2017 Speakers Speakers

Shawn Achor

SHAWN ACHOR is the New York Times best-selling author of “The Happiness Advantage” and “Before Happiness.” He spent 12 years a... Read Full Bio

Madeleine K. Albright

MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT is chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investme... Read Full Bio

Viola Davis

VIOLA DAVIS is a classically trained, award-winning actor, who has conquered every medium from stage to television to film. From her Tony and ... Read Full Bio

Condoleezza Rice

CONDOLEEZZA RICE is currently the Denning professor in global business and the economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; the Thomas... Read Full Bio

Sheryl Sandberg

SHERYL SANDBERG is the chief operating officer for Facebook, overseeing the firm's business operations. Prior to Facebook, she was vice preside... Read Full Bio

Kara Swisher

KARA SWISHER is the executive editor for Recode, and host of the Recode Decode podcast. She is also co-executive producer of Code Confidence. S... Read Full Bio

Gunjan Aggarwal

GUNJAN AGGARWAL is an accomplished HR leader with several years of experience as head of HR in various roles across US, Switzerland, UK and In... Read Full Bio

Jessica Aguirre

JESSICA AGUIRRE is the 6:00 and 11:00 pm evening anchor at NBC Bay Area News and an Emmy-award winning journalist. Aguirre began her career ... Read Full Bio

Denise Cox

DENISE COX is the vice president of Americas region technical services for Cisco. Her team is charged with driving delivery excellence and valu... Read Full Bio

Chris Edmonds-Waters

CHRIS EDMONDS-WATERS is head of human resources and a member of SVB Financial Group's executive management team. Edmonds-Waters is responsible ... Read Full Bio

Laura Garcia-Cannon

LAURA GARCIA-CANNON anchors weekday mornings, “Today in the Bay.” This multiple Emmy Award winning journalist began her career in broadcas... Read Full Bio

Jackie Glenn

JACKIE GLENN is a pioneering diversity and inclusion expert. Her groundbreaking initiatives have reshaped organizational policies, unified a mu... Read Full Bio

Rami Rahim

RAMI RAHIM is the chief executive officer for Juniper Networks, and a member of the company’s board of directors. Rahim was appointed CEO in... Read Full Bio

Luvvie Ajayi

LUVVIE AJAYI is an award-winning writer and digital strategist who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology and activism. A 13-year b... Read Full Bio

Amy Akashi

AMY AKASHI heads up the enterprise project management office at Silicon Valley Bank. Her team is responsible for driving project excellence on the bank’s st... 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, an... Read Full Bio

Wendy R. Anderson

WENDY R. ANDERSON has more than 20 years’ experience in defense, foreign policy, homeland security, and intelligence. From 2010 to April 2015... Read Full Bio

Eva Andres

EVA ANDRES is the vice president of human resources for Dell/EMC. In this role, she leads all aspects of the global practice to ensure that the... Read Full Bio

Patty Chang Anker

PATTY CHANG ANKER is a nationally recognized fear facing expert who empowers people to live their biggest, bravest lives. She the author of “... Read Full Bio

Valerie Biberaj

VALERIE BIBERAJ is the director for the Kate Spade & Company Foundation, as well as director for philanthropic programming for Kate Spade ... Read Full Bio

Jenny Blake

JENNY BLAKE is an author, career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people organize their brain, move beyond burnout, ... Read Full Bio

Doreen Bloch

DOREEN BLOCH is the CEO and founder of Poshly Inc., the first and only real-time and on-demand consumer insights company for the CPG industry. ... Read Full Bio

Madonna Bolano

MADONNA BOLANO is the group vice president, human resources for Applied Materials, Inc. She has led the global human resources function for Ap... Read Full Bio

Heidi Browning

HEIDI BROWNING is the chief marketing officer and executive vice president for the National Hockey League. She joined the NHL in October 2016. ... Read Full Bio

Susan Burnett

SUSAN BURNETT is the founder and CEO of Susan Burnett Consulting. She has dedicated the last 35 years of her career to developing great leaders... Read Full Bio

Kathryn Cicoletti

KATHRYN CICOLETTI is the founder of Ms. Cheat Sheet. Ms. Cheat Sheet is a media company that empowers and educates its audience by finding hi... Read Full Bio

Annie Clark

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Caretha Coleman

CARETHA COLEMAN most recently served as chairman of the board of Dignity Health, a $14 billion healthcare system headquartered in San Francisco... Read Full Bio

Shelly Kapoor Collins

SHELLY KAPOOR COLLINS is a venture capitalist who works at the intersection of technology, innovation and policy, with a focus on investing in... Read Full Bio

Jonathan Davidson

JONATHAN DAVIDSON is the executive vice president and general manager of Juniper Development and Innovation. In this role, h... Read Full Bio

Erica Dhawan

ERICA DHAWAN is the co-author of the new book, “Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence.” She is a globally recognize... Read Full Bio

Tiffany Dufu

TIFFANY DUFU is chief leadership officer of Levo and launch team member to Lean In. She was named in the Huffington Post as one of ... Read Full Bio

Brenda Dulger-Sheikin

BRENDA DULGER-SHEIKIN is a senior vice president within the investor services America division of State Street. She is the department head for the west coast ... Read Full Bio

Michelle Gielan

MICHELLE GIELAN is a national “CBS News” anchor, turned positive psychology researcher. She is the best-selling author of "Broadcasting Hap... Read Full Bio

Laura Gomez

LAURA GÓMEZ is the founder and CEO of Atipica, a talent discovery engine that surfaces the unique person behind the résumé by interpreting d... Read Full Bio

Lesley Grossblatt

LESLEY GROSSBLATT is the COO and VP of product for theBoardlist, a public benefit corporation working to increase corporate board performance ... Read Full Bio

Sherri Haymond

SHERRI HAYMOND is the executive vice president of digital partnerships at MasterCard. In her role, she and her team are responsible for executing MasterCard’s... Read Full Bio

Shama Hyder

SHAMA HYDER is the award-winning CEO of The Marketing Zen Group, a global online marketing and digital PR company. Hyder has aptly been dubbed ... Read Full Bio

Julie Silard Kantor

JULIE SILARD KANTOR is an 'all-in' roll-up your sleeves leader and serial entrepreneur committed to building mentoring cultures to drive employ... Read Full Bio

Sofie Karasek

SOFIE KARASEK is an advocate for gender equity on campuses nationwide. She is a co-founder and the director of education of the survivor advoca... Read Full Bio

Grace Killelea

GRACE KILLELEA is the CEO and founder of the GKC Group, a leadership development firm based in Philadelphia. A veteran of the telecommunication... Read Full Bio

Charlene Li

CHARLENE LI is a principal analyst at Altimeter, a Prophet company, and the author of the New York Times bestseller, “Open Leadership.” S... Read Full Bio

Cat Lincoln

CAT LINCOLN is the founder and CEO of CLEVER, an award-winning, multimillion-dollar influencer marketing agency. In November 2013, CLEVER was p... Read Full Bio

Holly Liu

HOLLY LIU founded the mobile gaming company Kabam in 2006 with UC Berkeley alumni. Her work has contributed to record revenue growth for Kabam ... Read Full Bio

Tonya J. Long

TONYA J. LONG has served more than 20 years as a senior leader responsible for the execution and results of global delivery teams in the high ... Read Full Bio

Clare Markovits

CLARE MARKOVITS serves as chief of staff in Cisco's chief digital office. In this role, she supports the organization’s overall operations, ... Read Full Bio

Ama Marston

AMA MARSTON is the founder and CEO of Marston Consulting. This includes work with clients such as the United Nations, FTSE & Fortune 500 co... Read Full Bio

Felicia Mayo

FELICIA MAYO is currently serving as the vice president, global talent acquisition and authenticity and inclusion for Juniper Networks in Sunny... Read Full Bio

Debbie McClure

DEBBIE McCLURE is the senior director of global virtual sales and customer success with Cisco, where she is responsible for the global service ... Read Full Bio

Dr. Kellie McElhaney

DR. KELLIE McELHANEY is an adjunct professor in the Institute for Business and Social Innovation at the Haas School of Business at the Universi... Read Full Bio

Nikki Medoro

NIKKI MEDORO first got the radio bug in college, hosting a reggae music show on Friday nights. She then started telling people that she wan... Read Full Bio

Margenett Moore-Roberts

MARGENETT MOORE-ROBERTS started her career in digital media in 2001 when she joined Muze, a data licensing and distribution company, to rebuild... Read Full Bio

Brooke Morin

BROOKE MORIN is the director of community and events for Levo. She leads community and events at Levo, the largest network and platform for mil... Read Full Bio

Jahleeka Morris

JAHLEEKA MORRIS is a senior stock plans analyst with Yahoo!. She was born and raised in Boston Ma., where she grew up in an underserved neighbo... Read Full Bio

Elaine Petrocelli

ELAINE PETROCELLI opened a tiny bookstore, 40 years ago. At the time, she envisioned a place that would bring the world of books to customers o... Read Full Bio

Nora Poggi

NORA POGGI is a French journalist and filmmaker, directing her debut film, “SHE STARTED IT.” She has interviewed key players in Silicon Va... Read Full Bio

Christine Porath

CHRISTINE PORATH is a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. Prior to that, she taught at Marshall School of B... Read Full Bio

Gerianne Sarte

GERIANNE SARTE is a scientist by training, a finance Leader by trade and a passionate advocate for women’s development in the workplace. Sar... Read Full Bio

Shilpa Shah

SHILPA SHAH is the co-founder of Cuyana. She was motivated to create products with rich stories while also building a fashion brand with a cen... Read Full Bio

Shivani Siroya

SHIVANI SIROYA is the founder and CEO of Tala, which works in emerging markets to help anyone with a cell phone build a financial identity. Thr... Read Full Bio

Emily Esfahani Smith

EMILY ESFAHANI SMITH is the author of “The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life that Matters” (Crown). She writes about culture, relationships... Read Full Bio

Lisa Smith-Strother

LISA SMITH-STROTHER has been the senior director and global head of employer branding and diversity talent acquisition across Ericsson’s soc... Read Full Bio

Claude M. Steele

CLAUDE M. STEELE is an American social psychologist and a professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley. He has also served in several major academic ... Read Full Bio

Erin Pham Steinhauer

Erin Steinhauer is vice president, financial inclusion with Visa, Inc. She and her team are devoted to providing unbanked people access to the ... Read Full Bio

Lisa Stone

LISA STONE is an entrepreneur and digital media strategist who develops scale consumer movements using storytelling, user aspiration and techn... Read Full Bio

Nina Tassler

NINA TASSLER is an American television executive and author. She previously held such positions as president and also chairwoman of CBS Enterta... Read Full Bio

Carin Taylor

CARIN TAYLOR is currently a diversity and inclusion associate director at Genentech. She is a highly successful and valued thought partner wi... Read Full Bio

Poornima Vijayashanker

POORNIMA VIJAYASHANKER is the founder of Femgineer, an education company dedicated to helping tech professionals level up in their careers, an... Read Full Bio

Margalit Ward

MARGALIT WARD inspires her audiences and clients to dream big and map out their ideal vision and action plan to create unstoppable success. As ... Read Full Bio

Kitty Yale

KITTY YALE is vice president of clinical operations with Gilead Sciences, Inc. She joined Gilead in November 2001 and was appointed to her cu... Read Full Bio

Ana Arriola

ANA ARRIOLA is the founder, CEO and executive creative director for Minimalisms. Arriola celebrates the renegade spirit of California by desig... Read Full Bio

Dom Brassey

DOM BRASSEY is the vice president of growth for Lesbians Who Tech, a 20,000+ member LGBTQ organization that connects LGBTQ women and their all... Read Full Bio

Megan Rose Dickey

MEGAN ROSE DICKEY is a reporter at TechCrunch focused on diversity, inclusion and social justice. She previously spent two years at Busines... Read Full Bio

Shuly Galili

SHULY GALILI is the co-founding partner at UpWest Labs, a Silicon Valley based seed fund investing in Israeli tech entrepreneurs and startups. Founded in 2012... Read Full Bio

Elizabeth Gore

ELIZABETH GORE is the founder of Gore Country LLC and the entrepreneur-in-residence at Dell Technologies. Gore drives initiatives that support Dell’s goals ar... Read Full Bio

Terese Kemble

TERESE KEMBLE is SVP and chief human resources officer with Juniper Networks. In this role, she is responsible for leading and integrating all ... Read Full Bio

Laura Kennedy

LAURA KENNEDY is VP of corporate development at Techstars. In this role, she cultivates relationships between entrepreneurs and corporate leade... Read Full Bio

Claire Lee

CLAIRE LEE is the head of Silicon Valley Bank’s group dedicated to working with founders, entrepreneurs and pre Series A companies. This tea... Read Full Bio

Josh Levs

JOSH LEVS is an award-winning former journalist for NPR and CNN, and is a leading global expert in modern fathers at work. ... Read Full Bio

Mike Marcellin

MIKE MARCELLIN is senior vice president and chief marketing officer with Juniper Networks. He leads the global marketing team responsible for m... Read Full Bio

Les Matthews

LES MATTHEWS is senior vice president, digital partnerships at MasterCard, where he has worked for the last seven years. He is responsible f... Read Full Bio

Brian Miller

BRIAN MILLER is the vice president of learning development and inclusion for Gilead Sciences.  Miller joined Gilead in 2010 and overs... Read Full Bio

Pamela O’Leary

PAMELA O’LEARY is a diversity and inclusion talent acquisition leader at Ericsson. She has been an adjunct instructor at American University... Read Full Bio

Jeffrey Siminoff

JEFFREY SIMINOFF is vice president of inclusion and diversity at Twitter. He joined Twitter in January 2016. Previously, he ... Read Full Bio

Marissa L. Song

MARISSA L. SONG joined Gilead in 2006 and is responsible for corporate governance, corporate finance and SEC reporting. She also supports the... Read Full Bio

Lisen Stromberg

LISEN STROMBERG is an author, culture innovation consultant, and widely regarded speaker who empowers people and companies to reimagine the fut... Read Full Bio

Samantha Walravens

SAMANTHA WALRAVENS is an award-winning journalist and author and editor of the New York Times-acclaimed book, “TORN: Tru... Read Full Bio

Sarah Cooper

SARAH COOPER is a writer, comedian and creator of satirical blog TheCooperReview.com, which attracts 100K+ readers per month. Her work has appe... Read Full Bio

Britni Danielle

BRITNI DANIELLE is journalist, editor, and novelist who is passionate about telling stories. She’s written extensively for both print and dig... Read Full Bio

Joshua Encarnacion

JOSHUA ENCARNACION serves as head of people development at Outco Inc., where his team facilitates technical and non-technical skills developme... Read Full Bio

Laura Johnston

LAURA JOHNSTON is a solution consulting director for Oracle Digital Human Capital Management (HCM) at Oracle. In this role, she oversees Orac... Read Full Bio

A’Driane Nieves

A’DRIANE NIEVES is a USAF veteran, artist, activist and speaker with a heart for serving others and social good. She's also a mental health ... Read Full Bio

Liz O’Donnell

LIZ O’DONNELL is the chief content officer for Double Forte, a marketing firm expert at connecting companies to the people who matter to them... Read Full Bio

Brandi Riley

BRANDI RILEY is a social media manager, blogger and founder of Courage to Earn, a community of brave entrepreneurs. Known for personalized blo... Read Full Bio

Jill Rowley

JILL ROWLEY is a sales professional trapped in a marketer's body. She spent six years in management consulting, 52 quarters on quota at Salesfo... Read Full Bio

Michael Whitney

MICHAEL WHITNEY is the global employer brand and marketing manager at Akamai, helping the company’s talent acquisition and diversity teams at... Read Full Bio

Aubrey Blanche

AUBREY BLANCHE is the global head of diversity and inclusion at Atlassian. There, she works with teams across the business to enhance access to... Read Full Bio

Lisa Haugh

LISA HAUGH is VP of people and general counsel at Udemy, a global marketplace for learning and teaching online. More than 14 million students ... Read Full Bio

Rebecca Kaden

REBECCA KADEN is a partner at Maveron. She joined the team in 2011, back when she was earning her M.B.A. at Stanford, studying leadership and e... Read Full Bio

Maria Karvivanova

MARIA KARAIVANOVA is the head of business development at CloudFlare, the web performance and security company. She is responsible for buildi... Read Full Bio

Kira Makagon

KIRA MAKAGON is the executive vice president of innovation for RingCentral. In this role, she leads global product strategy, product manageme... Read Full Bio

Marie Perruchet

MARIE PERRUCHET was born in South Korea. Adopted to French parents, she grew up in Normandy, France. A former journalist for the BBC and French... Read Full Bio

Bonnie Grant Petrich

BONNIE GRANT PETRICH is the senior director of sales development at EMC. For the last five years she has been passionately educating the EMC s... Read Full Bio

Menaka Shroff

MENAKA SHROFF is the head of marketing at BetterWorks. In her role she drives all marketing, branding, PR, analyst relations and customer acqui... Read Full Bio

Kate Aulabaugh

Kate Aulabaugh is the director of home with zulily. Prior to joining zulily in April 2012, to help drive and deepen the home... Read Full Bio

Susan Connell

SUSAN CONNELL is vice president of women’s merchandising with zulily. Prior to joining zulily in April 2011, to help launc... Read Full Bio

Heather McNicholl

HEATHER McNICHOLL is the director of vendor education, engagement and product discovery with QVC. In this role, she develop... Read Full Bio