Past Keynote Presenters
MARY O’HARA DEVEREAUX (past keynote presenter)
She forecast the tech bubble burst of 2000; she foresaw the economic crisis of 2008 years before the recession crashed into the United States; she foresaw the game-changing social impact of the Internet. Dr. Mary O’Hara-Devereaux’s ability to analyze emerging trends and translate them into profitable business opportunities is legendary. She is a visionary who bases her approach on evidence, research, in-depth analysis, proprietary processes, and unfailing intuition. One of the world’s leading futurists, Mary’s steady-eyed forecasts have enabled organizations to face the future with proactive strategies and aggressive innovation finding targets no one else can see.
Mary’s transformative forecasts, leading edge trend analysis, and insightful advice has made her a sought-after speaker and consultant to scores of senior executives and a wide range of blue chip companies including Apple, BASF, CITIC-Pacific, Chevron, Coca Cola, Disney, Oracle, P&G, and Ericsson, and nonprofit organizations including the Asia Foundation, National Council on Aging, Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, United Way, Kaiser Family Foundation and the World Bank.
Mary is the founder and CEO of Global Foresight, a think tank and strategic consulting firm. Prior to that, she honed her expertise in global affairs and forecasting with the Institute for the Future. As Senior Research Fellow and Director, Mary worked with global corporations, nonprofits and governments to analyze emerging trends in society and business and develop cogent strategy. During her time with the Institute, Mary also co-led the Emerging Technologies Outlook Program and founded the Center for the Future of China at Beijing University.
A world-renowned China and Emerging Markets expert, Mary’s books, Global Work: Bridging Distance, Culture and Time; China Five-Year Forecast: Creating the New Marketplace and China’s Generations: The Transformation of Daily Life are considered the best guide for business leaders who want to engage in the myriad opportunities presented by the world’s fastest growing economies.
After accurately forecasting the “Great Recession” of 2008, Mary wrote Navigating the Badlands: Thriving in the Decade of Radical Transformation, an authoritative guide for surviving and thriving in this time of unprecedented change. With practical tools, strategies and deep understanding, Navigating the Badlands focuses on the innovation opportunities in the midst of chaos and how to make it to the far foothills of the future.
Mary’s work has been featured on Bloomberg, TV, Fox TV, CCTV China, National Public Radio, AARP Radio, Wall Street Journal Asia, the LA Times and more. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of California, and Fielding Graduate University and served on the faculty of the School of Medicine at US Davis for many years. She was recently a professor at Peking University, has been a visiting professor at several universities around the world and has served on several corporate and nonprofit boards.
KELLY LE BROCK (past panelist and keynote presenter)
Le Brock began her career as a model at the age of sixteen and went on to appear on thousands of magazine covers and in fashion spreads. You might recognize her from the silver screen; her commercial appearances as Pantene’s spokeswoman whose line, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,” became a pop-culture catchphrase; or her devotion to helping abused women. She was cast as the “perfect” or “fantasy” woman in films such as “The Woman in Red” (1984) and “Weird Science” (1985) before starring opposite then-husband Steven Seagal in 1990′s “Hard to Kill.”
Besides her acting and modeling careers, Le Brock is an activist and author who also started her own brand of homeopathic remedies. She testified before Congress in 1995 to the House Enquiry on Insurance and Medicare Access for alternative treatments on the needs of all Americans to have affordable access to such remedies. She is on various scientific advisory boards and regularly lectures on this subject.
Le Brock has written a memoir that really digs deeply into her experience with abuse, her marriages and her career, her current interests, and her greatest passion–helping other women. Her main objective with the book, and in all other things she does, is to help other women who have experienced abuse of any kind. For more information about Kelly, visit http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001456/.
LINDSEY MASK (past keynote presenter)
Lindsey Mask is the Founder and Executive Director of Ladies America, a national network of professional women connecting to advance one another personally and professionally, following the motto “Women Helping Women.” The group focuses on connections, an annual “Women Leading the Future” conference, national mentorship program and education in technology, advocacy & business. The original group formed in 2006 in Washington, D.C. and has expanded to a network of around 3,000 top-tier professional women in D.C., NYC, North Carolina, Texas, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Virginia Beach and San Francisco.
Lindsey was most recently the CEO of Mask Media Co., a public relations, marketing, branding & social media consultancy business for individuals, non-profits, businesses and women’s initiatives with services available in DC, NYC and Los Angeles. Before launching her own businesses, Lindsey served as Communications Director & Spokesperson for U.S. Congressman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California, where she handled national and local media. She spent 10 years working in political communications and served as the network and cable liaison for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2013, she was featured on the cover of Washington Life Magazine for being selected as a top thought leader under 40. For more information about Lindsey, visit http://www.ladiesamerica.com/about-ladies-america.shtml.
Past TEDx-Style Presenters
Betty LaMarr, Author/Founder/Executive Director of EMPOWHER INSTITUTE, is passionate about serving others through coaching and mentoring. While living in South Africa, Betty saw the devastating effects poverty and powerlessness have on girls and women. She also saw what happens when girls and women are offered even modest opportunities for empowerment: Women discover independence; girls seek education and life-changes for entire families and communities are positively altered as the cycle of poverty and dependency is broken.
Inspired by her South Africa experience, Betty came back to the United States and founded EmpowHer Institute in 2003 with a mission to create self-driven success for low-income middle and high school girls to reduce the high school dropout rate of more than 50%. Their approach is providing sisterhood, relevant training, power of choice and resiliency as a means to overcome poverty and to help young women meaningfully serve their communities.
Betty earned a BA in Business Administration from California State University in Los Angeles, and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She is a featured author in Discover Your Inner Strength, The Heart of Women in Business, Million Dollar Conversations and Life Moments for Women. As an activist for change, the Mayor of Los Angeles and California’s Lieutenant Governor honored Betty for outstanding community service as well as her contributions to a variety of youth organizations. Betty was most recently awarded the Pepperdine Waves of Service Award given to an alumna whose career demonstrates a life strengthened for “purpose, service and leadership” and is featured in the current issue of Origin Magazine as one of their Women of True Beauty, inside and outside. For more information on Betty, visit www.empowher.org.
DOCTORS JANET & NEAL LARSEN PALMER (past TEDx-style presenter & round table presenter) – “BEYOND WORDS: Building Your Personal Credibility Through Nonverbal Communication”
President of Communication Excellence Institute, a professional consulting firm in management communication located in the greater Los Angeles area, Dr. Janet Larsen Palmer has over 30 years’ experience as a Professor of Communication (specializing in performance, theatre, and persuasion), a Fortune 500 corporate manager and a university administrator. Author of three books and many articles, she has consulted on communication with individual executives, universities, healthcare organizations and corporations, both in the U.S. and Europe.
Dr. Palmer has won over 25 national and regional awards for her teaching, research, business leadership and public service in communication. Active for years in the National Association of Women Business Owners, she received a Commendation from the Governor of the State of California for her “outstanding achievements in the business community that have helped inspire many others to reach for the best.” Dr. Palmer has been named YWCA Woman of Achievement–Entrepreneur of the Year and she has served as both President of the San Dimas Chamber of Commerce and as Southern California Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. In 2012, Dr. Palmer was inducted into the prestigious Council of 100, a Northwestern University Alumnae group of the 100 most outstanding living NU women graduates. As a faculty member of the Executive Leadership and Management Institute at Stanford University and the Executive Doctorate Program of the University of Pennsylvania, she has offered specialized programs on communication skills (particularly body language) for academic professionals and business leaders. She also has extensive experience working with attorneys to prepare their clients for testimony. While an American Council on Education Fellow in Academic Administration, Dr. Palmer served as Special Assistant to the President at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Palmer has a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. from the School of Communication at Northwestern University.
DOCTORS JANET & NEAL LARSEN PALMER (past TEDx-style presenter & round table presenter) – “BEYOND WORDS: Building Your Personal Credibility Through Nonverbal Communication”
Executive Vice President of Communication Excellence Institute, Dr. Neal Larsen Palmer has over 30 years’ experience consulting with executives and professionals in business, healthcare, higher education and government. Formerly the top Dale Carnegie instructor in Southern California, Dr. Palmer taught communication at the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and the University of Redlands. He has served with Dr. Janet Palmer on the faculty of the Executive Leadership and Management Institute at Stanford University and the Executive Doctorate Program at the University of Pennsylvania. A linguist and Project Manager in Eastern European research at the Library of Congress, Dr. Neal Palmer worked closely with the intelligence community in Washington D.C. Dr. Neal Palmer reads and speaks twelve languages and serves with Dr. Janet Palmer as a body language specialist. He holds a B.S. from Georgetown University, an M.A. from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. from The University of Michigan.
TRACY REPCHUK (10:45 to 11:00 a.m. TEDx-style presenter) – “How to Shine Online and Reach Millions with Your Message”
Tracy Repchuk is an international bestselling author of 31 Days to Millionaire Marketing Miracles and an online marketing and social media strategist and speaker. She will show you the solution to attract more leads, get more clients and reach millions with your message. As an award-winning entrepreneur since the age of 19, she has helped thousands of clients get their message online fast and effectively. With over 30 years of business, internet, SEO, and marketing she can take your business to the next level. In addition, she has appeared as a technology specialist in National TV segments with ABC7, San Diego Living, Good Morning New Mexico, CNBC, 4 your money, Report on Business, HGTV, FOX, ABC, NBC, KMIR, Life Love’s Shopping, Daytime, Fox 5 Las Vegas, New Mexico Style, Vegas Inc, The CW, USA Today, Forbes, MSN Money, King5, CW, and over 50 publications, newspapers and magazines, plus two motivational movies and thousands of speaking appearances in over 35 countries.
Tracy helps you to shine online and make an instant online impact with a fully branded complete end to end website presence and message to market your system in under 60 days. Her talk, “How to Shine Online and Reach Millions with Your Message,” will show you that to be successful online you need to be able to navigate the Internet through wrong data, confusing steps, and hype that mislead what you should be doing for your business to attract more leads, get more clients and make more sales. Social media has transformed the landscape, SEO is even more vital, and brand management is at a premium. Discover how to all of these elements work together to give you the cohesive strategy you need to SHINE online. For more about Tracy, visit www.TracyRepchuk.com.
ELIANNE RAMOS (past TEDx-style presenter)
Elianne is the Principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Marketing and the Vice‐Chair of Marketing and PR for Latinos in Social Media (LATISM). At LATISM, she is also Chief Editor of the LATISM blog and the moderator to highly rated Google+ On Air broadcasts, Facebook promotions and Twitter chats with up to 20+ million impressions. Her specialty is the production of high quality social media experiences that seamlessly merge online with offline efforts. She is considered one of the most influential Latinas in social media.
A Hispanic Communications Specialist with 17 years of experience in Creative Direction, Copywriting, Public Speaking, Public Relations and TV Commercial Production, Elianne has developed broadcast, multimedia and social media campaigns for clients such as Procter & Gamble, Panasonic, SlimFast, Chivas Regal, HSBC Bank and AARP, among other top brands. Formerly, she was the VP, Creative Director and Founder of i3 Creative Group, managing TV commercial production teams working concurrently in the US, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina. She leads creative workshops and lectures at marketing conferences and universities throughout the US and abroad. She’s also the Social/Cross‐Cultural Communications Advisor for the Faces of Diversity Initiative in Medellín, Colombia and an International Advisory Board Member for the World Brand Congress, set to take place in India this October.
Awards and recognition for her contributions to the Latino Community include the 2013 Brava Award from Smart CEO Magazine, the 2012 Game Changer Award from Politic365 and the 2012 Best Microblogger Award from LATISM. She’s also been nominated to the 2013 Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise, the 2012 Yahoo Women Who Shine in the Public Service category and the 2011 US Latino Leader of Year Award by Miller Coors. Her writing has appeared in numerous books, including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
Her commentary, profiles and interviews have appeared on USA Today, Univision, CNN, NBC Latino, Fox Business News, The Huffington Post, Voice of America, Latina Magazine and many others. Elianne has a BA degree in Communications, Film and Video with a concentration in Advertising and Public Relations from the City University of New York and a Certification as a Teacher of English as a second Language from Regents College in London, UK.
Find some of her past and current projects at www.elianneramos.com, read her columns at Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elianne‐ramos) and NBC Latino (http://nbclatino.tumblr.com/), connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter @ergeekgoddess.
KIM CASTLE (past TEDx-style presenter)
Kim Castle, creator of kimTV and star of the reality series “nakedkim,” is a fresh voice for today’s new breed of feminine leadership. As an overdriving, type-A woman, Kim Castle drove herself to the ground running her business and helping others with theirs. As a result, all the relationships in her life suffered–family, friends, and most importantly, the one with herself.
As co-creator of BrandU® and host of various shows, she has co-led a dynamic enterprise that is devoted to empowering entrepreneurs around the world and impacted over 30,000+ members internationally. Kim has been featured on CNN Headline News, Fox Business News, Yahoo Small Business, and Inc magazine. Her work has won a Webby Award for General Motors’ and she was nominated for the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women Making a Difference Award. Funny, fashionable, vivacious, and vulnerable, she shows powerhouse women and the exceptional men who love them that in order to take care of their world, they must take care of themselves—first. For more information on Kim, visit www.kimcastle.com.
RONA BARRETT (past TEDx-style presenter) – “Beyond Hollywood to Gray Matters”
If you think you know Rona Barrett – think again.
Yes! Hollywood’s Variety Magazine calls her “the lady who turned entertainment coverage into big biz.”
Yes! Her career as a vastly successful entertainment reporter, commentator, and interviewer spanned more than 30 years.
Yes! It was Rona who was Good Morning America’s first arts and entertainment editor.
Yes! She is the first woman to have brought the most personal side of actors, celebrities, sports figures and political leaders into America’s living rooms more than a thousand times – and in prime time. Her interviews were the precursors to the Barbara Walters Specials.
Her trailblazing enabled shows such as TMZ, Access Hollywood, E!, Extra, and Inside Edition to flourish.
Yes! It was she who was the first woman to have her name above the title of her own popular magazine, Rona Barrett’s Hollywood, as well as her six additional magazines, paving the way for Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey.
But did you know? It was Rona Barrett who originated the world’s first national fan club for pop stars. And she did this from an office in Manhattan – at the age of 13!
Yes, she did.
All of her life, Rona Barrett has been a pioneer. Today she is taking on a challenge close to her heart and an issue that affects us all: providing affordable and dignified housing and care for the fastest growing population on the planet – seniors over 65 years old. Prototypical Golden Inn & Village in Santa Ynez, scheduled to begin construction in 2015, will be her answer to this very real challenge.
And once again a columnist, with her Gray Matters column in the Santa Ynez Valley News, she shines a spotlight on the day-to-day issues confronting all seniors and their loved ones who care for them. And once again she’s digging deep, bringing to the surface not just the questions, but solutions as well.
She is always a pioneer.
Yes, she is.
Visit her Website at www.ronabarrettfoundation to find out more.
Past Panel Presenters
JENNIFER CONRAD (past panelist)
Jennifer Conrad, DVM is an exotic animal veterinarian. Her private practice involves caring for the animals that appear in movies and on TV. She also takes care of animals that have ended up in sanctuaries. She has been an avid animal advocate since early childhood. As a child, her favorite cause was saving whales. Starting at age 11, she constructed life-sized sand sculptures of whales on the beaches of Malibu, her home town, to raise awareness of their plight. After working as a marine mammal veterinarian, Conrad began to work with other animals who were suffering at the hands of man. She traveled the world to help save wild animals, including rhinos, elephants and cheetahs.
It was in her capacity as a big cat vet that Conrad found her true calling, preventing animal suffering caused by other veterinarians. Conrad has always believed that declawing is wrong, but it wasn’t until her examination of a cougar’s paws after he was declawed did she really fathom how wrong it was. “The PAW Project” is her first film. Self-described as NOT a filmmaker, Conrad is intrigued by the power of this medium. Conrad is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
DEBORAH HUTCHISON (past panelist)
Deborah Hutchison is a risk taker, problem solver, published author, filmmaker, speaker, and out-of-the-box thinker. After selling her first business, Rosen-Knutsen casting to her partner, she began a journey that included becoming a member of the Directors Guild, winning an award, “Best New Product in a Law Related Field,” and publishing a book with Judge Lynn Toler of Divorce Court TV (no, Deborah is not a lawyer). Today, she directs her attention to both companies A Sane Approach to an Emotional Issue® and Gutsy Gals Inspire Me®, a company she founded that specializes in content creation for inspiring positive female role models. Engaging audiences with stories that entertain and educate, they inspire possibility and determination to drive one’s own destiny.
In 2012, Gutsy Gals Inspire Me® completed its first animated short film, “The Improbable Journey of Berta Benz,” which has already won two gender equity awards. Each year, the company gives out Gutsy Gals Inspire Me® Awards to inspiring females. For more information on Deborah and Gutsy Gals Inspire Me®, visit www.gutsygalsinspireme.com.
Razia’s Ray of Hope Foundation has been shaped by the spirit and vision of Razia Jan. Founder of the Zabuli Education Center, Razia has worked for many years to forge connections between Afghans and Americans.
She began by rallying her adopted New England community to send over 400 homemade blankets to rescue workers at Ground Zero after September 11, 2001. Her efforts expanded to include sending care packages to US troops in Afghanistan. Through her involvement in the military’s Operation Shoe Fly, she coordinated the delivery of over 30,000 pairs of shoes to needy Afghan children. Her handmade quilts commemorating September 11 have been exhibited at Madison Square Garden, the chapel at the Pentagon, and at fire stations in New York and Massachusetts.
Born in Afghanistan, Razia moved to the United States in 1970. The proprietor of a small tailoring business in Duxbury, Massachusetts, for 20 years, she served as president of the town’s Rotary Club. A member of the Interfaith Council and No Place for Hate, and a member of the Board of Directors at Jordan Hospital, Razia has received many awards for her humanitarian work, including the 2007 Woman of Excellence award from Germaine Lawrence Inc., multiple Rotary Club International Peace Awards, and certificates of appreciation from the Army Corps of Engineers and the American Legion. She has spoken on women and children’s issues at many venues in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, DC, and Afghanistan.
In October 2008, Razia moved back to Kabul, where she is developing and managing aid projects for Afghan rug weavers and their families as the Country Program Director for the Chicago-based nonprofit Arzu Inc., in addition to her work with Razia’s Ray of Hope.
In 2012, Razia was named a CNN Top 10 Hero. She is grateful for the outpouring of support that this honor has brought to the foundation.
A paralegal for over 40, as well as an active contributer to how the paralegal profession was shaped on a national level, Barbara Liss brings expert legal advice to the Women’s Festival. She participated in the National Federation of Paralegal Association’s white paper committee, which developed the very first definition of the term “paralegal;” lobbied and testified before the California Senate Judiciary Committee in Sacramento and the State Bar’s Public Protection Committee in San Francisco; and monitors, represents and promotes lay advocacy access to justice interests with regard to skilled paralegal services.
After 11 years as the manager of an involved estate, Barbara participated in elder abuse litigation trial practice and eventually transitioned professionally into being of service to the elder community through providing paralegal assistance in a wills, trusts and estate practice. She is deeply satisfied to assist this very vulnerable population, providing a communications bridge for what could otherwise be daunting, confusing and even terrifying.
Barbara is also a trained patient care volunteer who works one-on-one with the terminally ill and dying and a NODA (No One Dies Alone) volunteer, providing bedside vigiling with the actively dying. This extraordinarily fulfilling work allows her to “pay forward” the kindnesses she received from Hospice staff and volunteers when her own younger sister was dying from breast cancer and her father passed away from a neurological disorder.
Barbara is also passionate about music, and was an active member and leader in the Channelaire Chorus of Ventura County for nine years. She also established a donor-directed fund with the Ventura County Community Foundation to support the chorus.
MARLA MCNALLY PHILLIPS (past panelist)
Marla is the co-chair and co-owner of Emerald Forest Entertainment, a music publishing and management company currently in a joint venture with HoriPro Entertainment. Macy Gray, Marilyn Manson, Sophie B. Hawkins, Randy Jackson, Brownstone, Stan Lynch, Holly Palmer, Marc Tanner, and many others are all Emerald Forest Entertainment signings. Prior to her own company, Marla was VP of Talent Acquisition and International for Chappell Music and later, WB Music where she signed and/or worked with such talent as Guns N’ Roses, til Tuesday (Aimee Mann), Jody Watley, Bernie Taupin, U2, Paul Gordon, and many other talented artists and songwriters. Marla was proud to have managed Sophie B. Hawkins during her WHALER album release and Holly Palmer during the making of I CONFESS, her album for WB. She also managed Scott Corridan, an event designer for film and television where he participated in HGTV’s Design Star and The Tyra Banks Show. Marla is co-chair of ENCHANTED TAILS, a film production company that is currently developing “The Princess Who Kicked Butt” for animation. Enchanted Tails also created and distributed the product, Survivor Tactics To Unbreak Your Heart. Marla is also happily the lead producer of a fantastic play entitled UNDER MY SKIN that is going to off Broadway this Spring to The Little Shubert Theatre.
Past Round Table Presenters
BRECIA KRALOVIC-LOGAN (past round table presenter)
Brecia Kralovic-Logan is a passionate champion of creativity. She is the owner of pebble in the pond art studio in Santa Barbara, where she makes art, teaches workshops and coaches others to claim their creative power. Her book The Spiral of Creativity- Mastering the Art of a Spirited Life will be available in 2014. She is the Creativity Director of the Women’s Festival 2014. For more information about Brecia, visit www.breciacreative.com.
JANET & NEAL LARSEN PALMER
MARIA LOPEZ (past round table presenter)
Originally from Oaxaca City, Mexico, Maria has called Santa Barbara, California home for the past 25 years. Physical activity undertaken by girls and women was frowned upon in her hometown, and it was not until she reached the United States that the opportunity to exercise regularly presented itself to her. She has explored running, hiking, swimming, and weight training, but finds her Yoga asana practice most fulfilling.
Maria’s original inspiration for practicing Yoga came from a book she happened upon during a vacation stay at her parents’ home more than a decade ago. A close friend had left a copy of The Sivananda Companion to Yoga in the house, where Maria picked it up and found herself so enthused that she began seeking Yoga classes and studios as soon as she returned to California. It was during this time that she met the Valentino brothers Emil and Mario, another inspiration.
Maria channels much of the vibrancy she develops through her Yoga practice, along with learnings from a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara, into social entrepreneurism. She is especially committed to working on health, education, and ecological issues affecting women around the world. Yogiando, a resource for practitioners, studios, and teachers, with a particular emphasis on supporting diversity and encouraging marginalized communities to participate in Yoga practice, is part of this vision.
TAYLOR REAUME (past round table presenter) – “Inside The Google Maze: Growing Your Corporation Using SEO and Social Media in 2014″
Taylor Reaume, founder of Santa Barbara marketing firm http://
ALISA DILORENZO (past round table presenter)
Your relationships matter! Whether it’s personal or business, you know that when it’s all working together you feel like you are on top of the world. You also understand that sometimes you need a little help to get back on track! As co-founder of ONE Extraordinary Marriage, relationship coach Alisa DiLorenzo inspires women and couples around the world to take off their masks, talk to their partners and have amazing sex. She co-hosts the #3 marriage podcast on iTunes with her husband, Tony. Together they have written two books: Stripped Down: 13 Keys to Unlocking Intimacy in Your Marriage and The 7 Days of Sex Challenge. Through these, couples have discovered how candid conversations about sex, love and commitment are critical to a successful marriage. Alisa’s passion for seeing marriages transformed led to the development of LOVE Always: The Ultimate Marriage Blueprint, a program designed to help couples create the marriage that they desire in 6 steps. Alisa tackles the tough topics with candor, love and a bit of humor. Thousands of people, from Alaska to Zimbabwe are creating the relationships of their dreams; will you be next?
LINDA NEWLIN (past round table presenter) – “Emotional Technology: Cracking the Code on Human Programming”
Linda Newlin is a coach/public speaker/author/consultant/singer/songwriter and activist. She has worked with hundreds of individuals and leaders in corporations, universities, nonprofits and families who are courageously growing and moving toward their dreams and vision of positive contribution in the world.
Ms. Newlin’s professional experience includes working for American Express Co., Pepperdine University, Champlain College and owning her own executive search firm for over 20 years. She is a certified Hudson Coach, MBTI specialist and a Hoffman Institute Teacher and Coach. The Hoffman Institute (www.HoffmanInstitute.org) provides a unique transformational process that helps people break free of childhood programming and shift patterns that keep them from creating the lasting change they desire. It is for individuals who are seeking to become more present, authentic and the source of change in their own lives.
Linda is the author of the book The Inner Traveler’s™ Guidebook to Moyo: Discovering the Power of Listening to Your Own Heart. This book is the first in a series designed to support Inner Travelers™ on their journey back home to their authentic selves. This first book takes the unique form of a workbook and musical travel guide. It leads readers through questions, quotes, anecdotes, reflections and exercises to explore resistances to self love and truly becoming who they are so they can emerge from past limitations and heal.
Her new company, Emotional Technology, Inc., is dedicated to cracking the code on human programming and providing “Apps for Change.” Through speaking, workshops, books, music and relearning processes, clients are supported to move beyond the childhood patterns that keep them from being who they truly are. Authenticity, balance and wholeness thus create sustainability, health and well being. Linda’s passion is to be a catalyst for change and to inspire growth and healing in all her clients so they can achieve their vision.
Linda’s dream is to help change the world such that people can claim their gifts and authentically share who they are in their families, communities and at work. Ms. Newlin was awarded the Everyday Hero Award by the Up With People International Alumni Assoc. in 2012 for her lifelong work helping to change the world by alleviating human suffering.
JANE APPLEGATE (past round table presenter) – “An Insider’s Guide to Raising Money via Crowd-Funding: Expert Advice from Plum Alley”
Jane Applegate is America’s most respected small business expert. A former syndicated small business columnist for the Los Angeles Times, she is the author of four books on small business success. She has provided strategic small business marketing services to leading companies including Microsoft, Bloomberg LP, Cox Communications and American Express. She’s is a speaker for Amex’s 2014 CEO Boot Camp program for women CEOs. Jane is the director of strategic partnerships for Plum Alley, a company that brings to life women’s innovation, whether it takes the form of a product, project or service.
DEBORAH JACKSON (past round table presenter) – “An Insider’s Guide to Raising Money via Crowd-Funding: Expert Advice from Plum Alley”
Deborah Jackson is the founder and CEO of Plum Alley, an e-commerce and crowd-funding site for women’s innovation and a founder of Women Innovate Mobile Accelerator, an accelerator that invests in women-founded mobile tech companies. She was recently named a top influencer in the crowd funding industry.
Plum Alley (http://www.plumalley.co) works with women to provide an integrated platform to optimize their success by raising funds, providing access to experts and selling a curated collection of products in our online store.
After graduating from Columbia Business School and joining Goldman Sachs, Jackson started her finance career focusing on health care clients, moving into health-care focused internet and tech companies.
Over the past decade, she has invested in early stage companies in the tech and healthcare fields, many of which are founded by women. Jackson¹s initiatives and properties have a common goal: to champion women to become builders of technology, companies and their own wealth. Twitter: @dbdj1007 @plumalleyco
JANE CHOI (Honorary Chair)
Jane Choi is the Managing Partner of the Central Coast office of New York Life Insurance Company which is recognized as one of America’s Most Admired Companies. Ms. Choi has won numerous national trophies and awards for her work with New York Life which led to becoming the first female member of the Managing Partner’s Action Committee. In addition to managing the general office in Oxnard, in October 2013 she celebrated the opening of the newest office at 831 State Street in Santa Barbara. She is building a strong team and is proud to manage Financial Service Professionals in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
THYONNE GORDON, PH.D. (past presenter)
Holding a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Development from Fielding Graduate University and a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, Dr. Gordon brings an extensive experiential background in organizational structure and management to Pacifica Graduate Institute’s Board. Her work in the nonprofit world allows her to continue focusing on the creation of ‘communities of care.’ Currently, she is President of The Thyonne Group, LLC. Dr. Gordon joined the Pacifica Graduate Institute Board of Trustees in 2007.