Speakers
Thank you to all of our amazing 2018 speakers! Check out the Conference Center page for recaps and resources.
If you’re interested in speaking, please CLICK HERE.
2019 Speakers will be announced here starting in the Fall.
Keynotes
Amal Clooney
AMAL CLOONEY is a British human rights lawyer practicing at Doughty Street Chambers in London, where she specializes in international law and human right... Read Full Bio
Jodi Kantor
JODI KANTOR is a prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times, and a best-selling author. Kantor specializes in long-form, deeply repor... Read Full Bio
Kelly McEvers
KELLY McEVERS is co-host of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine. She hosts the program from NPR West in Culver City, Cali... Read Full Bio
Elaine Welteroth
ELAINE WELTEROTH is an award-winning journalist, media personality, and the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue. At the time of her hire, Welte... Read Full Bio
Reese Witherspoon
REESE WITHERSPOON has created the kind of unforgettable characters that connect with critics and audiences alike, making her one of Hollywood’s most so... Read Full Bio
Maysoon Zayid
MAYSOON ZAYID is an actress, comedian, writer, and disability advocate. She is a graduate of, and a guest comedian in residence at, Arizona State Univers... Read Full BioSpecial Guest Speakers
Jessica Aguirre
JESSICA AGUIRRE is the evening anchor at NBC Bay Area News and an Emmy award winning journalist. She began her career while attending the University of ... Read Full Bio
Allison Allen
ALLISON ALLEN is VP of diversity, inclusion and talent management at Oath. In this role, she leads global efforts across Oath’s more than fifty media ... Read Full Bio
Karen Ashley
KAREN ASHLEY is vice president of corporate development integration in the chief strategy office with Cisco. In this role, she drives operational and st... Read Full Bio
Greg Becker
GREG BECKER is president and CEO of SVB Financial Group, and CEO of Silicon Valley Bank. Becker has been a champion of the innovation economy since he j... Read Full Bio
Falguni Desai
FALGUNI DESAI is a senior manager for Cisco’s Corporate Strategy Office. She is a successful business operations leader with over twenty years of expe... Read Full Bio
Laura Garcia
LAURA GARCIA anchors weekday mornings, Today in the Bay and Midday In The Bay alongside Marcus Washington. This multiple Emmy Awar... Read Full Bio
Sam Liccardo
MAYOR SAM LICCARDO took office in January 2015, and at the age of forty-four became one of the youngest mayors in San José’s modern history. During h... Read Full Bio
Rami Rahim
RAMI RAHIM is chief executive officer of Juniper Networks, and a member of the company’s board of directors. A rarity in the industry, he has risen ... Read Full Bio
Brian K. Reaves
BRIAN K. REAVES is chief diversity and inclusion officer with Dell. In this role, he’s responsible for Dell’s global equality and inclusion initiati... Read Full Bio
Robin Washington
ROBIN L. WASHINGTON is currently executive vice president and chief financial officer of Gilead Sciences, Inc. Gilead is a thirty billion dollar, researc... Read Full BioBreakout Session Speakers
Tara Arvedson
TARA ARVEDSON is director of research with Amgen. She is a researcher and team leader in the Oncology research depar... Read Full Bio
Kim Azzarelli
KIM AZZARELLI is the co-founder of Seneca Women, and co-author of the book, Fast Forward. She is a business, philanthropic ... Read Full Bio
Diana Brainard
DIANA BRAINARD is vice president of clinical research, liver diseases at Gilead Sciences, Inc. Over the last seven years she has overseen the clinical d... Read Full Bio
Komal Ahmad
KOMAL AHMAD is the founder and CEO of Copia. In this role, she is working to solve the world’s dumbest problem by eradicating hunger while reducing fo... Read Full Bio
Anna Akbari
ANNA AKBARI, PhD, is a sociologist, entrepreneur, and writer. She is the founder of Sociology of Style, an image and life coaching company, and a partne... Read Full Bio
Shannon Audino
SHANNON AUDINO works with Medallia's prospective clients, consulting on customer experience management program design and best practices. She has help... Read Full Bio
Valerie Biberaj
VALERIE BIBERAJ is director of philanthropic programming for kate spade new york. In this role, she has overseen the reinvention of the kate spade new y... Read Full Bio
Bridget Bisnette
BRIDGET BISNETTE has contributed to the IT Industry for more than thirty years. Her employers include global companies such as Riverbed, Cisco Systems, S... Read Full Bio
Madonna Bolano
MADONNA BOLANO is group vice president and head of human resources for Applied Materials. Bolano and her team support the business to attract, develop, ... Read Full Bio
Mark Brillhart
MARK BRILLHART brings over twenty years of high-performance network infrastructure equipment supply chain, manufacturing operations, supplier management... Read Full Bio
Kelly Brown
KELLY WILLIAMS BROWN is the New York Times-bestselling author of Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps, which ad... Read Full Bio
Mary Bui-Pham
MARY BUI-PHAM is vice president of global operations for media brands and products at Oath, a subsidiary of Verizon. She is responsible for the day-t... Read Full Bio
Karen Cahn
KAREN CAHN is founder & CEO of iFundWomen, a company on a mission to increase access to capital for female entrepreneurs, empowering women to start a... Read Full Bio
Courtney Carver
COURTNEY CARVER changed her life by simplifying it after a devastating diagnosis in 2006. She’s the founder of bemorewithless.com and minimalist fas... Read Full Bio
John China
JOHN CHINA is the head of technology banking with Silicon Valley Bank. In this role, he is focused on delivering best-fit solutions, i... Read Full Bio
Kathy Chou
KATHY CHOU is VP of research and development operations and central services for VMware. She has more than twenty five years of operations and managemen... Read Full Bio
Amy Cooper Hakim
AMY COOPER HAKIM, Ph.D. is an industrial-organizational psychology practitioner and workplace expert. She is a speaker, author, and the executive consult... Read Full Bio
Sophie Couteaux
SOPHIE COUTEAUX is a vice president with Mastercard working on the digital partnerships team. In this role, she is focused on creating connections and d... Read Full Bio
Paula Delaney
Paula Delaney is vice president of finance for VMware, one of the top five software companies in the world. She leads a global team of more than tw... Read Full Bio
Deary Paul Duffie
DEARY PAUL DUFFIE leads diversity and inclusion, and learning and organization development functions at Genentech, a biotechnology affiliate of Roche Ph... Read Full Bio
Kirstin Early
KIRSTIN EARLY is a research scientist at Oath, where she works on dialog management for an intelligent personal assistant to plan conversations so the sy... Read Full Bio
Anne Elkin
ANNE ELKIN is a vice president and a human resources business partner in HR for Qualcomm Inc. in San Diego, CA. She has been with Qualcomm since 1995,... Read Full Bio
Luna Federici
LUNA FEDERICI is vice president of funding strategy with Lending Club. Lending Club is a marketplace lender focused on empowering borrowers that strive ... Read Full Bio
Amy Flood
AMY FLOOD is vice president of public affairs with Gilead Sciences, Inc. She joined Gilead’s corporate communications department in January 2000 to ma... Read Full Bio
Molly Ford
MOLLY Q. FORD is the senior director of global equality programs at Salesforce. Salesforce has been called the World’s Most Innovative Company by
Paul Francisco
PAUL FRANCISCO is the chief diversity officer, and head of workforce development programs at State Street Corporation. He leads the implementation of St... Read Full Bio
Nely Galán
NELY GALÁN is a Latina media dynamo and women’s empowerment advocate, dubbed the “Tropical Tycoon” by The New York Times Magazine. She i... Read Full Bio
Meg Galistinos
MEG GALISTINOS leads Mercer’s Career business in the New York Metro area, overseeing a team of talent consultants and industry experts that collabora... Read Full Bio
Adriana Gascoigne
ADRIANA GASCOIGNE is the founder and CEO of Girls in Tech (GIT), the world’s first group focusing on millennial women in technology and entrepreneurs... Read Full Bio
Teresa Ghilarducci
TERESA GHILARDUCCI is an expert on retirement, pensions and personal savings. She is the Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz chair in economic policy analysis ... Read Full Bio
Jackie Glenn
JACKIE GLENN is vice president, global diversity and inclusion at Dell Technologies / Dell EMC, the newly merged technology industry leader with a workf... Read Full Bio
Michelle Hare
MICHELLE D. HARE works with the State Farm® marketing department managing national sponsorships pertaining to the life stages of getting married, start... Read Full Bio
Celeste Headlee
CELESTE HEADLEE is an award-winning journalist, public speaker and author of the book We Need To Talk - How To Have Conversations That Matter (Harper ... Read Full Bio
Kristen Hedstrom
KRISTEN HEDSTROM is the director of health economics and market access for the Neuromodulation business of Boston Scientific, where she develops and di... Read Full Bio
Carolyn Herzog
CAROLYN HERZOG is the executive vice president, general counsel, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer at Arm, the world’s leading semicond... Read Full Bio
Kelly Hoey
KELLY HOEY is the author of Build Your Dream Network (January 2017 / Tarcher Perigee). She has been lauded from Forbes as “1 of ... Read Full Bio
Dena House
DENA A. HOUSE is the senior director of HR, organizational development and learning at Counsyl, Inc. She has been a global leader in this space for over... Read Full Bio
Gail Hunter
GAIL HUNTER is in her sixth season as vice president of public affairs, community relations and event management for the Golden State Warriors. Hunter j... Read Full Bio
Therese Huston
THERESE HUSTON, PhD, is a cognitive psychologist at Seattle University who is changing how we talk about women at work. Her book How Women Decide(2016)... Read Full Bio
Rachel Kassabian
RACHEL HERRICK KASSABIAN is an intellectual property litigator at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a leading AmLaw 100 litigation-only law firm wi... Read Full Bio
Meredith Kraus
MEREDITH A. KRAUS is the director of human resources for Merck Research Laboratories in South San Francisco. In this role she has primary responsibility... Read Full Bio
Jessica Lahey
JESSICA LAHEY is a teacher, writer, and mom. She writes about education, parenting, and child welfare for The Atlantic, Vermont Public Radio, ... Read Full Bio
Bonnie Marcus
BONNIE MARCUS has extensive business background, including serving as CEO of a ServiceMaster company, VP of sales at Medical Staffing Network, and two o... Read Full Bio
Becky Margiotta
BECKY MARGIOTTA is the managing director of The Billions Institute. In this role, she inspires leaders in the social sector to step all the way into wha... Read Full Bio
Clare Markovits
CLARE MARKOVITS serves as chief of staff in the Cisco's chief digital office. In this role, she supports the organization’s overall operations, planni... Read Full Bio
Felicia Mayo
FELICIA MAYO is currently serving as the head of diversity and inclusion and G&A HR at Tesla. This position gives Mayo the unique opportunity to w... Read Full Bio
Patty McCord
PATTY McCORD served as chief talent officer of Netflix for fourteen years and helped create the Netflix Culture Deck. Since it was posted on the web, th... Read Full Bio
Vicki Mealer-Burke
VICKI MEALER-BURKE was appointed as Qualcomm’s first chief diversity officer in November 2016. In this role, she brings nearly twenty years of busines... Read Full Bio
Nikki Medoro
NIKKI MEDORO is an award-winning journalist, with nearly two decades of experience in news as a reporter, anchor and talk show co-host. Born and ra... Read Full Bio
Pat Milligan
PAT MILLIGAN is a senior partner and global leader in the multinational client group with Mercer. Previously, she served as president of Mercer's North ... Read Full Bio
Vivienne Ming
DR. VIVIENNE MING Named one of Inc. Magazine’s “Top 10 Women to Watch in Tech,” Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist, technologist, and entrepreneu... Read Full Bio
Rajat Mishra
RAJAT MISHRA has been named to Wharton’s #40under40 2017 list. As Cisco’s vice president of worldwide services strategy and innovation, Mishra is re... Read Full Bio
Jennifer Mueller
JENNIFER MUELLER earned her PhD in social and developmental psychology at Brandeis University, and has been on the faculty of many top business schools ... Read Full Bio
Lori Nishiura Mackenzie
LORI NISHIURA MACKENZIE is executive director of Stanford University's Clayman Institute for Gender Research, home to eminent scholars and activists for... Read Full Bio
Stacey Ohara
STACEY CLARK OHARA is global head of diversity and inclusion and the Juniper Networks Foundation Fund with Juniper Networks. She is committed t... Read Full Bio
Susan Reid
SUSAN REID is a managing director and global head of diversity and Inclusion at Morgan Stanley. She works closely with the firm’s leaders in the des... Read Full Bio
Marilee Rhodes
MARILEE RHODES is AVP of sales with Akamai Technologies. With over twenty years of experience as a sales leader, Rhodes oversees a team of sales execu... Read Full Bio
Wendy Sachs
WENDY SACHS is a master of the career pivot. She is the author of Fearless and Free—How Smart Women Pivot and Relaunch their Careers, a book O Magaz... Read Full Bio
Tina Sandford
TINA SANDFORD is the managing director of HR operations, policy and projects and a member of Silicon Valley Bank’s human resources leadership team. Ti... Read Full Bio
Shireen Santosham
SHIREEN SANTOSHAM is the chief innovation officer for Mayor Sam Liccardo where she leads efforts to make San Jose the most innovative city in America by ... Read Full Bio
Missy Schnurstein
MISSY SCHNURSTEIN has worked in ad tech for most of her career, primarily in sales, client services and ad operations, at both start-ups and Fortune 500... Read Full Bio
Laura Sherbin
LAURA SHERBIN is co-president at the Center for Talent Innovation and a managing partner at Hewlett Consulting Partners. She is an economist who special... Read Full Bio
Pamela Sherman
PAMELA SHERMAN is the HR business partner for the HR organization at Applied Materials. She was recently named as the leader for diversity and inclusion... Read Full Bio
Lisa Skeete Tatum
LISA SKEETE TATUM is founder and CEO of Landit, a technology platform created to increase the success and engagement of women in the workplace, and to e... Read Full Bio
Amanda Slavin
AMANDA SLAVIN is a Millennill, Millennial Minded*, and Generation Z expert as well as the CEO and founder of CatalystCreativ. CatalysCreativ is an exper... Read Full Bio
Jessamyn Stanley
JESSAMYN STANLEY is the author of Every Body Yoga, as well as an internationally recognized yoga teacher, award-winning Instagram star, @mynamei... Read Full Bio
Cynthia Stoddard
CYNTHIA STODDARD is senior vice president and chief information officer with Adobe Systems Incorporated. In this role, she oversees Adobe’s global inf... Read Full Bio
Lesley Stolz
LESLEY STOLZ, PhD, fosters Johnson & Johnson’s external R&D engine and supports the innovation community by leading the Johnson & Johnson I... Read Full Bio
Hayley Tabor
HAYLEY TABOR is vice president, global industry solutions at Dell EMC. A twenty five-year veteran of the IT industry, Tabor leads a dedicated and highly... Read Full Bio
Amy Trask
AMY TRASK has had many titles during her career: chief executive, analyst, and author. The former CEO of the Oakland Raiders, and current football analyst for CBS Sports... Read Full Bio
Laura Vanderkam
LAURA VANDERKAM is the author of several time management and productivity books, including I Know How She Does It, What the Most Successf... Read Full Bio
Cy Wakeman
CY WAKEMAN is a dynamic international keynote speaker, business consultant, New York Times best-selling author, and global thought leader wit... Read Full Bio
Caroline Webb
CAROLINE WEBB is CEO of Sevenshift, a firm that shows people how to use insights from behavioral science to improve their working life. Her book on that ... Read Full Bio
Jen Welter
DR. JEN WELTER became the first female to coach in the NFL when she joined the Arizona Cardinals as a linebackers coach in the summer of 2015. That expe... Read Full Bio
Robin Wolaner
ROBIN WOLANER is an executive with broad experience in startups and managing companies. Prior to joining We Care Solar as COO in 2015, she was CEO of Vi... Read Full Bio
Sonya Zilka
SONYA ZILKA is vice president of human resources and communications for Actelion, U.S. Prior to joining Actelion, she was an independent consultant assi... Read Full BioSmall Business Roundtable
Adam Granoff
ADAM GRANOFF is a senior vice president with Mastercard, working on the digital partnerships team responsible for the account management of North Americ... Read Full Bio
Sarah Heck
SARAH HECK leads external affairs and new markets for Stripe Atlas, Stripe’s platform that enables entrepreneurs around the world to start and grow in... Read Full BioGail Hunter
GAIL HUNTER is in her sixth season as vice president of public affairs, community relations and event management for the Golden State Warriors. Hunter j... Read Full Bio
Somie Park
SOMIE PARK is a client advisor on the small business team at LendingClub. LendingClub is the world’s largest online credit marketpla... Read Full Bio
Dorit Perry
DORIT PERRY is an adjunct Professor of Law at Santa Clara University Law School. An international attorney, Perry has over twenty five years of experien... Read Full Bio
Susan Repo
SUSAN REPO serves as corporate treasurer and vice president of finance for Tesla, Inc. Since joining the company in March 2013, she has guided Tesla thr... Read Full Bio
Singari Seshadri
SINGARI SESHADRI runs the Stanford Venture Studio, a program for graduate students exploring new venture ideas. Her previous work experience includes ... Read Full Bio
Shilpi Sharma
SHILPI SHARMA is the co-founder and CEO of Kvantum, a marketing performance analytics company. Previously, she spent more than fifteen years in strategi... Read Full Bio
Mana Sopheak
MANA SOPHEAK is currently a senior client advisor with Lending Club, where she has been instrumental in providing millions of dollars to small busine... Read Full Bio
Hope Timberlake
HOPE TIMBERLAKE is a workshop facilitator, executive coach and keynote speaker who works with leaders and teams to improve their effectiveness and perfo... Read Full Bio
Anarghya Vardhana
ANARGHYA VARDHANA is a senior associate at consumer VC firm Maveron, where she invests in cutting-edge consumer startups. She published a math theorem a... Read Full Bio
Norma Watenpaugh
NORMA WATENPAUGH is the founding principal and CEO of Phoenix Consulting Group, which provides education and consulting services with expertise in marke... Read Full BioTech Roundtables
Andrea Corson
ANDREA CORSON is an Emmy-nominated television producer, digital strategist, and consultant. Most recently she has created awesome video for a wide range... Read Full Bio
Nicola Peill-Moelter
NICOLA PEILL-MOELTER is senior director of environmental sustainability with Akamai. In this role, she leads Akamai’s global sustainability program, c... Read Full Bio
Bonnie Grant Petrich
BONNIE GRANT PETRICH is a senior director of sales development at EMC. For the last seven years she has been passionately educating the DELL EMC salesfo... Read Full Bio
Lisa Poon
LISA POON is a versatile HR professional in the areas of recruitment, HR shared services, program management, and benefits design and administration. ... Read Full Bio
Mimi Schiffman
MIMI SCHIFFMAN has worked as a filmmaker and producer for nine years, creating content for CNN, Huffington Post, The New York Times,... Read Full Bio
Suzanne Shade
SUZANNE SHADE is a creative director and curator, and has spent the last twenty five years imagining brand experience for startups, advertising agencies... Read Full Bio
Kathy Strahs
KATHY STRAHS is the award-winning author of The Lemonade Stand Cookbook, The 8x8 Cookbook, and The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbo... Read Full BioQVC & Zulily Product Search
Anna Baker
ANNA BAKER is the director of global merchandising strategy and category development with QVC, a position she took on in February 2017. In this role, ... Read Full Bio
Lorraine Beltran
LORRAINE BELTRAN is the merchandising manager with zulily. Prior to joining zulily in 2010, shortly after the site launched, she was at Nordstrom for o... Read Full Bio
Rachel Boesing
RACHEL BOESING is a program host with QVC. Her true passion for storytelling has defined her professional life. She left a successful advertising career... Read Full Bio
Bridget Love
BRIDGET LOVE is the director of apparel merchandising with QVC. In this role, she is responsible for leading product selection and strategy, as well as... Read Full Bio