Women in Leadership Forum

Power Your Purpose- Leading with Sustainability

A unique gathering that brings together students, alumni, and distinguished leaders from the Bay Area for a day of community, conversation, and connection. This year, we are exploring sustainability in all its facets to understand how to lead better for our society and environment.

Are you ready to be part of an inspiring and empowering community of leaders, innovators, and change-makers? The Women in Leadership Program is excited to invite you to our flagship event, the Women in Leadership Forum 2025!

Event Highlights:
  • Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025 (International Women's Day,) 9:15 AM- 5 PM
  • Location: CSUEB Hayward Campus, CORE Building 3rd Floor
 
Tickets:
  • General Admission: $15
  • Students: $5
Use promo code PIONEERPRIDE for $5 off your ticket.  Proceeds go towards event operating costs.
Buy Tickets

What to Expect:

  • Industry Insights: Engage with renowned Bay Area industry leaders who will share their
    experiences and perspectives on sustainability in various sectors. Discussion of global
    sustainability trends, corporate responsibility, and how women leaders are shaping the
    future.
  • Expert Workshops: Participate in interactive workshops led by academic and industry
    experts.
  • Networking: Connect with a diverse and vibrant community of women leaders,
    students, and alumni who share your passion for leadership.
  • Innovation: Gain a deeper understanding of sustainable innovations, green tech and
    how firms are leading transitions to green business models.
  • Careers: Meet the firms and learn about sustainable careers in Bay Area firms

At the Women in Leadership Forum, we believe fostering connections and knowledge-sharing is the key to unlocking your leadership potential. Join us as we explore the intersection of leadership and sustainability, and together, we'll shape the future of women in leadership.

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of something truly transformation. Mark your calendars and prepare to lead with Sustainability at the Women in Leadership Forum 2025!

*Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

Agenda

Saturday, March 8, CORE Building 3rd Floor

9:15 - 10:00 AM | Registration & Coffee

Core Lobby 301

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Leading for Sustainability

Core 301

Welcome to Women in Leadership:

Asha Rao, Professor, CSUEB | Rupal Hollenbeck, President, Check Point Software

Keynote:

Chitra Nayak, Board Director, Infosys

Panel: Fast Fashion & Circular Economy

Jana Hunt (ex-NorthFace), K. Daily, Keryn Francisco, Director, Alo

Speakers:

Anya Cheng, Co-Founder & CEO, Taelori.ai

Jessica Golden, Head of Electrolyte R&D, BlueCurrent

Shirin Hasan, Advisor, Clinical and Medical Affairs

12:30 - 1:15 PM | Lunch & Circular Economy Exchange

Core 341 - Clothing & Book Exchange

1:15 - 3:30 PM | Sustaining Your Leadership

Core 338 - WIL Data Summit Presentations

Leadership Workshops:

Resilience (Bryan Gillette), Vision Boards (Asha Rao), Confident Communication (Karen Laos)

3:30 - 4:30 PM | Career Connections Social Hour & AMA

4:30 PM | Closing Remarks

Dr. Filippo Rebessi, CSUEB

 

Our Speakers

Rupal Hollenbeck
Rupal Hollenbeck
Rupal Hollenbeck
Rupal Hollenbeck

President, Check Point Software

Flip Back
Chitra Nayak
Chitra Nayak
Chitra Nayak
Chitra Nayak

Board Director, Infosys

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Jana Hunt
Jana Hunt
Jana Hunt
Jana Hunt

BA '84, Merchandise Marketing Executive Coach and Leadership Consultant

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K. Daily
K. Daily
K. Daily
K. Daily

Senior Environmental Engineer

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Keryn Francisco
Keryn Francisco
Keryn Francisco
Keryn Francisco

Director, Alo

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Anya Cheng
Anya Cheng
Anya Cheng
Anya Cheng

Co-Founder & CEO, Taelor.ai

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Jessica Golden
Jessica Golden
Jessica Golden
Jessica Golden

Head of Electrolyte R&D, BlueCurrent

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Shirin Hasan
Shirin Hasan
Shirin Hasan
Shirin Hasan

Advisor, Clinical and Medical Affairs

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Bryan Gillette
Bryan Gillette
Bryan Gillette
Bryan Gillette

MBA '99 Executive Coach, Author, Speaker, Summiting Group

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Karen Laos
Karen Laos
Karen Laos
Karen Laos

Communication Expert, Confidence Cultivator, and TEDx Speaker Coach

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Asha Rao
Asha Rao
Asha Rao
Asha Rao

WIL Director, Professor of Management, CSUEB

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Filippo Rebessi
Filippo Rebessi
Filippo Rebessi
Filippo Rebessi

Department Chair and Professor of Economics, CSUEB

Flip Back

Rupal Hollenbeck

President, CheckPoint Software

Rupal Hollenbeck is a senior high-tech leader with over 25 years of hardware, software and services experience. She has built and led high performance and cross-functional teams across sales, marketing, business development, operations, and supply chain. She has a proven track record of exceeding growth targets for brands and businesses. Rupal has lived in the US, Japan, Singapore, and China and she has had China, Asia-Pacific and global responsibilities.

Rupal is currently President at Check Point Software Technologies, where she served on the Board of Directors for 14 months prior to joining the executive team. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Blackbaud (NASDAQ BLBK) and the Asian Pacific Fund (non-profit).
She is a Founding LP in Neythri Futures Fund and is an advisor to the WIL Program. A frequent speaker on topics ranging from cybersecurity to leadership, she will share her insights into leading in sustainability. 

Keynote: Chitra Nayak

Board Director, Infosys

Chitra Nayak is a board member at public companies Infosys, and formerly Invitae, ForwardAir, and LifeWorks, and private venture-backed companies VIMO/GetInsured and UrbanFootprint and formerly Intercom. She advises companies on Go-To-Market and is a Senior Advisor at BCG. She was COO Platform and SVP Global Sales Development at Salesforce, and led Go-To-Market as COO at SaaS startups.

Chitra is Chair of the ESG/Sustainability Committee at Infosys, a global IT services company that is a leader in sustainability. She serves on the board of UrbanFootprint, a sustainability insights company. She has spoken on the topic of sustainability at forums such as the annual summit for the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Chitra has a passion for empowering women in the workplace. She is the cofounder of Neythri.org, a community which supports the advancement of South Asian professional women. She was the cofounder of the Salesforce Women’s Network initiative. Chitra has an MBA with Honors (Harvard Business School), an MS in Environmental Engineering (Cornell University) and a BTech (IIT-Madras). She was awarded the NACD 100 Directorship award in 2024.

Jana Hunt

BA '84, Merchandise Marketing Executive Coach and Leadership Consultant

Jana Hunt’s journey in the fashion industry began with a corporate internship at a national retailer while earning her degree at CSUEB. After graduating, she built a 25-year career in outdoor and apparel design, leading creative initiatives across globally recognized brands. During her tenure at The North Face, Jana co-founded the Women’s Empowerment Network, an employee resource group dedicated to fostering the career and leadership development of female employees. In 2020, she launched Jana H Consulting, dedicated to coaching individuals and teams in their professional growth. She continues her passion for design by consulting for brands such as Salomon, Ergo Baby, and Sea to Summit. Jana has participated in the WIL program since 2020, maintaining her commitment to empowering and advancing individuals in their professional journeys.

Keryn Francisco

Director, Alo

Keryn Francisco is an apparel industry veteran with a long career in Design and Innovation. Pre-pandemic, she pivoted her career after 25 years as a creative director for global brands like Levi’s, Nike, and The North Face, to focus on technology and strategy. Since then, Keryn has become a pioneer of digital transformation in the fashion industry. She has empowered hundreds of designers to use the latest in 3D technology to prototype and develop their ideas, while enabling operational paradigm shifts in sustainability and go-to-market processes. In 2022, Keryn was awarded The Gap Inc’s Game-Changing Innovation Award for Digital Product Creation.
Keryn’s values around sustainability, female empowerment, diversity and inclusion, are deeply expressed in her work. During her time at The North Face, Keryn was a key player in the advancement of WEN (The Women’s Empowerment Network) an employee resource group dedicated to mentoring, workshops and professional development.

Keryn is a graduate of UC Berkeley and FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology).

K. Daily

Senior Environmental Engineer

K. Daily is a Senior Environmental Engineer with over 5 years of experience in driving sustainability initiatives across both public and private sectors, specializing in greenhouse gas accounting, renewable energy procurement, and circular economy frameworks. Her previous work includes addressing a variety of global environmental challenges, from land management and fire protection to water treatment and pollution research.

With a global perspective, her research experience spans multiple continents, from investigating supply chain sustainability challenges in Asia and Africa to advancing microplastics research in the U.S. She is passionate about advancing conservation strategies and fostering sustainability across industries.

Currently, she leads sustainability initiatives for a global supply chain company, driving innovative projects to achieve ambitious Net Zero goals. Passionate about data-driven solutions, she advocates for scalable sustainability in the fashion industry, focusing on circular design and extending garment lifecycles through responsible sourcing.

Anya Cheng

Founder & Ceo, Taelor

Anya Cheng is the Founder & CEO of Taelor, an AI-powered men's clothing subscription service promoting sustainable fashion. A Silicon Valley entrepreneur, she has been recognized among "Girls in Tech 40 Under 40" for her expertise in tech product management and marketing.
Anya played a pivotal role in launching Facebook and Instagram Shopping at Meta, led new business expansion at eBay, and helped grow McDonald’s global food delivery. She also shaped Target’s mobile commerce and has led teams in AI, product management, UX, and marketing across Fortune 500 companies.

Her work has earned 20+ prestigious awards, including the Webby Award for Best Shopping App, Best Mobile App Award, and The Communicator Award. A best-selling author, adjunct professor, and two-time TED speaker, she lectures at Northwestern University and 500 Global and is a sought-after keynote speaker.

Anya’s award-winning venture, Taelor, won first place at Draper University’s Startup Competition and was named a Startup to Watch by Bay Area Inno. She holds a Master’s in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Jessica Golden

Head of Electrolyte R&D, BlueCurrent

Jessica is passionate about driving innovation to accelerate clean-tech adoption and mitigate global climate change. With over a decade of experience, Jessica leverages a combination of data-driven experimental and theoretical approaches to guide rapid innovation in applied materials design. She has developed advanced materials and device architectures for next-generation batteries and transparent solar cells.

As a leader in battery innovation, Jessica builds and empowers teams of scientists and engineers to create cutting-edge ion transport materials products for emerging e-mobility battery technologies.
Jessica holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz

Shirin Hasan

Advisor, Clinical and Medical Affairs

Shirin Hasan is a seasoned executive in the healthcare industry at companies such as Applied Imaging, Medtronic, Agilent etc. Shirin has in-depth experience in bringing a concept to market to improve the quality of patient lives. Her career spanning over 25 years has included expertise in the R&D, regulatory and clinical fields. Her educational foundation in science and strong leadership drives her passion to strategize on optimal ways to conduct studies, and leverage data for regulatory approvals and market adoption by physicians and healthcare systems globally. Shirin has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals and has 2 patents. She is passionate about empowerment of women, children and family services, and diversity and inclusion.

WIL Data Summit

Sustaining Your Leadership

shirin-hassan-wil-mentors-speakers-sq-390x390.pngThis year we launched the WIL Oscars (Opportunities for Student Scholarships, Creative Activities, and Research) to further data-driven research and fact based decision making that we believe is crucial in an era of disinformation.

At the WIL Forum, you can attend a showcase of projects on sustainability by WIL Oscar student winners: Huiting Wu, Osheen Gupta, Nathan Yamamoto, Shravya Yalaka, Prabhjot Gilard, Naga Sowmya Vaddempudi, Lesley Kraemer, Prasannaw Maddipati, Sri Vidya Rani Narala, and Mayukha Vallabhanen.

Bryan Gillette, MBA '99 Executive Coach, Author, Speaker, Summiting Group

Building Grit & Resilience: Strategies for Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Bryan Gillette is a former Vice President of human resources, ultra-distance athlete, and leadership development consultant. For more than 25 years, he has held senior roles overseeing human resources, leadership development, and communications for companies of all sizes, leading teams of hundreds of people, and managing multimillion-dollar budgets. He has taught or consulted with leaders all over the world and facilitated executive strategic planning retreats for startups to Fortune 100 organizations. He holds an MBA from California State University and bachelor’s degrees in organizational Behavior and Communications from University of California, Davis.

As a lifelong endurance athlete, he has cycled across the U.S., completed a 300-mile ride in one day, and finished many 50- and 100-mile ultradistance runs. At age 47, he ran 205 miles around Lake Tahoe–8 back-to-back marathons—in 76 hours with 90 minutes of sleep. In 2024, he completed a marathon in Antarctica and climbed to the 19,341’ summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

When not traveling the world with his wife and two boys, he lives with them in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bryan will lead a workshop on building resilience for sustainable leadership.

Asha Rao Director- WIL Professor of Management- Cal State East Bay

Vision Board Workshop: Turn Your Dreams into Reality

Dr. Asha Rao is a Full Professor of Management at CBE leading the WIL Program and the 1 year Accelerated MBA Program. She conducts research and consults on leadership, negotiations, disability inclusion and cross-cultural management. Dr. Rao has developed and taught courses based on her areas of expertise at CSUEB, Rutgers, and McGill Universities. She has received multiple awards for her work including the George and Miriam Phillips Outstanding Professor Award 2024/25. She is a Senior Fulbright Fellow. She will facilitate a workshop on vision boarding.

Karen Laos- Communication Expert, Confidence Cultivator, and TEDx Speaker Coach

How to Become a Confident Communicator

Is it what you say or how you say it that matters most? In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn practical communication strategies to speak with confidence in any situation. Whether an interview, a presentation, a meeting, or simply ordering your next coffee drink, you'll elevate your leadership presence and your message so you can make an impact that builds trust and credibility quickly.

Your voice has the power to change your life. And yet, many women miss opportunities because they don’t speak up.

Karen Laos, Communication Expert, Confidence Cultivator, and TEDx speaker coach, is on a mission to eradicate self-doubt in 10 million women by giving them simple strategies to speak up and ask for what they want. She’s spoken on stages such as NASA, Google, Starbucks, and Sephora. Her signature framework, The Confidence Cocktail™, is helping women become clear and compelling communicators so they can break through glass ceilings.

Karen first recognized the power of confident communication when she successfully negotiated her first flea market purchase at six years old. She now guides women to transform self-doubt into self-confidence, resulting in more clients and negotiation wins. 

A fun fact about Karen: Following her lifelong dream to live in Manhattan, she rented an apartment there for an entire month and lived like a local.



Be the Change Clothing and Book Exchange

WIL Clothing Exchange
Book Exchange

Thank you to our sponsors:

  • Check Point Software
  • Cintas
  • Travis Credit Union
In alignment with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and certain other federal and state laws, Cal State East Bay prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation in employment, as well as in all education programs and activities operated by the university (both on and off campus), including admissions.