountford, VP User Experience and Design, Yahoo! Inc.
 Panelist Marie Tahir, Director of Technology Innovation Group, Intuit 
Thursday, November 8 Female Intrapreneurs Facilitator Kimberly Wiefling, Wiefling Consulting
Panelist Nina Bhatti, Senior Scientist, HP Labs
Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Director, Global Alliances, EMC Corporation
Panelist Cecily Joseph, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Symantec Corporation
Panelist Diane Pennica, Senior Scientist in Molecular Oncology, Genentech
Thursday, December 13 Leveraging Diversity for Business Results Facilitator Maria Hernandez, MGH Consulting LLC
Panelist Sharon Durey, Training Manager, Inside Sales, EMC Corporation
Panelist Wilma Flanagan, Partner and Managing Director for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) Pacific Northwest Consulting Group
Panelist Sharon Hughes, Director of HR, LifeScan
Panelist Carin Taylor, Senior Manager of Global Diversity, Cisco



We are grateful to each of our 2006 facilitators and panelists for their participation and support and proudly acknowledge them below.

Date Title Panelists Sponsored Nonprofit
Friday, May 12 Overcoming Adversity Christine Comaford-Lynch, Mighty Ventures
Linda Holroyd, FountainBlue
Support Network for Battered Women
Friday, June 9 Leaving a Legacy Ann Tardy, LifeMoxie
Jennifer Rowe, Community Foundation Silicon Valley
Community Foundation Silicon Valley
Friday, July 14 Empowering Others Sally Pera, PeraConnect
Ysabel Duron, KRON News
Cindy Padnos, Outlook Ventures
Latinas Contra Cancer
Friday, August 11 Global Perspectives Catherine Zinn, DLA Piper
Michelle Messina, Explora International
Catherine Ngo, Startup Capital Ventures
Global Women's Fund
Friday, September 8 Education is Fundamental: The Need for a Public-Private Partnership Usha Sekar
Geoff Ainscow, Sunnyvale School District Education Foundation
Hillary Aitken, BUILD
Anna Song, Santa Clara County Board of Education
Paula Wasowska, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group
Santa Clara County Office of Education
Friday, October 13 It Takes a Village: The Case for Collaborative Leadership  Katharine Fong, San Jose Mercury News
Patricia Burbank, One World Children's Fund
Dyan Chan, Lighthouse Blue
Mona Hudak, Cisco 
One World Children's Fund
Friday, November 10 Fostering Women Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries Linda Alepin, Global Women Leadership Network
Panelist Remi Matsumoto, Founder and President of the Hina Coral Restoration Network
Praveena Varadarajan, Sun Microsystems
Global Women Leadership Network
Friday, December 8 Creating a Work-Life Balance Michele Bolton, ExecutivEdge
Jennifer Gill Roberts, Maven Ventures
Jan Dukes-Schlossberg, Cisco
Nivisha Mehta, El Camino Hospital Foundation
Kristi Royse, KLR Consulting
El Camino Hospital Foundation




Testimonials about FountainBlue's When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

  • Thank you both for such an amazing session.  I still can't believe how much fun I had and insight I gained.
  • I HIGHLY encourage you to join the other FountainBlue events and the Women in Leadership Series in particular. I met some really wonderful people & learned a lot about the subject matter.
  • The organization before the event, the orchestration of the round table and the immediate follow-up after the event is why I consider this the most efficient, effective roundtable event in memory.
  • FountainBlue's events are consistently well-organized and well-run - and very interesting and valuable as well. It is well worth the time to attend.
  • FountainBlue's events are exceptional in every way. Every month, I wonder how it could possibly be better, and every month, they are.
  • Every month, we walk away inspired by the event, and reminded that we are very fortunate to live in such a diverse community with so many amazing perspectives.
  • I woke up at 5 a.m. and drove from Los Angeles this morning to be here, and I would have flown from Poland to attend.
  • I really enjoyed Friday's When She Speaks and all speakers and guests. It would be great that we could stay even longer...I found every time that there are so many interesting things we heard and shared...all speakers were great and experienced and with amazing life stories... I am looking forward for the next month When She Speaks event.
  • Lots of food for thought.
  • I liked the success stories - thought-provoking.
  • Great perspectives from a diverse panel.
  • Great panelists and facilitators - knowledgeable and experienced.
  • Your speakers have unique knowledge and anecdotes that will not only get us to experiment with new tools, but try to change our mindsets about how we collaborate.
  • Thank you for establishing this organization to empower women, and enabling them to collaborate, network, share best practices and learn to grow.
  • Thank you for the opportunity to contribute and be part of this panel.   FountainBlue's . . . foresight and ongoing support for these events is outstanding for the individuals, our companies and our community, that all benefit. What a great example of "pass it forward"!
  • I regularly send the FountainBlue meeting synopsis to others in many parts of the country to share the nuggets of wisdom.

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