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Athena Speaker Directory
FIND TOP STEM SPEAKERS
Explore Athena's diverse talent roster to find the right STEM Speaker for your next event, conference, or board retreat. Securing a diverse conference speaker lineup requires lots of intentional work and this one-stop directory offers decades of experience among these female thought leaders in STEM. Directly contact any of these dynamic speakers to capture the unique perspectives from these leaders.
To become a Featured Speaker, email Staff@athenasd.org.
Lola Adeyemo
Founder & CEO
EQI Mindset
SPEAKING APPEARANCES/AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS: ATHENA, Gritty Leadership Conference (GrittyMovement), AWIS Conference Speaker (AWIS San Diego), RACE Stories (Boulder Storyslam ), Speaker (Power to Fly Network), Project Management Institute, Healthcare Business Women Association (HBA), Podcast Guest Speaker (Inclusion 1st ), Women Venture Summit Speaker (Women Ventures)
EXPERTISE: Building Winning TEAMs, Employee Resource Groups, Career Transitions, Mentoring, Working Parent
Shirin Alipanah
Principal
Avasant
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: SIM San Diego - Women in Technology Leadership, Society of Communications Technology Consultants International - Technology Trends and Cloud Migration Strategies for 2022, Avasant / HCL - Driving Business Agility Through End-to-End Digital Transformation, Avasant - Enabling Business Transformation Through Digital Customer Journeys, ISSA - Blockchain Implementation Journey
EXPERTISE: Technology Evangelist, Manufacturing, Retail, CPG, QSR
Sarah Bacerra
Founder
Trailblazing in Color
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Startup San Deigo - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Panel, The Center for Respectful Leadership - Changemaker Spotlight
EXPERTISE: People Innovator | Human Lover | Inclusion Pusher | Learning & Performance Leader | Certified High Performance Coach | Certified DISC Facilitator
Carolina Bravo-Karimi
Partner
Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP
SPEAKING APPERANCES: Athena, Association of Corporate Counsel, University of San Diego School of Law, ChIPs Orange County Chapter, SunLaw, Federal Bar Association, California State Bar, San Diego Employer Association
EXPERTISE: Employment Law, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Workplace Investigations, Workplace Culture, Trainings on Inclusive Communication, Unconscious Bias, and Microaggressions
Kimbra Brookstein
Staff Program Manager - Tech Women @ Intuit
Intuit
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Blueprint for Success - Athena Pinnacle Award Winners; Male Allyship: Supporting Women in Tech - Women of Rady; Women Tech Leaders - GA & Yelp Panel; Moderator - San Diego Tech Women's Summit - IWD Panel; Surviving COVID: How to pivot during crisis - SD Women’s Venture Summit; Moderator, SD Resources To Level up Your Career - SDTWS; Moderator, Girls In Tech - SD: The different type of dev roles you can have in tech; Women In Tech Panel - Startup San Diego Convergence/ Girls In Tech SD; Creating Tech Opportunities For Community Change - Western Regional Diversity Conference; How I Started Working In Tech - GeekGirl TechCon; Women In Tech: The Resources You Need To Level Up In SD - SDSW
EXPERTISE: Women In Tech, Diversity In Tech, Building Inclusive Environments, ERGs, Allyship, Building Communities, Brand Building, Networking, Corporate Culture
Noushin Dunkelman
Founder & CEO
MaxSynergy
SPEAKING APPEARANCE/AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS: SDEE, AWIS Conference speaker, Lunchbio, SDBSA, EvoNexus & NCHR
EXPERTISE: Organizational Development in biotech space. Communication strategy, Operation structure, Culture Development, Team and Talent Development
Neha Giri
Software Architect
Intuit
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Grace Hopper Conference 2021 & 2020 "How to Make Your First Open Source Contribution"; Intuit Panel "Diversity and Inclusion"
EXPERTISE: Software Architecture; Open Source Software & How Women Can Get Involved; Building a Career in Software Architecture; Mentoring Framework and Best Practices to Support Women in Tech
Kristin "KG" Gustafson
CEO and Founder
Skapa Bio
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Equilar Annual Conference, Women in Bio, Biocom, Radford Reward Annual Meeting, LeapHR, SHRM
EXPERTISE: CHRO Leadership in Biotech, Talent Management, HR System Optimization, Culture, Learning and Organizational Development in biotech space. Communication strategy, Team Development
Christina Hepburn
Staff Talent Acquisition Specialist
Illumina
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Athena - Negotiating Your Success
EXPERTISE: Negotiation, Talent Acquisition
Cynthia Long, LSSMBB, PMP
Senior Manager and Change Leader BPR Continuous Improvement
Intuit
SPEAKING APPEARANCES/AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS: Strategic Conversations- Mentoring and Beyond (Women in Technology Festival); Data - Driving from the Customer Seat (Intuit); Cost of Complexity (Intuit); Surviving Domestic Violence (Compass Center For Women and Families)
EXPERTISE: Revolutionary Leader for Continuous Improvement | Business Transformation Strategist | Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt | Public Speaker | Philanthropist | Mentor
Cynthia Lopez
Team Lead
San Diego Gas & Electric
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Alumni speaker, San Diego State University Electrical Engineering Panel, SDG&E City Council Meeting, D&I Speaker, SDG&E Virtual Career Fair for Women In Construction
EXPERTISE: Operations, Speaking Up, Mentoring Females In STEM, Leadership, Team Development and Independence
Molly McElwee Malloy, RN, CDCES
Senior Medical Science Liaison
Tandem Diabetes Care
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: ADCES (American Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists) past spokesperson, ADA (American Diabetes Association), and various Grand Rounds in the United States and Canada
EXPERTISE: Insulin Algorithms and Data Interpretation, Diabetes Technology, Patient Advocacy and Engagement, Medical Device Clinical Trials and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access in Healthcare
Shawnnah Monterrey
CEO
BeanStock Ventures
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Software as a Medical Device with the FDA; SLAS Women in Computer Science; MDSD The benefits and challenges with developing a software platform; SDSU Business Panel Discussion; PMWC FDA Regulation, A Peek into AI Proposed Regulatory Framework
EXPERTISE: Leadership, Product Development, Medical Device, Software, Regulatory
Susan Poser
Vice President, Customer & Employee Experience
Oracle
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Ascend Inspiring Across Generations; San Diego State University Aztec Mentor Program Talks, Oracle Women Leaders; Oracle Professional Asian Leadership; Out & Equal Summit; San Diego Women's Week
EXPERTISE: Managing Your Career as a JOB (Joy, Opportunity, Brand); Attracting & Engaging Employees for Success; Being an Ally to Drive D&I
Tiffany Rosik
Founder & CEO
TGR Management Consulting
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Financial Executives International (FEI) San Diego Chapter, American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) San Diego Chapter, Athena Women on Boards Panel Discussion, SharpHeels Conferences, PMI San Diego, BioPharma Project Management Conference, and Podcast guest speaking on Cybersecurity, Technology, and Leadership.
EXPERTISE: Technology Strategy, Strategic Planning Processes, Program Management, Operational Efficiency
Lauren Ross
Senior Associate
Fragomen
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: 2022 AILA Border Issues Virtual Conference, Tech San Diego Presents, AILA California Chapters Conference, AILA Annual Conference on Immigration Law, AILA Agora, MBL Benefits, ILW Audio Seminar, New York Law Journal
EXPERTISE: Options for Non-Citizen STEM Professionals to Work in the United States | Pathways to Permanent Residence for Non-Citizen STEM Professionals | Immigration as a Recruiting Tool for STEM Employers | Naturalization & Citizenship Law
Leslie Schulze
President & CEO (Fractional CFO)
Cornerstone Business Solutions, Inc.
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: CFO Fireside Chat, - Finance and Accounting for Bioscience Companies East Conference
EXPERTISE: Finance, Accounting, Operations & administration; Financing activities, including (venture capital (VC) financing, non-dilutive funding (including government contracts and grants), corporate collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, and asset acquisitions/sales)
Holly Smithson
CEO
Athena
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: United Nations 74th General Assembly | The Atlantic Magazine - Innovators Lab | DeviceTalks West Conference | BD’s International Women Day Conference | Illumina's Destination for Diversity - Advancing Women in a Global STEM hub
EXPERTISE: Women’s Leadership Advocate & Keynote Speaker | Diversity & Inclusion for Corporate Culture| Data-driven Strategies on DE&I & Profits | Why Male Allyship is Key to DE&I
Irina Telyukova
Senior VP of Analytics
Mulligan Funding
SPEAKING EXPERIENCE | Visiting Research Scholar/Economist - International Monetary Fund: Assistant Professor, Economics - University of California San Diego
EXPERTISE: Analytics/Data, Economics, Mindfulness, and Meditation
Dr. Alessandra Wall
Founder
Noteworthy
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Athena Leadership Academy, Opting In: Becoming a Male Ally in the Workplace, Women's Week San Diego, European Women's Network, Marine Corps, Cisco, Northrup, HP, Bank of America
EXPERTISE: Psychologist, Leadership, Women in Tech, Executive Coaching, Career Planning, Building Social Capital, Speaking Up, Finding Allies
Shirley Yager
Director, Product Management
Qualcomm
SPEAKING APPEARANCES: Athena Racing podcast, Sales & Marketing Leadership Alliance, San Diego State University Aztec Mentorship Program, various Qualcomm women's groups
EXPERTISE: Business Strategy, New Business Opportunity Analysis, Market Research, Business and Product Development, Startup Consulting, Mentorship, Career Coaching
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