Letter from the Publisher
Josh Schimmels
This year’s Women’s Leadership Symposium & Awards, which took place Thursday, June 13th at the Intercontinental Los Angeles Downtown, was a nearly full-day event of inspiration, education, and recognition.
Top Los Angeles executives shared their wisdom through a series of dynamic panels during the morning symposium covering topics such as: leading with authenticity, advice to the younger workforce, creating entrepreneurship, embracing technology and innovation, developing next-gen leaders, and much more!
The afternoon was highlighted by a spirited luncheon awards program where we honored outstanding achievements by some of the most impactful business and community leaders throughout the region.
With hundreds of incredible nominees, there is clearly no
shortage from which to draw inspiration from. This year, we named honorees in the following categories: CEO of the Year; Executive of the Year; Innovator of the Year; Emerging Woman-Owned Business Leader Award; Champion of Women Award; Mentor of the Year; Community Impact Advocate Award; Woman to Watch Award; and NextGen Woman of the Year.
A heartfelt thank you to all our sponsors for coming together to invest in this program; we can’t do it without you! Special thanks to our six Platinum Sponsors: California Society of CPAs, Enterprise Bank & Trust, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Montage Insurance Solutions,
UCLA Anderson School
CEO OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Ana Valdez – The Latino Donor Collaborative
EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Kitty Chen – East West Bank
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Shaina Denny– Dogdrop
EMERGING WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Cindy Keefer – Fashion Techworks LLC
CHAMPION OF WOMEN
Honoree
Kelli Dillon – Back to the Basic, Los Angeles
MENTOR OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Betty Liu – CBIZ, Inc.
COMMUNITY IMPACT ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Christine Devine – KTTV Fox 11 News
WOMAN TO WATCH OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Penelope Gallegos – Executive Mental Health
NEXTGEN WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Honoree
Emily Villalba – Sony Pictures Entertainment
For the list of Finalists:
click here
Inside This Supplement
Are You a Future-Ready Leader?
Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley (BGCWV) is committed to being a thought partner with you in the development of tomorrow’s next-gen leaders… Read More
Empowering the Future with Community Youth Program
Shameka Beaugard, a dynamic force in the realm of social entrepreneurship, has dedicated her life to nurturing the potential of young dividuals through her nonprofit organization, outh With a Purpose (YWAP)… Read More
A Quest to Save Human Eyesight
Saving human eyesight has been the core mission of Southern Califonia’s Doheny Eye institute for more than 75 years… Read More
Pay Equity Playbook Issues Call to Action on Closing the Wage Gap
Women Business Collaborative has issued a groundbreaking guide that calls on all companies to work towards pay equity and includes real-time, tangible action that companies, organizations, and…Read More
Black Women are Charting Their Own Paths to Wealth Creation
New data from Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women reveals the majority of Black women value entrepreneurship as… Read More
Global Perspective: New Data Reveals Dramatic Gender Gap
The global gender gap for women in the workplace is far wider than previously thought, a groundbreaking new World Bank report shows… Read More
Survey Reveals Key Opportunities and Challenges for Women Business Owners
Last year, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and ADP released the results of a survey of women business owners… Read More
SBA Announces New Women’s Business Centers
Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million… Read More
Women in Corporate Leadership Significantly Increase Profitability
What effect does having women in executive roles have on the bottom line? A survey of 21,980 publicly traded companies in 91 countries demonstrated… Read More
Growth Needed in Senior-Level B2B Sales Positions for Women
Despite making up nearly half of the global workforce, women represented only 40% of mid-level B2B sales employees, dropping to 31% at the senior level, according to Gartner, Inc.… Read More
Census Bureau Releases Nonemployer Business Data
Women owned 41.1% (11.2 million) and minorities owned 36.7% (10 million) of the nation’s nonemployer businesses (those without paid employees) and had $307.9 billion… Read More
