Women We Admire is pleased to announce The Top 50 Women Leaders of San Jose for 2024. In San Jose, it’s all about technology and innovation. The five most prominent industries are hospitality, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services, particularly technical and scientific services.
Additionally, as the largest city in Silicon Valley, San Jose is known for its high concentration of tech companies, including Adobe, Cisco, eBay, PayPal, and more.
Starting with one of the most technologically advanced sectors on the planet, we honor Jill Bauman, the Deputy Chief Technologist for NASA. Bauman has dedicated her career to service of the agency leading the charge in science and technology related to air and space.
A renowned leader in the tech space, we also extend honors to Denisse Weil Ross, the Global Head of Premier Partner Support for Meta, one of the largest information technology companies in the world. Having served in leadership roles at several other tech companies, Weil Ross brings nearly two decades of experience to her Meta role.
Finally, we acknowledge the accomplishments of Natalie Han, the Head of Data Science and AI at Google. At the forefront of the AI revolution, Han’s expertise includes building data science teams, a deep knowledge of business analytics, and the ability to influence data-driven cultures.
Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 50 Women Leaders of San Jose for 2024.
1.) Natalie Han
Head of Data Science & AI, Google Devices & Services, Google
Bringing over a decade of expertise to the forefront, Natalie revolutionizes the fields of Data Science and AI at Google Devices & Services, showcasing an unparalleled drive for innovation and excellence.
Her leadership has propelled growth and innovation within Google Home, significantly advancing product development, user engagement, and monetization. At the core of Google Home's success is her establishment of a data-driven culture, underpinned by robust data infrastructure, rigorous experimentation, and sophisticated AI/ML statistical modeling. Natalie's leadership in the integration of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLM) into Google's products has not only showcased her innovative capabilities but also significantly influenced the adoption of GenAI across Google. She is a forward-thinking leader with demonstrated business impact and vision in steering AI-driven transformations.
Before joining Google, Natalie led groundbreaking AI initiatives at Intuit, enhancing its products and marketing strategies. Her team launched QuickBooks' first AI model for mobile, streamlining tax processes and expense management. Natalie led the development of deep learning models to offer personalized assistance and significantly enhanced user engagement with substantial cost savings. Natalie initiated Intuit's Marketing Intelligence Platform and developed advanced AI/ML models to personalize customer experiences with the Innovation Award. Natalie’s initiatives advanced Intuit’s AI to empower prosperity for small businesses.
At Linkedin, Natalie emerged as a trailblazer in AI/ML, filing over 10 patents and revolutionizing B2B sales intelligence. Her innovative AI/ML data products transformed territory planning and account prioritization, significantly enhancing LinkedIn's sales strategy. Natalie’s leadership in developing an award-winning enterprise churn mitigation product and her ability to foster strategic partnerships for LinkedIn Learning underscore her pioneering role and commitment to leveraging advanced technology for business success and customer satisfaction.
Moving from Inner Mongolia to the U.S., Natalie's journey to higher education marks a significant personal milestone, being the first in her family to attend college. Her academic journey, highlighted by a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, where she received the Magnolia Award for outstanding international student leadership, and a Postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, showcases over a decade of AI/ML research in brain MRI imaging. Her journey exemplifies remarkable personal and academic perseverance, highlighting her dedication to diversity in STEM and transformative contributions to technology.
2.) Ileana Rivera
VP, IT, Collaboration and Corporate Services, Cisco
Ileana Rivera is Cisco's Vice President of IT, Collaboration, and Corporate Services. She leads the company's hybrid work solutions and internal collaborative technologies for its 130,000 employees. Her team implements Smart Building technologies and deploys Cisco WebEx products internally (telephony, calling, Advanced Collaboration Environment, and the latest collaboration devices). Additionally, her organization develops Intranet Experiences to improve our employee productivity and efficiency through our CEC Intranet, Directory, HelpZone, Device Portal, and Apps@Cisco. She also manages Cisco IT's business operations, such as Portfolio Management, Labor Vendor Management, Talent, Financials, and Performance Metrics. She streamlines, enhances, and scales the 10,000-person IT organization. Ileana has a team of over 200 staff and an organizational budget of $80M USD.
Ileana used to be the Chief of Staff (CoS) and Operations leader for Cisco's Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Digital Officer (CDO), where she partnered with executives on strategic alignment across organizations and acted as a liaison between IT and internal/external stakeholders.
Before that, Ileana Rivera was the Digital Workplace Experience Leader for IT. She set the vision, strategy, and execution of Cisco's Cloud Office and IT Services Digitization for Cisco's global workforce. She led the strategic IT partnerships with Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Facebook, Lenovo, and other end-user service providers and vendors. She also served as the IT leader/Regional CIO for Latin America where she managed all IT-related client interactions for the Product Sales and Services Sales organizations and the user community in Latin America, which brought in over $2.4B in revenue. Before she joined Cisco, Rivera worked at TAOS Consulting as a Senior IT Management Consultant for the Office of the CIO Practice and led strategic and tactical engagements with CIOs and executive IT staff in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also has more than 13 years of experience in the life science/medical device industry. At Stryker Corporation, she held various roles in the areas of supply chain, operations, traffic, and information technology, including the role of IT Director. She was an active member of the Business and Technology Council, working to align IT goals and vision with business priorities and long-term strategy.
Rivera was a Board Member of the Hispanic IT Executive Council for more than 8 years and belongs to Conexión, Cisco’s Latino Employee Resource Group, and Connected Woman, Employee Resource Groups that aim to advance, mentor, and support Latinos and women at Cisco. Rivera has an engineering degree from the Mayaguez campus of the University of Puerto Rico, and a master’s degree in information systems from the University of San Francisco, California.
3). Lisa Schuder
Managing Director, Deloitte
Lisa Schuder is a Managing Director at Deloitte and a Deloitte Sustainability, Climate, and Equity Ecosystems and Alliances Leader. She is responsible for driving alliance relationships and solutions to deliver sustainable impact to clients and the planet.
Throughout her over 30-year career, Schuder has been a leader in the areas of alliances, sales, and growth with experience in sales and marketing, managing executive relationships, ecosystem solution development, and practice building. Schuder spent three years as the global chief growth officer for the Deloitte Microsoft Technology Services practice, helping build and expand differentiated global capability and offerings across the Microsoft technology stack. She spent six years as the Deloitte Global Alliance Leader for Workday and helped the team exceed annual growth goals and gain external recognition as a leading Workday Services firm.
During her 20-year tenure at Deloitte, she has also been responsible for initiating and building Deloitte’s relationships with some of the largest and most influential technology companies in the world, including Google, Meta, Oracle/NetSuite, and Adobe Systems. Before joining Deloitte, she held a successful career in sales, alliances, and corporate development in the enterprise software industry and started her career as a CPA.
8). Barbara Vaughan
Director, Maternal Child Health, Kaiser Permanente
Barbara Vaughan is the Director of Maternal Child Health at Kaiser Permanente. She is part of an amazing nursing and physician leadership team and staff, helping support and care for families in their pregnancy and childbirth journey.
Vaughan is a native of San Jose, and in 2024, she will celebrate 25 years of working in healthcare that began as a new graduate of the RN program at Evergreen Valley College in 1999. She spent the first 20 years of her nursing career at HCA Good Samaritan Hospital, starting as a frontline labor and delivery RN, and then moving into nursing leadership in 2001. She now specializes in healthcare administration, perinatal services, and perinatal patient safety and quality.
Vaughan was honored to be recognized as the Extraordinary Nurse Leader of the Year out of all 15 Kaiser Hospitals in Northern California in 2023. Outside of her career, she enjoys traveling, pairing food and beverages, and spending time with her family.
13). Carolyn Henry
VP, General Manager Americas Marketing, Intel Corporation
Carolyn Henry is the Vice President and GM of Americas Regional Marketing at Intel. In this role, she is responsible for Intel’s exciting marketing activations across Canada, the United States, and Latin America. She leads a diverse group of marketers across consumer, commercial, and gaming segments, as well as enterprise and data center marketing.
Henry holds a BA from Connecticut College, a Master’s in Technical Communications from Northeastern University in Boston, certificates in marketing from Northwestern University in Chicago, and a certificate in poetry from Washington University.
She is an active and passionate board member of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation focusing on STEM education for underserved young people in the Bay Area. She is an avid traveler, when the world permits, and enjoys learning new languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and French. She lives and works in the Bay Area, California with her husband and young daughter.
15). Yiwen Li
Head of Venture & Strategic Investments of Bayview Development Group
Yiwen Li is a seasoned investor and operator with a successful track record of identifying and investing in emerging technologies while developing strategic partnerships to fast-scale the business.
Ms. Li is currently the Head of Venture and Strategic Investments at Bayview Development Group, a Silicon Valley-based private investment firm with diversified exposure to real estate, private equity, and venture capital. She is responsible for the company’s venture investment strategy and started the AI for Impact initiative. Before her current role, Ms. Li was the Principal of Alumni Ventures, responsible for end-to-end multi-stage investments focused on healthcare and blockchain. She was Director for Corporate Strategy and Business Development at Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI). She built an innovation pipeline in telehealth, and data analytics and led the business development in APAC and Europe. She was Director for Corporate Development at NantHealth (Nasdaq: NH), where she established the international business presence for the company. Ms. Li started her career at Capital Group in equity research and wealth management.
Ms. Li serves on the board of Give2Asia, where she is the chairwoman of the finance committee and a member of the investment committee. She is an advisory board member for the Asia Society and an advisory board member of C-Sweet. Ms. Li is passionate about creating a diverse and multicultural business environment. As a champion for women's leadership, Ms. Li co-founded the “Asian Women Empowered” initiative with the Asia Society. She was recognized as one of the “Top 50 Women in 2019” and the “Most Inspirational Women in Web 3”. Ms. Li is also the author of one of the best sellers “Make the World Your Playground”, inspiring women to find their unique path. She is a frequent speaker on innovation and emerging technology trends.
Ms. Li holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, a second Master’s from the University of Vienna, and a venture capital certificate from UC Berkeley. She received her bachelor’s degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University. She is a recipient of the European Union’s Erasmus Mundus scholarship. Ms.Li is fluent in Mandarin and German and has worked and lived in Europe, Asia, and the US.
22). Joannie Fu
VP, Network & Edge Group (NEX) Execution Office, Intel Corporation
Joannie Fu is the Vice President of the Network & Edge Group (NEX) Execution Office for the Intel Corporation. She first joined the company in 2000 as a senior buyer and team lead. Intel is a California-based multinational company that designs and manufactures products, such as microprocessors, motherboards, and storage devices for PCs and smartphones.
Fu is a strategic, collaborative, and operational-excellence-focused executive with broad international and domestic experience in the high-tech industry and a variety of functions, ranging from product development, factory start-up, and launch to manufacturing. She excels in combining technical and business acumen to reach clarity for complex decision-making, turn vision into action, and execute with urgency. Consistently making and meeting organizational commitments via disciplined collaboration of cross-organizational strategic efforts.
Previously, Fu was an operations compliance officer at Citigroup/Citicorp. She earned an MBA in internet marketing and e-commerce strategy from the University of California, Irvine - The Paul Merage School of Business, an MBA in eCommerce strategy in Asia from HKUST Business School, and an undergraduate degree in architecture and structural engineering from California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.
View the complete list of awardees.
26). Penelope Thompson
VP, North America Solution Engineering, OneTrust
Penelope Thompson is the Vice President of North America Solution Engineering of OneTrust. She first joined the company in 2023. OneTrust is the trust intelligence cloud platform organizations use to transform trust from an abstract concept into a measurable competitive advantage. Organizations globally use OneTrust to enable the responsible use of data while protecting the privacy rights of individuals, implement and report on their cyber security program, make their social impact goals a reality, and create a speak-up culture of trust.
Thompson is a visionary and highly accomplished sales engineering executive with over 25 years of experience driving the sales of SaaS, CRM, analytics, machine learning, and business intelligence solutions. Throughout her career, she has consistently achieved business objectives while increasing customer engagement. In her most recent role as the VP of solution engineering at Salesforce, she increased the team's engagement on large deals by 100%, enabling the sales team to surpass 130% of the annual quota. She developed customized business development campaigns, drove the company's value proposition, and established and maintained productive relationships with key accounts.
Thompson earned an undergraduate degree in German from California State University, Chico. She also completed a partial master’s degree program, earning a Teaching of English as a Foreign Language Certificate.
28). Emily Van Hoorickx
Managing Director - Wealth Management, UBS
Emily Van Hoorickx is the Managing Director of Wealth Management for UBS, where she leads a team that is dedicated to helping individuals develop and maintain a comprehensive wealth management plan, as well as working with corporations wishing to enhance the delivery of employee benefit plans.
Throughout her career, Van Hoorickx has focused on equity compensation programs and financial planning for over 30 years. She is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), a Certified Equity Professional (CEP), and one of the select few advisors with the designation of Wealth Advisor. Additionally, she is a Corporate Services Financial Advisor, Corporate Stock Benefit Consultant, and a member of the Equity Plan Advisory Services (EPAS) group. Van Hoorickx maintains licenses for multiple financial instruments and securities registration in all 50 states.
In addition to her financial background, Van Hoorickx's education includes a degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She has studied in Turnhout, Belgium, and Oxford, England. She is a founding member of both the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) and The Global Equity Organization (GEO). She is a two-time past president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of NASPP and has also served as the Chair of Santa Clara University’s Certified Equity Professionals Institute (CEPI) twice.
32). Fran Dillard
VP & Chief Diversity Inclusion Officer (CDIO), Micron Technology
Fran Dillard is the Vice President and Chief Diversity Inclusion Officer (CDIO) of Micron Technology, a world leader in innovative memory solutions that transform how the world uses information.
Before joining Micron Technology, Dillard was the executive corporate director of enterprise global diversity and inclusion and the executive director of missiles and fire controls at Lockheed Martin. Before that, she was the head of diversity and inclusion at Texas Instruments. Earlier in her career, she was a senior employee relations manager for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a global HR business partner for Flowserve.
Dillard graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington’s College of Business with an MBA and from The University of Texas at Arlington with an undergraduate degree in public relations.
33). Jill Bauman
Deputy Chief Technologist, NASA
Jill Bauman is the Deputy Chief Technologist of NASA. For more than 60 years, NASA has been breaking barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible – from walking on the Moon to pushing the boundaries of human spaceflight farther than ever before. In this role, Bauman helped draft the Agency’s Technology Roadmaps. She reviews the center’s new technologies to determine mission-critical needs that may be filled by such technologies, initiates and reviews potential inter-center and external collaborations for low TRL technology investments, and assesses the center’s technology portfolio for strategic maturation planning.
Bauman served for three years as the branch chief for systems and project engineering at NASA Ames Research Center and spent three years providing technical direction to an engineering staff of nearly 40 and managing the systems engineering resources and capabilities required to formulate and implement successful space flight projects. Bauman then served for four years as the associate director of science for mission concepts, the directorate's focal point for new mission opportunities, and led the interface between the science, engineering, space projects, and new business directorates for all new mission concept planning and development. In this capacity, she was responsible for reviewing the technical, management, and cost elements of projects; analyzing project risk; determining system and subsystem technical readiness; identifying the resources required to formulate advanced mission concepts; and managing and providing technical direction to project teams.
Bauman has a Master’s degree in Physical Oceanography from the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, in the Marine Sciences Research Center. She earned a PhD in Atmospheric Physics from the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, SUNY. During this time, she conducted her dissertation research in the Atmospheric Physics Branch at NASA Ames Research Center. During her residency at Ames, she became interested in space flight mission implementation and attended the International Space University in Barcelona.
37). Nina Mushiana
Director, Vulnerability Management, Service Management, NVIDIA
With over two decades of experience in Information Security and Technology Management, Nina has established a solid reputation for driving notable advancements in security posture and operational efficiency. At Nvidia, Nina's leadership of the Service Management office underscores her commitment to operational excellence and service delivery. Furthermore, Nina is actively engaged in driving innovation in AI and cutting-edge technologies at Nvidia, contributing to the company's leadership in these areas. Since its founding in 1993, NVIDIA has been a pioneer in accelerated computing. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined computer graphics, ignited the era of modern AI, and fueled the creation of the metaverse. NVIDIA is now a full-stack computing company with data-center-scale offerings that are reshaping the industry.
Mushiana’s core competencies include vulnerability management, automation, and leadership. As the Director of Information Security at LinkedIn for the past 2 years, Nina played a pivotal role in scaling the vulnerability management program across various aspects of the infrastructure.
During her tenure, Nina spearheaded the development of LinkedIn's next-generation vulnerability management platform, introducing features such as asset inventory, security coverage, and compliance. This initiative resulted in automated workloads, proactive alerting, and an impressive 99.9% reliability rate. Additionally, she championed the development of an endpoint security management solution, significantly enhancing device security while improving user productivity.
In her prior role as Senior Manager of Information Security, Nina led a transformative journey by implementing automation and reshaping the operations team, which became the cornerstone of the information security framework.
One of Nina's significant achievements at LinkedIn was leveraging cloud computing to deploy one of the world's largest Azure Sentinel installations, resulting in a remarkable 98% reduction in detection creation time over a span of 10 months.
Prior to Information Security, Nina served as Senior Manager of Site Reliability Engineering, where she played a crucial role in enhancing LinkedIn's member experience through leadership in monitoring, next-gen Incident Management, DR, automation, and application development.
Throughout her career, Nina has demonstrated a consistent commitment to excellence, innovation, and driving positive change within organizations. Her passion for information security, coupled with her leadership skills and dedication to diversity and inclusion, make her a deserving candidate for recognition in the field.
38). Anjali Tewari
Director - Program Management & Strategic Initiatives (PLE), Workday
Anjali is a seasoned customer-focused program management and business process transformation leader. She has been recognized for expertise in customer-centric, business re-engineering and strategic program execution related to Supply Chain & IT / Business Process Transformation, New Product Introductions (NPI) & Cloud migrations while leveraging Change Management best practices at companies like Workday, HPE, Equifax, GE, Cox Communications and Genpact. At Workday, she leads a number of key long-term strategic initiatives to enable continuous improvement and cost savings in partnership with Finance, Workday, and Planning Infrastructure, Development teams, and Customer Support.
Her varied experience and learning agility have enabled her to leverage her transferable experiences across industries to drive innovation across Product, Engineering, IT Operations, IT Infrastructure Management, Sourcing, Planning, and Sales teams. Her unique approach to handling complex problems helped her win the Chairman’s (CEO) award at Equifax for driving process innovation and the HPE Global Ops Leadership Team award for leading the Q2C transformation for HPE’s first Storage and Compute SaaS offerings in 3-month concept to launch window.
Throughout her career, which prior to Workday also included leadership roles at HPE and Equifax, Anjali has been focused on using data-driven insights to design and implement new business processes to enhance customer experiences. She thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment where she can help build and support engaged teams and contribute to the success of the organization.
Outside of work, Anjali is a mother to two amazing young boys. She is passionate about empowering women and children with financial education, especially focused on women rebuilding lives after suffering from financial abuse. She holds a Master in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and a B. Tech in Computer Science from the Institute of Engineering & Technology, Lucknow in addition to Agile, Green Belt, and LEAN certifications as well as being an AWS certified Cloud Practitioner. She is also actively involved in VIBE and the weGO council supporting Women and Veterans in Technology in her current and past organizations.
39). Ravneet Kaur Sahni: Woman Leader in Product & General Management
Head of Product, Intuit Commerce Platform
Ravneet Kaur Sahni stands as a beacon of leadership and innovation in the tech industry. With a career spanning two decades, she has left an indelible mark in product management, incubating and scaling multiple products into multimillion-dollar businesses. Her professional journey traverses tech behemoths like Microsoft, Facebook, Adobe, and Intuit, where she has spearheaded product development for personalized discovery experiences in consumer digital services, content platforms, and e-commerce/subscriptions.
Renowned for her strategic product vision and exceptional design solutions, Ravneet has a unique knack for fostering and scaling high-value partnerships. She has adeptly managed complex teams, both horizontally and vertically, building inclusive and diverse local and remote teams to drive results across strategy, business, design, technology, and operational enablement.
As the Founder and Chairperson of the Women in TPM group at Facebook and Adobe, and Women Site Lead, Ravneet is a champion for diversity and inclusion. A sought-after speaker at summits, keynotes, and demos, she actively volunteers for DEI efforts in software products and hiring. Her domain expertise encompasses AI-enabled e-commerce, innovative monetization models, ML-driven personalization, Customer Data Profile (CDP), and data-driven product analysis and decision-making.
Ravneet’s illustrious career is adorned with numerous accolades, including multiple awards for PM Excellence and recognition for shipping products at Microsoft, Facebook, and Adobe. Currently, as the Head of Product at Intuit, she leads the Commerce platform Product Management Org. Her leadership and strategic vision have been pivotal in enabling commerce across Intuit’s suite of products like TurboTax, Small Business Group worldwide.
Ravneet Kaur Sahni embodies the spirit of relentless pursuit of excellence, making her a testament to the power of leadership and innovation in the Silicon Valley Tech industry. Ravneet earned a MS in Computer Science from University of Southern California in 2007, with various executive-education courses during her professional journey. She lives in sunny California along with her husband and daughter.
View the complete list of awardees.
40). Tara Green
Chief People Officer, Crusoe Energy
Tara Green is the Chief People Officer of Crusoe Energy. Crusoe exists to bring energy to ideas. They are the pioneers of clean computing infrastructure that reduces both the costs and the environmental impact of the world's expanding digital economy. By unlocking stranded sources of energy to power cloud and data center services, they are creating the climate-aligned future of compute-intensive innovation that reduces rather than adds to emissions.
Green is an authentic, inclusive people's champion, a strategic, data-driven leader, and a builder of high-performance executive teams. Before joining Crusoe Energy, Green was a vice president at Aurora. Before that, she was an adviser at Node.io. Earlier in her career, she was a senior manager at eBay and held multiple director roles at Google.
Green graduated from Ivey Business School at Western University with an MBA in general management, human resources, and international business and from Queen's University with an undergraduate degree in commerce.
41). Dr. Rebeca Burciaga
Faculty Executive Director of the Institute for Emancipatory Education, Lurie College of Education, San Jose State University
Dr. Rebeca Burciaga is the Founding Faculty Executive Director of the Institute for Emancipatory Education in the Lurie College of Education at San José State University and a Professor of Educational Leadership & Chicana and Chicano Studies. Her research is nested in the Nepantla (borderlands) of Education and Chicana/o Studies and focuses on the schooling experiences of Chicanx and Latinx students, families, communities, educators, and leaders from preschool through the profession. Her current work focuses on emancipatory and culturally sustaining approaches to school leadership. Dr. Burciaga’s areas of expertise include qualitative methodologies, critical theories (e.g. critical race theory & Chicana feminist theories), and critical pedagogies (e.g. testimonio).
Burciaga earned her B.A. from UC Santa Cruz, an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is a co-founder of the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice and her research has been supported by highly competitive funding including the Spencer Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
42). Diana Pohle
Senior Director, Strategic Market Insights, Global Product Strategy, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
Diana Pohle is the Senior Director of Strategic Market Insights and Global Product Strategy of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. She first joined the company in 2023. Founded in 1997, BioMarin is a global biotechnology company dedicated to transforming lives through genetic discovery. The company develops and commercializes targeted therapies that address the root cause of the genetic conditions that it seeks to treat, helping to better the lives of those struggling with rare genetic diseases.
Pohle has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership and innovation in her field, as well as in her local and global community. Her dedication to excellence, combined with her strategic vision, has significantly advanced industry standards and practices in the field of healthcare analytics and insights. Pohle's commitment to fostering growth and development within her teams has not only yielded impressive results but also cultivated a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration in her respective organizations through the years. Her contributions outside of the professional arena are even more significant, garnering respect and admiration from peers and experts for her passionate support of programs in support of vulnerable children and adults, education, and human rights, especially immigrants and refugees. Pohle's recognition as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of San Jose for 2024 is a well-deserved acknowledgment of her substantial impact in San Jose and the broader world community.
Previously, Pohle was a senior director of business analytics and insights at Myovant Sciences. Before that, she was a director of global competitive intelligence (neuroscience), global commercial development, and planning at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in her career, she worked with LifeScan, Inc. as a senior analyst. Pohle earned a Ph.D. in Psychology and Consumer Psychology from Capella University, an MBA in marketing from the University of Phoenix, and an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Phoenix - Northern California Campus.
43). Kristi Melani
Chief Marketing Officer & GTM Strategy, TeleSign
Kristi Melani is a technology professional with over 30 years of experience in the consumer, B2B, and B2C sectors. She currently serves as the CMO and Head of GTM Strategy at TeleSign, where she is responsible for all aspects of integrated marketing and the company’s go-to-market strategy. Melani’s extensive industry knowledge has helped TeleSign grow and thrive in a highly competitive market. Under her guidance, TeleSign benefits from innovative marketing strategies, a metrics-driven team, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
Her work has been recognized by various industry organizations, such as Ragan PR Daily, who named her one of the Top Women in Marketing in 2023, and more recently CIOLook, who named her one of the most iconic women leaders in marketing to watch in 2024. A core focus of Melani’s leadership philosophy focuses on mentorship both within and outside of TeleSign. Melani is a proud mentor to the Women Unlimited LEAD program, a 12-month leadership development program for women, which allows her to mentor mid-level managers for the shift to higher levels of leadership. She also led the launch of TeleSign’s Women @ TeleSign Employee Resource Group, a space, where people with similar identities can be together, share, and inspire, as a way to support belonging for underrepresented or historically marginalized populations.
Before joining TeleSign, Melani led global teams at Anaplan, Poly (formerly Plantronics), and Alta Vista. Melani holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from San Jose State University.
44). Katia McClain
Partner, Steinberg Hart
As Steinberg Hart’s Managing Partner in Northern California and Chief People Officer, Katia McClain fuses her expertise in leading complex, innovative, and highly sustainable projects with her passion for championing an inclusive, people-focused culture across the firm.
Over the last three decades, McClain has worked to create powerful environments that have a positive impact on the diverse communities they serve. She serves on the board of the San Jose Downtown Foundation, the board of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, and is a founding member of AIA Silicon Valley’s Women in Architecture Committee. Born in Mexico City, McClain is a proud binational and bicultural architect.
She specializes in the architecture and design of housing and educational environments, focusing on the integration of people and culture within creative spaces.
45). Nora Crivello
President & CEO, WESTPAK, Inc.
Nora Crivello is the President & CEO of WESTPAK, Inc., a leading 100% employee-owned testing laboratory in California specializing in mechanical and environmental testing. With over 20 years in the testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) industry, Nora has become a recognized thought leader, leveraging her broad experience and expertise to drive WESTPAK's strategic growth.
As the Chair of the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) Global Board of Directors, Nora plays an essential role in promoting product delivery through distribution standards worldwide. Her involvement extends to teaching, speaking engagements, and participation in key industry organizations, underlining her commitment to advancing the TIC field.
Nora's educational background includes a Bachelor's in Biological Sciences from Cal Lutheran University and an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business. She holds certificates as a Packaging Dynamics Professional and a Certified non-professional ESOP Fiduciary. In addition to her Board work for WESTPAK and ISTA, she served multiple terms on the Navigator Charter School Board, a top charter school organization in California.
Beyond her professional life, Nora is dedicated to volunteerism in the promotion of educational opportunities for women and disadvantaged communities, as well as the rewarding journey of raising guide dog puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Her greatest joy is adventuring into nature with her husband and two teenagers.
46). Maria Moreno
Director of Recruitment & Enrollment of Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School & Corporate Work Study Program
Maria Moreno was born and raised in East Side San José. She is a sibling of eight and the first in her family to graduate from a 4-year institution. She was fortunate enough to have great academic and social support from the faculty and staff at her grade schools and credits them for graduating from the University of California, Davis. After a few years in healthcare and a short stint in sales, Maria began working as a coordinator for the Admissions Department at Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School in downtown San José; a high school that provides students with a unique opportunity to become college ready and career prepared through their Corporate Work Study Program.
Maria spent 5 years learning her role as coordinator while honing her ability to connect with local families to support them through a private school application process. Now as the Director of Recruitment and Enrollment for Cristo Rey San José, she continues to be a strong advocate for bridging the gap between circumstance and opportunity for local students in the community she was raised in. By opening the doors to the academic, professional, and faith formation opportunities offered by Cristo Rey San José, she hopes to help future students from her community find their full potential.
Maria Moreno identifies herself as a member of the San Jose, CA community with a vested interest in improving access to educational opportunities for students in the K-8 academic age group by connecting with families to support them through navigating new processes and connecting with other committed members who align with this value. Outside of her professional career, Maria Moreno enjoys weight lifting, hiking, snowboarding, skateboarding, golfing, watching sports such as UFC, basketball, and football, journaling, and avidly spending time with her family and friends.
View the complete list of awardees.
47). Veena Gundavelli
Founder & CEO, Emagia
Veena Gundavelli is a Silicon Valley-based Tech Entrepreneur with a passion for AI and Finance. She is the Founder and CEO of Emagia Corporation, a leading Fintech AI software company providing Autonomous Finance Cloud Solutions for large global companies. She is on a mission to empower finance organizations with frictionless, self-driving F&A operations that can drive exponential advantage. She is an innovator constantly focused on driving new concepts of modernization of enterprise finance processes. Emagia innovations include solutions that leverage a powerful combination of modern technologies such as AI, Machine Learning, Generative AI, Robotic Process Automation, Intelligent Document Processing, BlockChain, Payments, Cloud, and others to enable autonomous finance operations.
Under her leadership, Emagia has grown from a startup to an industry-recognized global leader in the Enterprise Fintech space winning several awards including the prestigious CNBC Top Global Fintech Companies 2023. Emagia Autonomous Finance Platform for Order-to-Cash focuses on bringing frictionless credit, e-invoicing, e-payments, collections, deductions, cash applications, and customer payment portals. Emagia’s award-winning AI Co-pilot has Gia, the world’s most advanced AI assistant trained for Order-to-Cash skills to perform over 120+ job functions and drive frictionless accounts receivables operations. Emagia platforms have processed over $950B in accounts receivables transactions in over 90 countries and are used by large companies like Unilever, Staples, Shell, Cognizant, and many others.
Veenas’ Awards and Recognition include - "Top 50 CEOs in AI 2021”, and “Entrepreneur of the Year 2019" Finalist WIT Silicon Valley. Awarded "Innovator of the Year" by Women in IT Awards 2018. Awarded twice "TrailBlazer of the Year " Forum of Women Entrepreneurs (FWE). " Women of Distinction in Technology" by Silicon Valley Business Journal. Served as honorary "AP Govt Special Representative for IT, USA". She is a Forbes Technology Council Contributor and is a prolific author and speaker in several forums - Shared Services SSON, NACM, ICTF, AI, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Tech Forums.
She is also the co-founder of another Silicon Valley-based company Solix Technologies, an Enterprise Data Management Cloud software company that empowers hundreds of enterprises globally with AI-driven data archiving and data warehouse solutions. Veena is also the co-founder of Touch-A-Life Foundation, a social kindness platform company where she leads TAL Transformers Social Entrepreneurship Hub serving thousands of youth globally by nurturing the spirit of tech entrepreneurship for social good. Her philanthropic activities focus on helping the homeless and low-income family students globally. She has set up the “Center of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence” at Osmania University giving access to several thousands of low-income families and rural students for practical learning in AI. She is also passionate about promoting women and helping them advance in their careers. She has served in many women-related organizations such as WITI, TIE Women, FWE, TAL Women, and others. She serves on the non-profit board of NorthSouth Foundation, the largest spelling bee preparatory school in the US that provides thousands of scholarships to low-income family students globally. She has also served as Adjunct faculty at the University of California Davis Graduate School of Business. She is a Charter Member of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs Group. She has a Bachelor of Electronics and Communications Engineering from Osmania University and a Master in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University.
48). Almaz Negash
Founder & Executive Director, African Diaspora Network
Almaz Negash, a prominent trailblazer in Silicon Valley, has been recognized as one of the 12 inaugural members of President Biden’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States. She has also been named one of Silicon Valley's 100 outstanding Women of Influence for her significant contributions to social innovation. In 2010, she founded the African Diaspora Network (ADN) with a mission to inform, engage, and activate Africans in the diaspora, fostering direct collaboration with social entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders. This collaborative approach aims to drive investment and uplift the lives of individuals across the African continent and in local communities.
Under Negash’s visionary leadership, ADN has become a pivotal platform for various initiatives. The organization is now home to The African Diaspora Investment Symposium (ADIS), an annual event held in Silicon Valley that brings together influential minds and changemakers. ADN also spearheads programs, such as Builders of Africa's Future, Accelerating Black Leadership & Entrepreneurship (ABLE), and Impact & Innovation Forums. Negash is currently devoted to mobilizing Africans from the diaspora, encouraging them to explore innovative approaches for diaspora engagement that go beyond remittances and extend to sustainable investments on the continent.
Beyond her work with ADN, Negash serves on both private and nonprofit boards. She has also played a significant role in the UNECA High-Level Commission on Migration from 2017 to 2019. Furthermore, she served as an Executive in Residence at the Lucas School of Business, San Jose State University, in 2018 and 2019.
49). Natasha O'Keefe
COO, Bay Area Kids Dentist
Natasha O'Keefe is a seasoned professional with 19 years of expertise in Dental Service Organizations (DSO). Her impressive career includes 17 years spent at Pacific Dental Services, one of the leading DSOs in the country.
O'Keefe’s academic accomplishments are equally remarkable, as she holds an MBA cum laude. With her extensive experience and exceptional qualifications, she has consistently demonstrated her ability to successfully scale multi-site businesses, while driving growth in both the top and bottom lines.
Whether it be her proven track record in managing DSOs or her commitment to personal well-being and artistic expression, O'Keefe is an invaluable asset who continually adds value to both professional and personal spheres. Beyond her professional endeavors, O'Keefe leads an active lifestyle. Currently residing in Orange County, California, O'Keefe shares her home with her English Bulldog.
50). Dr. Pamela Contag
CEO & President of BioEclipse Therapeutics
Dr. Contag is an experienced senior executive for both public and private companies and is currently the CEO of BioEclipse Therapeutics. BioEclipse is a clinical-stage company with a combination cell therapy directed against refractory solid tumors. As CEO of BioEclipse, she was named in the top 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs of 2018 by Goldman Sachs and also ranked in the top 10 of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Women-Led Most Funded Life Science Companies of 2020. BioEclipse was also named one of the top five start-up companies in the world tackling ovarian cancer in 2021 and the top 70 startups in San Francisco in 2021.
In 2020 she joined the advisory board of the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Mn and is an Advisor to the Editorial board of Life Science Leader Magazine. While serving as CEO of Xenogen, the company twice received the R&D 100 award for achievements in Physics, and Dr. Contag was named one of the "Top 25 Women in Small Business" by Fortune magazine. In 2011, Pamela was appointed by the White House to the Founding Board of the Startup America Partnership, an organization envisioned by the Case and Kauffman Foundations and The White House to identify, encourage, and celebrate all entrepreneurs. Pamela was a National Director of Springboard Enterprises, a National Business Accelerator.
She received her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Microbiology and Immunology and completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1993 at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She has written over 60 publications and has over 40 patents issued as an inventor.
View the complete list of awardees.