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OPEN Silicon Valley is proud to introduce Women Leadership Forum 2009 - a new networking event designed exclusively for women. Our event theme is "Empowering for Success".
Workplace challenges are different and more significant for women. Through our inspiring keynote address, panel discussions and mentorship lunch we will explore how these challenges can be faced, preempted and converted into opportunities. How women can position themselves for success in the workplace, what pitfalls to avoid and how to achieve a higher level of personal and professional success through effective negotiation, time management and personal development skills. We will also discuss how to keep your skills current if you are planning to take a break from your career, start your own business, how to get back to work and how to balance the various commitments on your time. Come and be inspired and empowered by stories of women who have been where you are; and were able to convert the challenges into opportunities for personal and professional growth Join us for an inspiring afternoon which will help you to get to the next level of personal and professional effectiveness and success; whatever that may look like for YOU.
DATE: Saturday, Feb. 7th VENUE: SUN Microsystems, Bldg. 10, 14 Network Circle, Menlo Park, CA 94025
AGENDA 9:30 am Registration & Networking 10:30 am Welcome Remarks by Dilawar Syed, President OPEN SV 10:40 am Keynote by Wendy Beecham 11:30 am Panel: Navigating for Success 12:30 pm Mentorship Lunch 2:00 pm Panel: Profiles in Success 3:00 pm Conference concludes
FORUM KEYNOTE  | Wendy Beecham became the CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives in September 2007. Over the past year, she has led a transformation of the organization, clarifying the mission, upgrading the quality of the programming, and adding new member benefits including an Online Community to enable deeper collaboration among members.Wendy brings over 25 years of corporate leadership experience. She spent the majority of her career in the field of electronic publishing, holding a variety of senior leadership roles including senior vice president of a division at LexisNexis Group and managing director of London-based Sweet & Maxwell Group, a legal division of the Thomson Corporation. Most recently, she was president and founder of Flawless Leadership, a boutique consulting firm that coached C-level business leaders on executive performance. In addition, she was Chair for two CEO Peer Groups with Vistage International, the world's largest CEO membership organization. |
PANELS Navigating for Success will cover how to negotiate effectively for the next level of success. The panel will also discuss how women can most effectively position themselves in terms of getting a job, getting promoted and achieving corporate success. The panelists will also address issues related to discrimination, conflict-resolution and ethics. Profiles of Success will feature panelists who have achieved a high level of success in the areas of self-positioning, corporate leadership, balancing work and family, time management and entrepreneurial skills. In this panel we will focus on the stories of the panelists. What things worked for them and what are the pitfalls that they wish they had avoided.
MENTORING OVER LUNCH Mentorship Lunch will offer a unique opportunity for participants to identify panel members and other women leaders that they would like to chat with in a more intimate setting while enjoying a delicious lunch.
FORUM PANELISTS  | Lorraine Hariton has spent more than 25 years in the technology sector as a Senior Executive at IBM and Networking Computing Devices. Hariton was President and CEO of Apptera and Beatnik, Inc., where she remains as Chairwoman. She is also on the board of IODA. Currently she is consulting in the Clean Tech Area.Hariton is Chairman Emeritus and on the board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives, serves as Treasurer of the California Board of Accountancy, on the National Advisory Board of the Stanford Clayman Institute for Gender Research and the Executive Committee of the National Center for Women and Information Technology. She is also a Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. Lorraine played a leadership role in the 2008 Presidential Campaign, first as the Co-chair of Hillary Clinton's Finance Committee and then as a member of Obama's National Finance Committee. She was a delegate to the Democratic National Conference.Hariton has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences from Stanford University. She is a tri-athlete and enjoys travelling. She is married and has two grown children. | 
| Talat Hasan is chairman and CEO of Sensys Instruments, a company she founded in 1996 to market products for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. She holds an M.A. in physics from Oxford University and a B.Sc. in physics from Aligarh Muslim University, India.
Prior to founding Sensys, she was vice president of corporate business development at Tencor Instruments (now KLA/Tencor), and, in 1983, was cofounder of Prometrix Corporation, serving as a board member and senior vice president of strategic planning when the company merged with Tencor. Previously, she worked as a scientist, conducting research in semiconductor characterization and process control and working for almost five years at Signetics Corporation/Philips Research Labs in Sunnyvale.
She currently serves on the board of directors of Microbar and the board of trustees of Castilleja School (a private school for girls) and of IBPW (Indian Business and Professional Women), and is a charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). She is also active, with her husband, as an Angel Investor for start-up companies and a mentor to several budding entrepreneurs. Also with her husband, she is in the process of establishing the Nurul Hasan Educational Foundation. |  | Farhana Khera is the first Executive Director of Muslim Advocates and the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML). Prior to joining Muslim Advocates and NAML in 2005, Ms. Khera was counsel to the US Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution. In the US Senate she worked directly for Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) for six years. Ms. Khera focused on the USA Patriot Act, racial and religious profiling and other civil liberties issues raised by the government's anti-terrorism policies since Sept 11, 2001.Prior to her service in the US Senate, Ms. Khera was an Associate with Hogan and Hartson, specializing in commercial and administrative litigation. She also worked with Ross, Dixon and Masback, serving as the lead associate on several pro bono employment discrimination cases, which resulted in the firm being honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.Ms. Khera has been honored by the Auburn Theological Seminary with its Lives of Commitment Award, alongwith former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Barbara Friedman. The Minority Bar Coalition of San Francisco awarded Ms. Khera with its Unity Award in 2008. She has also been recognized by Islamica Magazine as one of "10 Young Muslim Visionaries," for leadership, innovative approaches, and a "level of success that bodes well for America."Ms. Khera received her B.A. with honors in political science and economics from Wellesley College and her J.D. from Cornell Law School. | 
| Mythili brings over 15 years of technology and management expertise to Koollage and is responsible for the strategic direction of the company and executing the company's vision. Prior to Koollage, Mythili was an Executive at the American Indian Foundation, a leading international development organization focused on India. During her tenure at AIF, she significantly grew AIF's programs, fundraising and philanthropic giving and corporate partnership initiatives. Prior to AIF, Mythili's background spanned a wealth of leadership experience in technology and marketing in the high tech software and telecom industries. After completing advanced degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering, she spent a few years at prestigious research institutes like IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center and the AT&T Bell Labs engaged in research on semiconductor physics. During this time she authored and published several papers in leading periodicals and journals. Subsequently Ms. Sankaran transitioned into marketing management while at AT&T. Mythili has a Masters Degrees in Electronics and Physics, completed all requirements for a Ph.D. in EE. She also completed the Executive Management Program at the Wharton School through the Global Leadership Program at AT&T |  | Since joining Sevin Rosen Funds in early 2000, Amra Tareen has focused on telecommunications and networking, with a particular interest in networking technology and researching investment opportunities in cable and broadband. Her previous experience includes management positions at leading communications companies Lucent Technologies and Ascend Communications, where she played a key role in growing Ascend's DSL business. She currently sits on the boards of Clovis, Lambda Optical Systems, and Lemur. Amra Tareen holds a BA in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. |  | Selected as one of the Best and Brightest Business Leaders of "40 under 40" by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and the recepient of the YWCA Tribute to Women & Industry Award, Julie Brush is recognized as a leading legal search and Industry expert to corporate and Law firm executives throughout the globe.Julie's practice includes the representation of corporations and law firms with an expertise in retained partner and General Counsel searches. Her corporate clients include Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Barclays Global Investors, Oracle Corporation, EMC Corporation, Intuit, Sharper Image Corp., JDSU, Equity Office Properties Trust and Salesforce.com. Her law firm retained partner search roster is equally impressive. A small sampling of her retained partner success includes Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, Latham and Watkins, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, K&L Gates, Thelen Reid & Priest, Fish and Neave (now Ropes and Gray) and Perkins Coie.Julie is recognized in the Industry for her impeccable client service, vast knowledge of the legal market and uncompromising integrity. Clients request Julie's assistance when they want the highest caliber experience and quickest results. As the co-founder of Solutus Legal Search, Julie's background incorporates an impressive mix of business and legal experience. She earned her B.A. from UCLA where she was a member of the Varsity Tennis Team and professional tennis tour. She received her JD from Golden Gate University School of Law where she served on the law review and worked full-time while attending law school in the evening. Julie practiced real estate law with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison and served in a corporate/business role at Levi Strauss & Co before founding Solutus.Julie is on the Board of Advisors for the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives and is the Co-Chair for the organization's General Counsel Network. She also frequently lectures to law students at the country's finest law schools providing insight on current legal market conditions and job strategies. | 
| As VP HR, Global Talent Management and Rewards at SUN Microsystems, Karen Rohde is responsible for the development of SUN's talent management strategy as well as the design and implementation of global integrated solutions to deliver on that strategy. In this role, Rohde has worldwide responsibilities for leadership development and succession planning, compensation and benefits, staffing, management capability, employee engagement, performance management, global inclusion and diversity, employer branding and employee value proposition. Previous roles at SUN include Executive roles at Product Development Groups and SUN's Chief Technology and R&D Office as well as other prominent groups in the organization since her career began in 1996. Before that she also worked at Mobil Oil Corp. and Ryder Systems Inc. Rohde has an MBA from UC Berkeley and a BS from UC Irvine. She is a certified Compensation Professional, member of the HR Planning and co-chairs the Talent Mgmt. Council of the Conference Board. A supporter of several Educational and Non-profit organizations, Rohde was a recepient of the Santa Clara YWCA's "Tribute to Women in Industry" award in 2005. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose and chairs the Board's Human Resources & Compensation Committee. | | |
is a seasoned sales executive with over 16 years of experience building successful sales organizations. Dixie has been involved from the in application and application infrastructure companies. Prior to Zenprise, Dixie was the VP of Sales at FineGround Networks, the market leader in enterprise application delivery, where she was instrumental in acquiring enterprise customers and growing revenue. FineGround was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2005. Prior to FineGround, Dixie established the sales organization at UpShot (acquired by Oracle) and helped to launch the first on-demand CRM service. Prior to UpShot she held both sales and sales management roles at Remedy Corporation (IPO 1995), and Network General (IPO 1990).
Dixie received a BS from Ohio State University and a MS from the University of Colorado. |  | Hildy Shandell is a venture partner at Opus Capital where she focuses on sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities. Hildy brings to the firm unique expertise in leading corporate growth, operations, finance and legal. Before joining Opus Capital, Hildy was Sr. VP of Corporate Development at Genesis Microchip. In that role, she accelerated the re-alignment of corporate strategy and was instrumental in the acquisition of the company by STMicroelectronics, the world's fifth largest semiconductor company. The transaction was achieved with the largest premium for the sale of a semiconductor company in recent years. Prior to joining Genesis, Hildy was the VP of Corporate Development at Broadcom Corporation, a $3.5 Billion global leader in wired and wireless broadband communications semiconductors, where she directed on-going corporate development activities, including strategic acquisitions, investments and alliances. Hildy also served as CFO and then COO at 3Dlabs Inc., a public company providing graphics semiconductors for computer-aided design, digital content and visual simulation. Previous roles include Counsel with the global law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, MD of the Renaissance Fund, a $150 Million private equity fund focused on high technology and infrastructure investments related to Israel, and Partner at the International Law Firm of Fulbright & Jaworski. Hildy holds a BA in Government and Sociology from Lehigh University and JD degree from the Temple University School of Law. | | | Saadia Ahmed runs her financial planning practice in affiliation with Waddell and Reed. A seasoned professional in the financial services industry with over 11 years of experience, she has an MBA in finance, is a Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor, a registered representative and an investment advisor representative. Before her current professional pursuits she also worked at Bank of America in Silicon Valley as a financial relationship manager where she was responsible for managing a portfolio of high networth clients. Saadia started her career with Citibank Pakistan where she played a critical role in setting up and managing the credit card operations for the region which included accounts initiation, customer services and operations. Saadia lives in the East Bay with her husband and two kids. |
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