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Professional BusinessWomen of California
  • PBWC's 32nd Annual Conference     |     3-Day Virtual Experience, May 11 - 13

         
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Speakers confirmed to date. Stay tuned for more.

Keynote Speakers

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Dr. Bernice A. King
Chief Executive Officer, The King Center
Dr. Bernice A. King is a global thought leader, orator, peace advocate, and CEO of the King Center, which was founded by her mother, Coretta Scott King. From this position, Dr. King continues to advance her parents’ legacy of Kingian Nonviolence, which she rebranded Nonviolence365™️. Through her work at the Center, she educates youth and adults around the world about the nonviolent principles modeled by her parents. Under her leadership, the Center has implemented numerous initiatives, such as the annual Camp N.O.W. Leadership Academy, Nonviolence365 Trainings, and Beloved Community Talks.

Dr. King graduated from Spelman College with a BA in Psychology and from Emory University with a Masters of Divinity and Doctorate of Law. She also received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Wesley College. She is a trained mediator, a member of the State Bar of Georgia, International Women’s Forum, National Council of Negro Women, and 2020 Class of Leadership Atlanta. Dr. King was recently honored by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation with the Co-Chair Phoenix Award. A noted author, she has to her credit Hard Questions, Heart Answers, a compelling and inspiring book.

Dr. King is an innovative leader dedicated to taking her parents’ legacy and teachings, the King Center, and the work of creating a more peaceful, just, humane world with Nonviolence365 into a new era.
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Angela Ahrendts DBE
Chair of the Board, Save the Children International and Former SVP, Apple Retail and CEO, Burberry
Angela Ahrendts DBE is Chair of the Board, Save the Children International and former Senior Vice President, Apple Retail and Chief Executive Officer, Burberry.

At Apple, Angela integrated physical and digital businesses to create a seamless customer journey for over a billion visitors a year. Under her leadership, Apple redesigned stores, reimagined the customer experience, recrafted roles for 70,000 employees, and launched Today at Apple — a transformative program that encourages connection, inspires learning, and unlocks creativity for customers and communities worldwide.

Prior to Apple, Angela served as Chief Executive Officer, Burberry for nearly nine years, leading the company through a period of phenomenal global growth and repositioning it as a global luxury brand.
Before that, Angela was Executive Vice President, Liz Claiborne Inc. and President, Donna Karan International.

Angela has a BA and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Ball State University. She was a member of the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council and named Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2014. Angela has consistently been recognized by Forbes, Fortune, and the BBC as a Top 100 Global Executive. She is a member of several boards of directors, including Ralph Lauren Corporation, Airbnb Inc., and WPP plc.
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Valerie B. Jarrett
Senior Advisor to President Obama; Chair of the White House Council for Women and Girls (2009-2017)
Valerie B. Jarrett is the President of the Barack Obama Foundation, Senior Distinguished Fellow at The University of Chicago Law School, and author of the New York Times bestselling book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward. She serves as Board Chairman of Civic Nation, Co-Chair of The United State of Women, and a senior advisor to Attn. Valerie also serves on the boards of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., Lyft, Inc., 2U, Inc., Ariel Investments, Time’sUp, The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, The Innocence Project, Sesame Street Workshop, and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Valerie was the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017, making her the longest serving senior advisor to a president in history. She oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and Chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls.

She has a background in both the public and private sectors,. having served as Chief Executive Officer of The Habitat Company in Chicago, Commissioner of Planning and Development for the city of Chicago, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Valerie also held leadership roles on numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards, including Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees, Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Chair of Chicago Transit Board. She has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s 100 Most Influential People award.
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Gloria Steinem
Lecturer, Political Activist and Feminist Organizer
Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer. In 1972, Gloria co-founded Ms. magazine, and remained one of its editors for fifteen years. In 1968, she helped to found New York Magazine, where she was a political columnist and wrote feature articles. As a freelance writer, she was published in publications including Esquire and The New York Times Magazine.

Her books include the bestsellers My Life on the Road, Revolution from Within, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Moving Beyond Words, and her most recent, The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!

Gloria helped to found the Women’s Action Alliance, a pioneering national information center that specialized in nonsexist, multiracial children’s education, and the National Women’s Political Caucus, which continues to work to advance the numbers of pro-equality women in elected and appointed offices. She also co-founded the Women’s Media Center.

She is the founding president of the Ms. Foundation for Women and a founder of its Take Our Daughters to Work Day. Gloria is currently working with the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College on documenting the grassroots origins of the U.S. women’s movement, and on a Center for Organizers in tribute to Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
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Gitanjali Rao
Scientist, Student, and TIME’s 2020 Kid of the Year
Recognized as America's Top Young Scientist, Gitanjali Rao received an Environmental Protection Agency Presidential award for inventing Tethys—an early lead detection tool in water. Gitanjali is also the inventor of Epione—a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and Kindly—an anti-cyberbullying service using Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language processing.

She was honored as one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Science in 2019 and TIME’s Top Young Innovator and first-ever Kid of the Year in 2020 for her innovations and STEM workshops, which have inspired over 38,000 students globally in the last two years.
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Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Director General, World Trade Organization
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Director General designate of the World Trade Organization and a global finance expert, economist, and international development leader. Most recently, she served as Board Chair for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. She was Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Foreign Minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015), the first woman to hold both positions. She is renowned as the first female and Black candidate to contest for the Presidency of the World Bank Group and was its Managing Director from 2007 to 2011. While at the World Bank Group, she oversaw its $81 billion operational portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia, where she spearheaded initiatives that put gender issues in the spotlight and drove advancements in women's health and education.

Up until her recent Director General designation, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was also Co-Chair of The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate and Chair of the Board of the Nelson Mandela Institution. She was also a member of numerous boards and advisory groups, including Twitter Inc., the African University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Harvard University International Advisory Board. She founded Nigeria’s first ever indigenous opinion-research organization and the Center for the Study of Economies of Africa and is the recipient of numerous distinguished awards, including Forbes African of The Year, the International Service Award of the World Affairs Councils of America, Aminu Kano Award for Leadership, TIME’s Top 100 Most Influential People in the World, and Forbes’ Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was educated at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has received honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities worldwide. She has authored several books and numerous articles, including Women and Leadership: Real Lives, Real Lessons and Reforming the UnReformable: Lessons from Nigeria. She is committed to inspiring the next generation of leaders.
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Jessica Cox
Motivational Speaker, Consultant, and Guinness World Record Holder
Born without arms, Jessica now flies airplanes, drives cars, and otherwise lives a normal life using her feet as others use their hands. She holds the title of the first person without arms to earn a black belt in ATA Martial Arts and the Guinness World Record for being the first armless person in aviation history to earn a pilot’s certificate. Convinced that the way we think has a greater impact on our lives than our physical constraints, Jessica chose to pursue a degree in psychology at the University of Arizona. Since then she has developed a Possible Thinking Process and Achievement Model, which she has shared with audiences in 26 countries on six continents. Using these tools, Jessica teaches others how to courageously conquer challenges with creativity and unrelenting drive.
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Jasmine Crowe
Chief Executive Officer, Goodr
Jasmine Crowe is an award-winning social entrepreneur, TED Speaker, and leader who is working to make the world a better place one cause at a time. Jasmine’s goal is to foster change and create awareness about the leading socioeconomic issues and challenges of today, including poverty, food waste, and hunger. In 2017, after years of feeding people experiencing homelessness from her kitchen, she launched Goodr, a sustainable waste management company that leverages technology to combat hunger and reduce food waste. She has been featured on CNBC, Oprah Magazine, Inc., Forbes, The New York Times, and named by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the top 100 influential female founders.

Under Jasmine’s direction, Goodr has redirected nearly five million pounds of surplus food from restaurants, event centers, airports, and businesses to millions of people who are food insecure. Goodr has worked with SAP, Netflix, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Georgia World Congress Center, and many more. During the pandemic, Goodr has pivoted to food distribution by organizing pop-up grocery stores for the community as well as launching a grocery delivery program that provides weekly delivery to over 2,000 seniors. Since March 2020, Goodr has provided over two million meals to people in need.
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Anat Baron
CEO, Stashwall, Global Business Innovator, and Brand Builder
Anat Baron has been at the forefront of consumer trends shaping our world throughout her career. Anat’s eclectic background has included working internationally with hotel brands including Four Seasons, Holiday Inn and Radisson. She left her hospitality roots with a move to Los Angeles and became a Hollywood executive and producer. Anat is perhaps best known as the powerhouse behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Within three years, she grew Mike’s into a $200 million juggernaut—establishing a new category in the hypercompetitive alcoholic beverage industry. After leaving Mike’s, she combined her entertainment and business know-how to create Beer Wars, an award-winning feature-length documentary that examines capitalism and free enterprise in 21st-century America. Anat is currently the CEO of StashWall, Inc., an early-stage technology startup. As a speaker and futurist, she offers fresh perspectives on the big ideas and important questions shaping our future.
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Stephanie Lampkin
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Blendoor
Stephanie Lampkin is Founder and CEO of Blendoor — diversity analytics and hiring software that helps exceptional companies attract and retain diverse talent. She has an 18-year professional career in the tech industry founding two startups and working at major tech companies including Microsoft, Deloitte, and TripAdvisor. Stephanie has a BS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
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Dr. Syra Madad
Senior Director, Systems-wide Special Pathogens Program, NYC Health + Hospitals
Syra Madad is a nationally recognized leader and epidemiologist in public health and special pathogen preparedness and response. Over her career, Syra has led multiple infectious disease responses including to Ebola, Zika, Measles, candidaauris, and COVID19. As part of the NYC Health + Hospitals Incident Management Team, she currently provides ongoing support in infection prevention and control, infectious disease emergency management, and health care and public health strategic direction, policy, and guidance.

Syra has shared her expertise in over 50 publications and 70 scientific and medical conferences around the world and frequently appears in and is quoted by major media outlets. She plays one of the lead roles in the Netflix docuseries, Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak, which follows a handful of leaders working on the frontlines to prevent the next outbreak, and appears alongside Dr. Anothy Fauci in the new documentary The Vaccine: Conquering COVID, premiering on Discovery February 21, and streaming on Discovery+. Syra has held multiple faculty appointments, serves on numerous editorial boards, advising committees, and councils, and has been recognized through many awards including the prestigious J.V. Irons Award for Scientific Excellence and Fortune’s 40 Under 40.
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Jeffrey Rosen
President and CEO, National Constitution Center
Jeffrey Rosen is President and CEO of the National Constitution Center. He is also a Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School and a Contributing Editor of The Atlantic. Jeffrey is a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Yale Law School. He is the author of seven books including biographies of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft. His most recent book is Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law. His essays and commentaries have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, on National Public Radio, in the New Republic, where he was the legal affairs editor, and in The New Yorker, where he has been a staff writer.
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Kara Goldin
Founder and CEO, Hint, Inc.
Kara Goldin is the Founder and CEO of Hint, Inc., best known for its award-winning Hint water, the leading unsweetened flavored water. She has received numerous accolades, including being named EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Northern California and one of InStyle’s 2019 Badass 50. Previously, Kara was VP of Shopping Partnerships at America Online. She hosts the podcast The Kara Goldin Show. Her first book, Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters, was released October 2020 and is now a WSJ and Amazon Best Seller. Kara lives in the Bay Area with her family.
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Jackie Speier
United States Congresswoman and PBWC Founder & Emerita Board Member
Representing the 14th District of California, Congresswoman Speier formerly served as a California State Senator, where she authored groundbreaking legislation in health care, privacy, consumer protection, child welfare, education, and prison reform; and served as Assistant Pro Tem of the State Senate, Chair of the Senate Finance, Banking and Insurance Committee, Chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, and others.
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Dominica Anderson
PBWC President and Board Chair
Managing Partner, Duane Morris - Las Vegas Office
Dominica C. Anderson, managing partner of Duane Morris’ Las Vegas office, practices in the firm’s Las Vegas and San Francisco offices. She is a member of the firm’s governing Partners Board, vice-chair of the Duane Morris Women’s Impact Network for Success Steering Committee, and Firm Lead for the Fashion Consumer Branded Goods Group. She is a litigator with over 30 years of experience in high stakes commercial litigation and also a trusted advisor to and representation for iconic and budding fashion designers and retail entities.
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Catherine Cheney
Senior Reporter and West Coast Correspondent, Devex
Catherine Cheney is the West Coast correspondent for Devex, the media platform for the global development community. She reports on the role of Silicon Valley, and technology and innovation more broadly, in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Catherine is a graduate of Yale University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in political science and graduated as a Yale Journalism Scholar. She has since worked for a range of publications including World Politics Review, POLITICO, and NationSwell, a digital media company she helped to build. Beyond her reporting for Devex, Catherine often serves as a speaker or moderator on the issues she covers, and she also works with the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonprofit that trains and connects journalists to cover responses to problems.
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Kimberly Mutcherson
Co-Dean and Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School
Kimberly Mutcherson is Co-Dean and Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School in Camden. She is an award-winning professor whose scholarship focuses on reproductive justice, bioethics, and family and health law. She has presented her scholarship nationally and internationally and publishes extensively on assisted reproduction, families, and the law. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics and the Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.

She received her B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from Columbia Law School where she was a Stone Scholar. At Columbia, she received the Samuel I. Rosenman Prize for excellence in public law courses and outstanding qualities of citizenship and leadership in the law school. She also received the Kirkland and Ellis Fellowship for post-graduate public interest work. Prior to joining the faculty at Rutgers School of Law in 2002, Professor Mutcherson was an Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at the New York University School of Law, a consulting attorney at the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (now the Center for Reproductive Rights), and a Staff Attorney at the HIV Law Project.

Seminar Speakers

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Stephanie Benedetto
CEO and Co-Founder, Queen of Raw
Corporate attorney turned fashion tech and sustainability entrepreneur, Stephanie Benedetto is the Co-Founder of Queen of Raw, a marketplace to buy and sell unused textiles, keeping them out of landfills and turning pollution into profit. Prior to starting Queen of Raw, Stephanie worked as a lawyer in the fashion, media/entertainment, start-up, and technology industries and co-founded a sustainable textile manufacturing facility. An advocate for women in business and sustainability, her companies have been featured across media outlets, including National Public Radio, Good Morning America, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue,Fortune, and Fast Company. Among other honors, Stephanie is a 2020 Inc. Female Founders 100, NASA/NIKE/IKEA/DELL LAUNCH.org Innovator, MIT - Solve Global Challenge Winner, and an LVMH Innovation Award Finalist. She is a Member of Pledge 1% and New York Circular City Initiative and Founding Member of Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network.
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Tandra Jackson
Vice Chair, KPMG Growth and Strategy
Tandra Jackson is the Vice Chair of Growth and Strategy at KPMG LLP. In this role, she is responsible for leading the firm’s growth strategy, anticipating and responding to signals of change in the marketplace, and aligning the firm’s investments in innovative new services and capabilities.

A recognized leader in the Houston market and across the region, Tandra is the recipient of many awards including the 2019 Impact Award from the National Black MBA Association, is a 2019 Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame Inductee, and was named a 2018 Women Who Mean Business by Houston Business Journal, as well as 2017 Women Worth Watching by Diversity Magazine. She has authored pieces on business, innovation, people, community, and philanthropy for various media outlets, and serves on several non-profit boards in her community.

Tandra’s 27 years of professional experience spans areas such as business process improvement, systems selection and implementation, IT and internal audit, and governance and compliance across multiple industries, including energy and chemicals, industrial manufacturing, and healthcare.

Passionate about making a difference in her community and society, Tandra is a member of Louisiana State University’s Dean’s Advisory Council and the Advisory Board of the National Association of Corporate Directors’ Houston Chapter. She also serves on several non-profit boards including WomenCorporateDirectors; CEOs against Cancer; and the Houston Zoo, where she is the Audit Committee Chair.
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Eve Rodsky
New York Times-Bestselling Author of Fair Play
Eve Rodsky is working to change society one marriage at a time by coming up with a new 21st century solution to an age-old problem: women shouldering the brunt of childrearing and domestic life responsibilities regardless of whether they work outside the home. The author of the New York Times-bestseller Fair Play, Rodsky uses her Harvard Law School training and years of organizational management experience to create a life-management system to help couples both rebalance all of the work it takes to run a home and reimagine their relationship, time and purpose.

Rodsky received her B.A. in economics and anthropology from the University of Michigan, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. After working in foundation management at J.P. Morgan, she founded the Philanthropy Advisory Group to advise high-net worth families and charitable foundations on best practices for harmonious operations, governance and disposition of funds. In her work with hundreds of families over a decade, she realized that her expertise in family mediation, strategy, and organizational management could be applied to a problem closer to home – a system for couples seeking balance, efficiency, and peace in their home. Rodsky was born and raised by a single mom in New York City and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their three children.
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Adam Smiley Poswolsky
Millennial Workplace Expert and Author, Friendship in the Age of Loneliness
Adam Smiley Poswolsky is a millennial workplace expert, keynote speaker, and author of The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, The Breakthrough Speaker, and Friendship in the Age of Loneliness. Smiley’s TED talk on “the quarter-life crisis” has been viewed over 1.5 million times, and he has spoken in front of 50,000 people in 20 countries, including at some of the world’s top companies. Smiley has spoken at the world’s top companies and advised heads of state and foreign leaders about millennial talent, multigenerational engagement, and fostering belonging in the digital age. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Fast Company, CNN, and the World Economic Forum, among many other outlets. Smiley is a proud graduate of Wesleyan University, and can usually be found dancing in San Francisco.
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Jevan Soo
Chief People & Culture Officer, Stitch Fix
Jevan Soo is the Chief People and Culture Officer at Stitch Fix and is responsible for employee-related initiatives that ensure the company finds, grows, and keeps the brightest, kindest, and most motivated talent in the world. Previously Jevan held key people operations and business leadership roles at high-growth, consumer-centric companies including Square, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Minted. Jevan began his career at McKinsey & Company where he spent nearly a decade in both consulting and recruiting leadership roles in North America and Asia-Pacific. Jevan received an A.B. in East Asian Studies from Harvard College, an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar, and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
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