Upcoming Programs - FountainBlue's When She Speaks

FountainBlue LLC’s When She Speaks events have been run and produced since May 2006. Below is a list of past and upcoming When She Speaks programs with links to notes and photos of panelists and participants. Our monthly programs have shifted to an online format in response to the pandemic, and will continue to be held online for the foreseeable future, to better manage content and to provide broader access to a more distributed customer base.

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We hope to see you online at one of our upcoming When She Speaks events!

Below is a draft 2024 calendar for our When She Speaks online programs, now held on Thursdays from 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PST.

Expand Your Circle of Influence, May 9, 2024
Build Clarity and Alignment on Purpose, June 13, 2024
Collaborate to Innovate, July 11, 2024
What He Said, What He Meant, August 8, 2024
Connected in a Hybrid World, September 12, 2024, hosted by Lam Research
Staying in Front of the Change Curve, October 10, 2024, hosted by ASML
Fifth Annual Mentorship Best Practices Panel, November 14, 2024, host tbd
7th Annual Men Who Open Doors Awards Event, December 5, 2024, hosted by Pure Storage

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks Online

Thursday, April 11, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Build Customer Experience as the X Factor

You can reward, ignore, tolerate or condemn behavior to manage it, but you can’t build a culture and a loyal following by doing so.

You can innovate and collaborate and connect, but that won’t have much meaning unless you provide a Customer Experience which addresses their problems and serves their needs.

The ACTUAL X Factor is the Customer and Employee Experience. This month’s panel of experts will share how their focus on building exceptional employee and customer experiences have led to a more satisfied, more productive workforce and community as well as a thriving and growing organization.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Regina Hancher, Director, Customer Success, Gigamon
Panelist Harshita Jayakar, Senior Technical Program Manager, Lam Research
Panelist Courtney Rainville, Senior Director, Customer Success, interface.ai
Panelist Shobhana Viswanathan, VP of Marketing, Blaze.tech

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Thursday, March 14, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Manage Your Mindset

One of the greatest lessons of these tumultuous pandemic-laden years is that Life happens, and generally NOT according to plan!

But we’ve all witnessed the different responses to similar circumstances, and recognize the value of a growth-minded, positive and constructive mindset.

Our panelists this month will share their stories and best practices on how their mindset – how positive, productive, and responsive they were to their own circumstances – supported themselves and others they touched. Learn how having a more resilient and agile mindset will help us all navigate the next ‘normal’, no matter what that looks, feels, smells, tastes and sounds like.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue LLC
Panelist Sondra Bollar, Senior Director of Program Management, Oracle Application Labs (OAL), Product and Portfolio Center of Excellence (PPCOE), Oracle
Panelist Carina Fang, Director, Program Management, Data Center, AMD
Panelist Kelly Haan, Director of Change Management, Cisco

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Thursday, February 15, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Online

Lead with Passion, Agility, and Resilience

What do you count on when nothing’s normal?

If you are Passionate, Agile, and Resilient, you will shoot over par – building more momentum, creating more opportunities, pivoting more readily. Our panelists share their stories and strategies on how to go farther when nothing is predictable.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Suzanne Amidon, Director, Customer Value Management, Coupa Software
Panelist Windi Hary, Quality and Regulatory Leader, Elucid
Panelist Adriane McFetridge, Head of Platform Performance & Disaster Recovery, Stripe
Panelist Susan Norton, Senior Director, Human Resources, BOLD

Thursday, January 18, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Bring Your Full Self to Work

With our Hosts at Renesas

Link to online program will be e-mailed to registered attendees

This month’s When She Speaks panelists will share their strategies and best practices on how to stay original and creative while also following and stretching rules, protocols and requirements, minimizing risks, maximizing opportunity. Learn how they navigate the balance between being uniquely and unequivocally YOURSELF, while also conforming and flowing with expectations and requirements.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Win Chang, Solution Engineer Director, Oracle
Panelist Rosie Cofre, RACIAL EQUITY, I&D (REDI) LEADER, Valley Water
Panelist Regina Hancher, Director, Customer Success, Gigamon
Panelist Nehal Mehta, Director Global Strategic Alliances, Genesys
Panelist Archana Muralidharan, Senior Manager, Technical Risk Management, Palo Alto Networks
with executive introduction by Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Digital and Communications, Renesas

Below is a list of our 2023 When She Speaks online programs.

Bring Your Full Self to work, with our hosts at Jade Global

Find the balance between being uniquely and unequivocally YOU, while also conforming and flowing with expectations and requirements.

This month’s panelists share their strategies and best practices on how to stay original and creative while also following and stretching rules, protocols and requirements, minimizing risks, maximizing opportunity.”

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Amber Barber, Senior Director, Program Management, Jade Global
Panelist Neela Deshpande, Director Technical Program Management, Operations and Strategic Engineering Operations, Boomi
Panelist Tejal Thakkar, VP, Transformation PMO and Chief of Staff, Malwarebytes
with executive introduction by Karin Maday, SVP, Customer Success, Jade Global

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

February 17, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Online

Lead with Passion, Agility, and Resilience

What do you count on when nothing’s normal?

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Sona Mahavni, Director of Software Engineering, Aruba
Panelist Susan Norton, Senior Director, Human Resources, BOLD
Panelist Karen Sun, Senior Director, Partner Marketing, Coupa Software

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series
Friday, March 17, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Manage Your Mindset, with our online hosts at Coupa

One of the greatest lessons of these tumultuous pandemic-laden years is that Life happens, and generally NOT according to plan! But we’ve all witnessed the different responses to similar circumstances, and recognize the value of a growth-minded, positive and constructive mindset. Our panelists this month will share their stories and best practices on how their mindset – how positive, productive, and responsive they were to their own circumstances – supported themselves and others they touched. Learn how having a more resilient and agile mindset will help us all navigate the next ‘normal’, no matter what that looks, feels, smells, tastes and sounds like.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Neela Deshpande, Director Technical Program Management, Operations and Strategic Engineering Operations, Boomi
Panelist Regina Hancher, Director, Customer Success, Gigamon
Panelist Christina Lewis, Senior Director, Global Finance, Visa
Panelist Liza Rothschild, Vice President, Enterprise Sales, Coupa Software
with opening remarks by Niki Dorsey, Senior Partner, Sales Engagement Manager / Board Member, Empower (Coupa Women’s Program), Coupa Software

Friday, April 14, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Building Employee Experience as the X Factor, Online with Gigamon as host
You can reward, ignore, tolerate or condemn behavior to manage it, but you can’t build a culture and a loyal following by doing so.

The ACTUAL X Factor is the Employee Experience. This month’s panel of experts will share how their focus on building exceptional employee experiences have led to a more satisfied, more productive workforce and community.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Rijuta Bhagwat, Customer Success Manager, Gigamon
Panelist Lauren (Diehl) Larson, Vice President Global Customer Success, Reputation
Panelist Felicity Lau, Senior Employee Experience Manager, Coupa Software
Panelist Mahima Mallikarjuna, VP of Products, Suquino

Friday, May 12, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Expanding Your Circle of Influence

Online with Cisco as our host

Originally introduced by Stephen Covey’s iconic book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, our panelists this month are living examples of how to be more influential, focused, and productive by strategically expanding their circle of influence. We look forward to hearing their stories from the trenches, and their advice for how we too may expand our own circle of influence.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Rajni Dharmarajan, Product Line General Manager, Texas Instruments
Panelist Niki Hall, Chief Marketing Officer, Contentsquare
Panelist Alice Okundaye, Sales Engineering Manager Cisco Collaboration Cisco
Engagement Manager Dennise Gearty, Cisco
with introduction by host executive Brad Bonin, Global Vice President Sales Engineering, Cisco

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Online Program

Friday, June 9, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Start-Ups Changing the World

Start-ups changing the world aren’t just in it for the financial returns. They want to do well while doing good. In other words, the objectives go far beyond financial returns for key founders only.

There must also be social impact, personal impact, environment impact. This month, we will profile a panel of entrepreneurs who are making a difference that’s both financially viable and also provides sustainable, social and environmental impact.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Jill Choi, Director of Product Management – Growth, Core and Native Apps, SmugMug
Panelist Susan Crickenberger, Chief People Officer, Blue River Technology
Panelist Nivedita Ojha, Vice President of Products, FORT Robotics
Panelist Kavita Shah, Vice President, Process Technology, SunRise Memory Corp.
Panelist Tejal Thakkar, VP, Transformation PMO and Chief of Staff, Malwarebytes

Friday, July 14, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Collaborate to Innovate

Today’s tech companies are caught between the drive for revenues and the push to innovate – the need to work together across leaders and companies and the need to compete to win projects, resources, accolades and fundings. This challenge will be amplified in the next normal.

Our panelists will showcase some best practices for supporting both collaboration and innovation leveraging alliances, partnerships, and some original thinking and strategies.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Regina Hancher, Director, Customer Success, Gigamon
Panelist Stacey Moser, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Universal Robots
Panelist Priya Poolavari, Sr. Director of Engineering, Avalara

August 11, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

What He/She Said, What He/She Meant

Conducted Online with our hosts at Lam Research

What He/She Said, What He/She Meant

This month’s When She Speaks panel will feature pairs of executives, each sharing some thoughts and ideas on how men and women can work together to better understand what was said and what was meant, so that we can all better connect and collaborate on a common mission.

(We are featuring a range of male and female executives, without implying that all men or all women could or should communicate in any specific manner.)

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Danielle Levitas, VP of Marketing, North America, Contentsquare
Panelist Jami Stewart, Vice President CX Centers America, Cisco
Panelist Wendy Wright, Program/Project Manager, Lam Research
Panelist Yvonne Thomson, Vice President Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, OpenText
with introduction and panelist remarks by Jonathon Brown, Director of Pilot, Lam Research

Friday, September 8, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

One of the Onlys, with hosts at Texas Instruments

It’s not easy to be ‘one of the onlys’ – the Only (pick a gender, background, disability, special power, etc.,) on a team, in a meeting, on a board.

We are all unique, and encouraged, at least ostensibly to be ‘fully present’, bringing your ‘full self’ to work. Yet how do we fully show up confidently as one of ‘the onlys’, get engaged, and deliver results, accepting a ‘seat a the table’ – the opportunity to impact companies at the strategic and tactical level.

This panel will share their challenges and opportunities, their strategies and hurdles, as well as their recommendations on how we can all invite more diverse leaders at the top.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Shari Begun, Vice President of Sales, Consumer & IOT, Renesas
Panelist Neela Deshpande, Director, Technical Program Management and Engineering Operations, Boomi
Panelist Windi Hary, SVP Quality and Regulatory, Elucid
Panelist Padmaja Nimmagadda, Engineering Director, Texas Instruments
Panelist Ronit Polak, VP of Engineering, Exabeam

Friday, Oct 13, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by Renesas

Local Input, Global Impact

Leadership comes from the top down, with the executive vision for delivering a comprehensive and compelling product or service which meets the needs of the market. When executive leaders also have an inspiring vision to contribute to the local community, and for a far-reaching cause, it inspires all employees to give back, to make a difference, while also delivering bottom-line results for the company.

Join this month’s panel of senior executives who will share the corporate community vision, and stories of ‘bottoms-up’ leadership, showcasing how local input is leading to global impact.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Christina Lewis, Senior Director, Global Finance, Visa
Panelist Adriane McFetridge, former Director of Engineering, Board Member, Netflix
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Marketing Communications, Renesas
Panelist Andrea Uribe, Deal Desk Specialist, Coupa Software

Sixth Annual Mentorship Best Practices Panel, November 17, 2023, hosted by ASML

If you have a dedicated, hard-working, and intelligent staff at any level, Mentorship becomes THE difference-maker. Sure, education and experience matter, but Mentorship can frame that education and experience and make them into learning opportunities.

Sponsorship is important, but without Mentorship, it’s hard for the sponsor to make a business case.

Culture is important, but mentorship helps mentees (and mentors) succeed and even thrive in existing culture. Indeed, mentees and mentors can together even shape the culture so that more people benefit.

This year’s mentors and mentees will share their strategies, advice and best practices.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Mentors:
Gil Cruz, Senior Director, Business Development, Customer Experience Americas Service Provider, Cisco
Kristi Gay, Engineering Training & Education Sr. Manager, Coupa Software
Dana Gharda, Head of University Talent Engagement, US, ASML
Vicky Watson, Senior Manager Production Control, Lam Research
Mentees:
- Harshita Jayakar, Senior Technical Program Manager, Lam Research
- Tiffany Pham, Senior Business Architect, Cisco
with opening remarks and panel participation by Robert Socha, ASML Fellow, ASML

Sixth Annual: Men Who Open Doors Panel

Friday, December 8, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online with link sent to registered attendees

The *MeToo and other women’s movements before it have broken new ground for women at all levels of the workplace. Much progress will continue to be made with the groundswell of enthusiastic, passionate and powerful women now fully outraged and engaged.

But it’s the MEN-who-open-doors who will help accelerate the pace of change for the women’s movement. This month, we celebrate these types of men, and applaud their efforts to open doors to more women, and a merit-based workplace in general. This month’s discussion will feature a light roasting of the panelist by a nominating representative.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Men Who Open Doors:

Marc Farber, Senior Director, Cisco Managed Services, Cisco
Zachary Logan, Head of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Coupa
Colm Lysaght, Vice President Corporate Strategy, Hitachi Vantara
Ravi Ravichandran, Senior Director, ISV Technology Adviser, Salesforce

This program also features a light roasting and introduction by our nominating executives:

Heather Felts, Director, Cisco Managed Services, Cisco
Kristi Gay, Engineering Training & Education Sr. Manager, Coupa Software
Shveta Miglani, Head of People Strategy and Experience, Micron

This annual event inducts sponsoring male executives into FountainBlue’s Men Who Open Doors hall of fame. For more information and to see past honorees, visit https://whenshespeaks.com/men/

Thank you to our panelists and hosts for FountainBlue’s 2022 When She Speaks online programs

2022 Men Open Doors Nominees and Awardees

Fifth Annual Men Who Open Doors Program

Fifth Annual: Men Who Open Doors Panel

Friday, December 9, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by Reputation

The link to the Online program will be sent to registered attendees.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Introductory remarks by Lauren Larson Diehl, Vice President Global Customer Success, Reputation

Men Who Open Doors:

Michael Erisman, Chief People Officer, Reputation
Michael Gialis, Managing Director, KPMG
Gerald Miaille, Vice President Of Engineering, Renesas
Stefano Zanella, VP of Product Marketing, TDK

This program also features a light roasting and introduction by our nominating executives:

Pooja Agrawal, Director Firmware & Software, Wireless Charging, Renesas
Courtney Rainville, Director of Customer Success, Reputation
Sabitha Krishnamurthy, Senior Director, Cisco
Debbie Shotwell, Chief People and Culture Officer, Stack Overflow

General tickets are available for $52 a program. A free ticket is available if you sign up for monthly subscription by visiting linda.holroyd.square.site – pause or stop any time.

Thursday, November 10, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Fourth Annual Mentorship Best Practices Panel Online Program, Hosted by Coupa

Sponsorship is important, but without Mentorship, it’s hard for the sponsor to make a business case.

For our fourth annual mentorship best practices program, we will feature both mentors and mentees.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Mentors:

Regina Hancher, Director, Customer Success, Gigamon
Gina Tesla, Vice President, ESG, Sustainability, Social Impact and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Coupa Software

Mentees:

Elle Glinn, San Diego State student
Tabitha Kenney, Customer Success Apprentice, Gigamon
Milissa Kubal-White, Senior Manager, Global Sales Enablement, Coupa Software
with opening remarks and panel participation by Gina Tesla, Vice President, ESG, Sustainability, Social Impact and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Coupa Software

with opening remarks and panel participation by Gina Tesla, Vice President, ESG, Sustainability, Social Impact and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Coupa Software

Friday, Oct 14, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by ASML, link to be sent to confirmed guests

Local Input, Global Impact

To register for this and other programs, visit https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/programs

Join this month’s panel of senior executives who will share the corporate community vision, and stories of ‘bottoms-up’ leadership, showcasing how local input is leading to global impact.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Priscilla Knoble, Senior Director, International Strategy & Product Management, Digital Media BU (Creative Cloud, Document Cloud), Adobe
Panelist Suchitra Narayen, GVP & Deputy General Counsel, North America Commercial Legal, Informatica
Panelist Preethy Padmanabhan, Senior Director, Platform Product Marketing, Freshworks
Panelist Gina Tesla, Vice President, ESG, Sustainability, Social Impact and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Coupa Software
with introductory remarks by ASML Executive and Panelist Chris Spence, VP Advanced Technology Development, Brion Technologies

Friday, September 9, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

One of the Onlys

It’s not easy to be ‘one of the onlys’ – the Only woman on a team, in a meeting, on a board. Yet many women did just that, which forged new ground for the rest of us. Hear stories from this month’s panel of heroes and learn what we can do together so that ‘the onlys’ continue to succeed, and so that ‘the onlys’ will be joined by others.

Literally and figuratively, qualified corporate women are earning ‘a seat a the table’ – the opportunity to impact companies at the strategic and tactical level.

This month’s When She Speaks event will feature executives who have earned their seat at the table. Find out how they made this happen, what challenges they face, and how we can all support having more women leaders at the top.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Adriane McFetridge, Director of Engineering, Netflix
Panelist Lucia Milica, JD, Global Resident CISO and Advisory Board Chair, ProofPoint
Panelist Kristin Robinson, Head of Legal Compliance, Asana
Panelist Jami Stewart, Vice President CX Centers America, Cisco
Panelist Yvonne Thomson, Vice President, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, OpenText

'One of the Onlys' Panel, September 9, 2022

September 9 When She Speaks Panel: One of the Onlys

August 12, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

What He/She Said, What She/He Meant

Conducted Online with our hosts at Renesas

What He/She Said, What He/She Meant

(We are featuring a range of male and female executives, without implying that all men or all women could or should communicate in any specific manner.)

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Larissa Crandall, VP, Channels and Alliances, Gigamon
Panelist Michael Dickman, Chief Product Officer, Gigamon
Panelist Ronald Goossens, Senior Director of Marketing, ASML
Panelist Lee Wills, US and Global Chief Diversity Officer, ASML

and representing our host company is:

Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Marketing Communications, Renesas

Friday, July 8, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Collaborate to Innovate

Online, with hosts @ Samsung

Our panelists will showcase some best practices for supporting both collaboration and innovation leveraging alliances, partnerships, and some original thinking and strategies.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Chinmoyee Deshpande, Sr. Supply Chain Transformation Leader – Cognitive Supply Chain Transformation, IBM
Panelist Sanchita Gupta, Senior Director Human Resources Business Partner, Samsung Research America
Panelist Kate Mulligan, Communications & Innovation Programs, Strategy & Innovation for the Office of the CTO, Lam Research
Panelist Stacey Moser, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), GE Digital Grid Solutions
with introductory remarks by Roxanne Dos Santos, Director, Workforce Communications and Engagement, Samsung Research America

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Online Program

Friday, June 10, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Start-Ups Changing the World

Hosted by Intel, with link sent to confirmed attendees

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Shaya Fathali, Senior Director, Broadcast, Test, Emulation, Medical and Consumer Business Unit, Intel
Panelist Gayathri Radhakrishnan, Director Venture Capital, Micron
Panelist Mythili Sankaran, Founding Managing Partner, Neythri Futures Fund
Panelist Morgan Steacy, VP, Utility Business Development, Utilidata
Panelist Tina Tosukhowong, Investment Director, TDK Ventures

Friday, May 13, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Expanding Your Circle of Influence

Online with Texas Instruments as our host – link will be sent to registered attendees

Originally introduced by Stephen Covey’s iconic book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’., our panelists this month are living examples of how to be more influential, focused, and productive by strategically expanding their circle of influence. We look forward to hearing their stories from the trenches, and their advice for how we too may expand our own circle of influence.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Lauren Larson Diehl, Vice President Global Customer Success, Reputation
Panelist Laura Patton, VP, Business Development, Mechanical Systems Division, Sanmina
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Marketing Communications, Renesas
Panelist Catherine Zinn, Chief Client Officer, Baker Botts
with opening remarks and panelist participation by Rajni Dharmarajan, Product Line General Manager, Texas Instruments

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Friday, April 15, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Building Employee Experience as the EX Factor

Online with Gigamon as host – link will be sent to registered attendees

You can reward, ignore, tolerate or condemn behavior to manage it, but you can’t build a culture and a loyal following by doing so.

The ACTUAL Ex Factor is the Employee Experience. This month’s panel of experts will share how their focus on building exceptional employee experiences have led to a more satisfied, more productive workforce and community.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Karthi Gopalan, GM, ISO Industrial Automation BU, Analog Devices
Panelist Regina Hancher, Director, Customer Success, Gigamon
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Marketing Communications, Renesas
Panelist Diana Pohle, Senior Director, Commercial Analytics & Insights, Myovant
Panelist Nathan Sheranian, Senior Director Human Resources, Freshworks
with opening remarks by Paul Hooper, CEO, Gigamon

April 15 Employee Experience as the X Factor Panel

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series
Friday, March 18, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Manage Your Mindset, with our online hosts at Cisco

One of the greatest lessons of these tumultuous pandemic-laden years is that Life happens, and generally NOT according to plan!

But we’ve all witnessed the different responses to similar circumstances, and recognize the value of a growth-minded, positive and constructive mindset.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Lavanya Gopalakrishnan, VP of CX Global Operations, Cisco
Panelist Margaret Jones, Head of Content & Women’s ERG Lead, Airtable
Panelist Louise Lamb, Senior Director, Real Estate & Workplace Operations, Coupa Software
Panelist Christina Lewis, Senior Director, Global Finance, Visa
with opening remarks by Lavanya Gopalakrishnan, VP of CX Global Operations, Cisco

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

February 18, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Online

Leading with Passion, Agility, and Resilience, with our hosts at Micron

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Anna Jackson, Vice President, Human Resources, Gigamon
Panelist Lora Muller, Director of Supply Chain, Tektronix CSO
Panelist Gayathri Radhakrishnan, Director Venture Capital – AI Fund, Micron
Panelist Nithya Ruff, Chair, Linux Foundation Board of Directors and Comcast Fellow/Vice President – Open Source Program Office
with introductory remarks by Shveta Miglani, Head of People Strategy & Experience, Micron

Building Employee Experience as the XFactor, April 15, 2022, hosted by Gigamon

Bring Your Full Self to Work, January 21, 2022, hosted by Lam Research

Friday, January 21, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

With our Hosts at Lam Research

Bring Your Full Self to Work

Find the balance between being uniquely and unequivocally YOU, while also conforming and flowing with expectations and requirements.

Fourth Annual: Men Who Open Doors Panel

Friday, December 10, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by Nova Measuring Instruments

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue

Men Who Open Doors:

Jun (Alex) Gao, Head of Digital Health Lab, Samsung Research America
Michael van Keulen, Chief Procurement Officer, Coupa Software
Adrian Wilson, President and General Manager, Nova Measuring Instruments
Jonathan Wormwood, Product Manager, Lam Research

This program also features a light roasting and introduction by our nominating executives:

Keren Keisari Hayun, U.S. HR Director, Nova Measuring Instruments
Louise Lamb, Senior Director, Real Estate & Workplace Operations, Coupa Software
Kerry Perryman, HRBP, Samsung Research America
Shazia Tarannum, Pilot Program Manager, Lam Research

Friday, November 12, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Third Annual Mentorship Best Practices Panel

Online Program, Hosted by Pure Storage

Sponsorship is important, but without Mentorship, it’s hard for the sponsor to make a business case.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
with opening remarks by Niki Armstrong, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer, Pure Storage

Mentors:

Peter Holland, VP of Supply Chain, Lam Research
Milissa Kubal-White, Manager, Global Sales Enablement, Coupa Software, Empower Board Member, Coupa Software
Ellen Lail, Regional Sales Director, Pure Storage, co-chair Women @ Pure
Umesh Lakshman, Head of Solutions Architecture, West, Lumen Technologies

Mentees:

Misa Crocker, Education and Training Program Manager, Pure Storage
Lilian Hall, Program/Product Manager – Logistics & TMS, Lam Research
Andrea Rein, Lead Talent Management Consultant, Lumen Technologies
Aimee Stevens, Operations Coordinator, Coupa Software

with closing remarks by Dena Sikes, Director, National Partners, Pure Storage, co-chair, Women @ Pure

Friday, Oct 8, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by Cisco

Local Input, Global Impact

Join this month’s panel of senior executives who will share the corporate community vision, and stories of ‘bottoms-up’ leadership, showcasing how local input is leading to global impact.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Senior Director Global Alliances, Board Chair of Empower, Coupa Software; Chair, Hult Prize Council, Hult Prize Foundation
Panelist Sharawn Connors, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Micron
Panelist Julie Cullivan, Serial People and Operations Leader, Cybersecurity Adviser, and Member, Board of Directors, Heartflow
Panelist Maulie Dass, Senior Director, Cisco Innovation Labs, Cisco
Panelist Diana Pohle, Senior Director, Commercial Analytics & Insights, Myovant

Friday, September 10, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

One of the Onlys

Online, hosted by ASML

Literally and figuratively, qualified corporate women are earning ‘a seat a the table’ – the opportunity to impact companies at the strategic and tactical level.

August 13, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

What He Said, What He Meant

Conducted Online with our hosts at Samsung

As a woman in a technology company, we are at times perplexed and confused by the communication of our male colleagues. We know that not all males (or females) communicate in a specific way, and not all females (or males) respond in a specific way.

But this month’s panel will share some thoughts and ideas on how men and women can work together to better understand what was said and what was meant, so that we can better connect and collaborate on a common mission.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Shari Begun, Senior Director of North America Sales, Dialog Semiconductor
Panelist Cynthia Dote, Senior Director of R&D, Pure Storage
Panelist Tamara Rivera, Global Customer Service Director, Viavi

and representing our host company are:

Panelist Roxanne Dos Santos, Senior Manager, HR Operations, Samsung Research America
with introductory remarks and panel participation by Michael Polley, Senior VP and Head of Mobile Processor Innovation Lab, Samsung Research America

Friday, July 9, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Next Generation Collaborations

Online, with hosts @ Intel

Our panelists will showcase some best practices for supporting both collaboration and innovation leveraging alliances, partnerships, and some original thinking and strategies.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Cara Bilinski, Executive Director, IT PMO, Maxim Integrated
Panelist Shaya Fathali, Director of Test, Measurement, Asic Prototyping and Emulation Business Group, Intel
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Senior Director, Marketing Communications & Demand Creation, Renesas
Panelist Kavita Shah, Senior Director, Global Strategic Marketing, Nova Measuring Instruments

Friday, June 11, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Start-Ups Changing the World

Hosted by Coupa Software

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Priya Poolavari, Sr. Director of Engineering, Avalara
Panelist Gayathri Radhakrishnan, Director Venture Capital, Micron
Panelist Priya Ramachandran, Vice President – Engineering & Operations, BetterCloud
with introductory remarks and panel participation by Sheryl Chamberlain, Global and Regional System Integrator Alliances, Coupa Software

Friday, May 14, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Expanding Your Circle of Influence

Online with Oracle as host

This month’s panelists are experts at creating and expanding their ‘Circle of influence’ – the areas of their life where they can actually change and impact, as described originally by Stephen Covey’s ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’. They will share their best practices on the importance of self-awareness and proactively and strategically focus on understanding yourself and expanding your circle of influence.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Amber Barber, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Global chairperson, Women in Global Operations ERG, Lam Research
Panelist Roxanne dos Santos, Senior Manager, HR Operations Samsung Research America
Panelist Claudia Galvan, Principal Technical Program Manager, Oracle
Panelist Carina Fang, Director Program Management, AMD
with introductory remarks by David Ortiz, Senior Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, Oracle

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Friday, April 9, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Building a Culture of Trust

Online with Renesas as host

Building a Culture of Trust means that there’s a ‘People-First’ mindset in thinking, words and actions, while also running a company that’s doing well – financially, technologically – while doing right by it’s people, by its industry, for the good of the earth.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Senior Director, Marketing Communications & Demand Creation, Renesas
Panelist Sanchita Gupta, Director, Human Resources Business Partner, Samsung Research America
Panelist Shikha Mittal, Senior Director of Product Management, VMWare
Panelist Sandy Yu, Global Lead, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Advisory Boards (CAB/PAB/ISV), Oracle

Be the Brand You Seek to Be

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Friday, March 12, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Be the Brand You Seek to Be, with our online hosts at Maxim Integrated

Your brand distinguishes you from others, it speaks for you when you are not there, it represents what you’ve done in the past, and helps others decide what you can do in the future. This month’s panel will specifically speak about how to build an Authentic brand, how to be Differentiated with your brand, and how to build Credibility through your brand.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Marie Le, Chief Marketing Officer, Good Deeds
Panelist Laura Owen, Chief Human Resource Officer, Maxim Integrated
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Senior Director, Marketing Communications & Demand Creation, Renesas Electronics
Panelist Monika Thakur, Vice President, SaaS Engineering, Oracle
with opening remarks by Karthi Gopalan, Product Line Director, Mobile Power BU, Maxim Integrated and
closing remarks by Cara Bilinski, Executive Director, IT PMO, Maxim Integrated

Be the Brand You Seek to Be

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

February 12, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Online

Career Agility in the Age of Digital

Link will be sent to registered attendees

What happens when your career plan doesn’t go as planned? Whether it’s a choice that you’re making, changing market dynamics or larger macro trends, our careers are now more an obstacle course than a hopscotch game. This month, our panelists will share their career journey to date and how circumstances within and outside themselves have taught them to be more agile and more proactive in managing their careers.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Alyson Crafton, Managing Director, Global Information Systems, Lam Research
Panelist Stacey Moser, VP Global Sales Operations, Tektronix
Panelist Suchitra Narayen, VP Commercial Legal, Informatica
Panelist Vidya Venkatesh, Director, Global Product Strategy (Urologic Cancers Portfolio), Exact Sciences
Panelist Roma Wadhi Ghai, HR Director – Office of CTO & Sales & Marketing, Maxim
with an introduction by Kimberly Harr, Sr Director Pilot Operations, Lam Research

Order your tickets online: $50 each for general admission

Friday, January 15, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

With our Online Hosts at Micron
The recent changes and stresses through the pandemic can either make us more UNITED, or more DIVISIVE.

This month, we feature a panel of experts sharing best practices on how to build collaboration and unity, and how doing so is generating exceptional business results.

Every senior leader has had their share of obstacles and challenges – whether it’s in completing a project, managing an employee, establishing a partnership, and, of course, leveling up within an organization. This month’s panel will feature advice and insights for leveling up in roles and titles and impact, as well as leveling up your skill set and experience.

We Are All One Panelists

2020 When She Speaks Programs

Friday, January 15, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online with hosts at Western Digital

We Are All ONE

The recent changes and stresses through the pandemic can either make us more UNITED, or more DIVISIVE.

This month, we feature a panel of experts sharing best practices on how to build collaboration and unity, and how doing so is generating exceptional business results.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Amber Barber, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Global chairperson, Women in Global Operations ERG, Lam Research
Panelist Louise Lamb, Director, Real Estate & Workplace Operations / Board Member, Empower (Coupa Women’s Program), Coupa Software
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Senior Director, Marketing Communications & Demand Creation, Renesas
Panelist Suchitra Narayen, VP Commercial Legal, Informatica

Order your tickets online: $50 general admission

E-mail us at info@whenshespeaks.com if you’re interested in becoming a corporate partner for this year, for a fee of $2500, plus processing fee.

Friday, January 17, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Samsung Research America, 665 Clyde Ave., Mountain View, CA

A Seat At the Table

Literally and figuratively, qualified corporate women are earning ‘a seat a the table’ – the opportunity to impact companies at the strategic and tactical level.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Coco Brown, Founder and CEO, The Athena Alliance
Panelist Barbara Massa, Executive Vice President, People & Places, FireEye
Panelist Nivedita Ojha, Senior Director – Product Management, Edge Devices & Cloud, Mobile, SaaS, Citrix
Panelist Sonya Pelia, CMO, Cira Apps Ltd; Board Member, How Women Lead
Panelist Ronit Polak, VP Quality Assurance, Palo Alto Networks

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Thursday, February 13, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

One Plus One Makes Eleven

CITRIX, 4980 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara

To see bios and to register, https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/eleven

The best solutions are not always the most logical ones. Including and empowering a diverse workforce increases a team’s ability to solve a wider range of problems, and innovate in many more wide-ranging ways.

This month, we will cover best practices for team development and its impact on creativity and innovation.

When you have the right new person, it adds many-X value to the team, product and company.
When you think in a different way, it adds a new dimension to the team, product and company.

This month’s panel will share their best practices on how to recruit, retain and develop a divergent workforce, while empowering them to think both inside and outside the box to deliver results.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Indira Joshi, Director of Technical Marketing, Emerging Memory Solutions, Micron Technology
Panelist Shikha Mittal, Director, Product Management & Strategy, VMware
Panelist Marissa Schmidt, Senior Director of Product Management, CITRIX

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Friday, March 13, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Overcoming Imposter’s Syndrome

Online access details are available to confirmed attendees. E-mail us at info@whenshespeaks.com if you have registered but have not received the call details.

Many powerful and accomplished women have an internalized fear of being exposed as an imposter, a fraud. This ‘Imposter Syndrome’ makes even competent, successful women less confident about their outcomes, more likely to belittle their accomplishments.

This month, our panelists will talk about how imposter syndrome has affected their own development, and that of those around them. We will strategize on how to best support each other in overcoming imposter syndrome.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Jane Divinski, serial entrepreneur and engineering leader
Panelist Joyce Eng, Senior Director, Strategy, Program Management, User Experience, Roche
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Senior Director, Marketing Communications & Demand Creation, Renesas Electronics
Panelist Lori Kate Smith, former Director, Marketing Programs, Machine Learning (ML), ARM

FountainBlue’s When She Speaks, Women in Leadership Series

Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

A People-First Mindset

Maxim Integrated as host, with event taking place online. A calendar invitation with link details will be sent when registration has been confirmed.

To see bios for more information, visit https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/people

Companies with a ‘People-First’ mindset focus not just on the engineers who are key to innovation, not just on the sales and marketing staff who bring in the money, not just the executives who set the direction, but on ALL key players from all departments. Growing a company and a culture takes focusing on growing the full ecosystem of people within and outside the organization.

Successful companies strategically and consistently put people first, and provide them with the support and resources to execute for the short term, and in the long run.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Sharawn Connors, VP, Diversity, Equality & Inclusion, Micron
Panelist Rita DeStaso, Services Account Executive, Strategic Enterprise, Microsoft
Panelist Monica Kaldani-Nasif, Chief People Officer, Kateeva
Panelist Tracy Laboy, Executive Director of Human Resources, Maxim

Friday, May 8, noon – 1:00 p.m.
What He Said, What He Meant

Online with Oracle as host – link will be sent to registered attendees

For bios, visit https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/hesaid

The breakthrough book ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ describes how men and women communicate differently. For this month’s interactive panel discussion, our panelists will provide insights about how corporate men communicate, and translate for us what men say into what men mean.

Topics for discussion include different communication styles, different modes of behavior, different emotional needs, and even different conflict management styles.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Marilyn Becker, Senior Director, People Analytics, Western Digital
Panelist Carina Fang, Director, Program Management IoT Division, Synaptics
Panelist Regina Lawless, Global Director, Diversity, Equality & Inclusion, Micron Technology
Panelist David Ortiz, Senior Diversity and Inclusion Consultant, Oracle
Panelist Stacey Porter, VP of People Operations and Strategy, Outset Medical Inc.

Friday, June 12, noon – 1:00 p.m.

Start-Ups Changing the World

Hosted by Cisco Online, Webex link will be sent to confirmed attendees

Invitation details at https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/startups

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Heather Callender-Potters, Co-Founder, Vice-Chairman and Chief Business Officer, PharmaJet
Panelist Karthi Gopalan, Product Line Director, Mobile Power BU, Maxim
Panelist Lata Hariharan, President and Founder, SVAST
Panelist Gayathri Radhakrishnan, Director of Venture Capital, Micron
Panelist Julia Zhu, Senior Manager, Cisco

Friday, July 10, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say

Online, with hosts @ Samsung

Invitation details at https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/saywhatyoumean and notes are available at http://fountainblue.blog/2020/07/10/saywhatyoumean

This month, our panel of expert communicators will share their secrets on how to directly and authentically ‘say what you mean’, even when it’s awkward to do so, while also ‘mean what you say’ – being clear about intentions and reasons and following through with words and actions.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Cara Bilinski, Executive Director, IT PMO, Maxim
Panelist Tracy Meersman, Director Sales Enablement, Skybox Security
Panelist Suchitra Narayen, VP Commercial Legal, Informatica
Panelist Priya Poolavari, Director of Engineering, Core Data Platform / Data Intelligence, Samsung

August 14, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

One of the Onlys

Conducted Online with our hosts at Lam Research

Invitation details including bios are available at https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/theonlys

Meeting Notes are Available at http://fountainblue.blog/2020/08/14/onlys

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Antoinette Hamilton, Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity, Lam Research
Panelist Indira Joshi, Head of Technical Marketing, Emerging Memory Solutions, Micron
Panelist Monika Thakur, Vice President, Product Management, Oracle
Panelist Lisa Violet, Chief Auditor, Varo Money

Embracing Creativity in a Techphilic World

Friday, September 11, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Embracing the Creative in a Tech-philic World

Online, hosted by Texas Instruments

Link will be sent to registered attendees

For more information including bios, visit https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/techphilic

Notes from the meeting are available at https://fountainblue.blog/2020/09/11/creative-2/

Most people think that innovation is for the nerds, the geeks. But consider the fact that the most transformational ideas are about extending existing solutions and technologies into new areas, into new solutions. That takes a creative mind, a creative process.

You need both the technologists who can implement a solution and the creatives who can imagine and deliver that solution. This month’s panelists describe how the creatives collaborate with the techies to create solutions which address the needs of their customers in a world rich with tech.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Hope Bovenzi, Sector General Manager for Automotive Infotainment, Texas Instruments
Panelist Revathi Narayanan, Chief Of Staff, Compute and Networking BU, Micron
Panelist Preethy Padmanabhan, Head of Platform Product Marketing, Freshworks
Panelist Charu Roy, Senior Director, Product Management Fusion PLM, Oracle
Panelist Urvashi Sheth, Senior Vice President Client Services, Intermedia

Friday, Oct 9, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by Aruba HPE

Who Moved My Cheese?

To see a detailed invitation with bios, visit https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/cheese

For notes from this conversation, visit https://fountainblue.blog/2020/10/09/cheese2020/

Successful women and men create their own rules, their own brand – their own personal way of making things happen. Most of the time, they learn to play within the rules first, and then make their own rules. Whether they play within the rules, or make up their own rules, but the results speak for themselves. Hear how and why they broke the rules and learn how breaking the rules and even changing the system has made a difference for these leaders and all they touch.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Win Chang, Western Region Public Sector State and Local Sales Consulting Director, Oracle
Panelist Sona Mahavni, Director – SW Engineering, Aruba HPE
Panelist Nicole Sharratt, VP of User Experience, FICO
Panelist Kim Willetts, Senior Director, Global Brion Division, ASML
with opening remarks by Partha Narasimhan, CTO, Aruba HPE

When She Speaks: Ways to Lead

Friday, November 13, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online – Link will be sent to registered attendee

For more information including bios, visit https://www.tikkl.com/fountainblue/c/lead

There is no ONE right way to lead, as different things work for different people. Everyone brings a unique blend of experience, training, instincts, and personality into their own leadership style. And all ‘good’ leaders bring good results for the product, for the team, for the customers, for the company.

Find out how this month’s leaders created and defined their unique style, how they are expanding and growing their impact leveraging this style, and what they recommend for others as they define a style fo their own.

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Niki Armstrong, Vice President, Global Employment, Compliance & Litigation, Pure Storage
Panelist Sheryl Chamberlain, Board Chair Empower (Coupa Woman’s Program) and Global and Regional System Integrator Alliances, Coupa Software
Panelist Karthi Gopalan, Product Line Director, Mobile Power BU, Maxim
with opening remarks by Ellen Lail, Pure Storage

Register now for FountainBlue’s next When She Speaks Program: Men Who Open Doors

Third Annual: Men Who Open Doors Panel

Friday, December 11, 11:50 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Online, hosted by Coupa Software

Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Chris Allexandre, Senior Vice President & Executive, Renesas
Panelist Ronald Goossens, Senior Director of Marketing, ASML
Panelist Gabe Perez, VP Coupa West Sales, Coupa Software
Panelist Sajid Sadi, Vice President of Research, Head – Think Tank Team, Samsung
Panelist Nathan Sheranian, Senior Director Human Resources, Freshworks
with opening remarks provided by Sheryl Chamberlain, Director Alliances, Coupa Software, Board Chair Coupa Empower

Men Who Open Doors – 2020