Women's Emerging Leadership Forum (WELF) 2025

Gulnur Tumbat, Ph.D.

Professor of Marketing and Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative Director, Lam Family College of Business, San Francisco State University

Gulnur Tumbat has used her extraordinary experiences on the highest mountains in the world in her academic research and in her speaking engagements on topics such as risk taking, making decisions in dynamic contexts, managing uncertainty, and achieving ambitious goals through strategy, leadership, persistence, entrepreneurship, and passion. She has published in prestigious academic outlets such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Theory, Consumption, Markets and Culture, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Advances in Consumer Research, European Advances in Consumer Research, and Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption. Her favorite area of teaching is consumer behavior. In addition to being a business behavioral scientist, she is an elite endurance athlete who climbed the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each geographic continent and is the first  Turkish woman to do so. She recently (August 2025) reached the summit of K2 (again, as the  first Turkish woman).

Nicole Mossman (BS '94, MBA '97)

Chief Marketing Officer, AssetMark 

Nicole M. Mossman is the Chief Marketing Officer at AssetMark, a role she has held since April 2024. Prior to joining AssetMark, Nicole had a distinguished career at BlackRock, where she served as Managing Director from 2008 until February 2024. During her 16-year tenure at BlackRock, she held various leadership positions, including the creation and leadership of the Global Product Marketing team for iShares and the Global Communications team for Fundamental Equities. She also oversaw the Budapest-based product strategy team for all active strategies and served as Head of the San Francisco office, where she played a key role in driving the office’s culture, operations, and community engagement.

Nicole’s career in financial services began at Dakin Partners, a small institutional consulting firm, where she spent three years before transitioning to Callan Associates. At Callan, she spent eight years refining her expertise in institutional consulting before joining BlackRock.

With over 25 years of experience, Nicole is passionate about empowering women in the financial sector and served as a co-lead of BlackRock’s Women’s Initiative on the West Coast for four years. She continues to champion this cause through her involvement in various organizations. She is currently a member of the Board of the San Francisco 49ers Foundation, which educates kids throughout the Bay Area with STEAM initiatives, and serves on the Advisory Board of Love Never Fails, which supports victims of human trafficking.

Nicole holds an MBA and a BS in Marketing from San Francisco State University and maintains her FINRA Series 7 and 24 licenses. 

Kerry Deichen

Co-Founder, CEO, AdaMarie Market Executive, Bank of America

Kerry is currently the Market Executive for the San Francisco and East Bay local market at Bank of America (BofA). In her role, she works in partnership with the market president leadership team to help connect businesses, families, and individuals to the full breadth of what the bank offers across all lines of business. Kerry also supports the bank’s efforts to deploy its resources to help advance economic mobility and build strong communities.

Prior to her current role, Kerry served as a Senior Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager on the Transformative Technology Commercial Banking team at BofA, where she focused on helping emerging software companies scale their global operations and issue inaugural debt facilities ahead of public market access.

She has been with BofA for 10 years, beginning her career in the Large Corporate Credit & Risk group. There, she performed underwriting functions for technology clients with >$2.0 billion in revenue.

Kerry spearheaded BofA’s Women Empowering Business (WEB) employee network, designed to connect women in finance and drive mentorship and career development. She has also served as a Green Economy Ambassador, focusing on ESG efforts through the technology industry, as a Digital Champion, and as an Employee Engagement Champion for the local market.

Kerry is an active board member for the San Francisco Zoological Society, which manages the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens (SFZG) where she currently chairs the development committee. The SFZG is dedicated to advancing conservation efforts and providing access and connection for the community to wildlife of all kinds.

Melissa Palwick

Senior Vice President & Chief Lending Officer, San Francisco Federal Credit Union

Melissa Palwick is a respected financial services executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience across banking and credit unions. She currently serves as Chief Lending Officer at San Francisco Federal Credit Union, where she leads the organization’s lending strategy and portfolio management. In this role, Melissa oversees all lending efforts and digital membership engagements, consumer and commercial lending teams, guiding them to deliver innovative financial solutions while advancing the Credit Union’s mission of member service and community impact.

Melissa is recognized as a visionary leader who combines technical expertise with a deep commitment to organizational growth and development. She has successfully managed large-scale projects, including system conversions, digital platform integrations, and product rollouts that modernize lending practices and strengthen operational efficiency.

A passionate mentor and advocate for professional development, she is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of leaders, particularly women in financial services, while fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence. 

Prior to her current role, Melissa served as Vice President of Lending Solutions at Travis Credit Union and held leadership positions at Stanford Federal Credit Union and Golden 1 Credit Union, where she advanced digital transformation and enhanced member lending experiences. Earlier, at San Francisco Federal Credit Union, she served as Chief Member Experience Officer and Head of Consumer Lending, leading a major core system conversion and driving organizational development.

Melissa has been honored with multiple awards, including the 2020 CEO Award, recognizing her leadership and vision in advancing financial access.

Nitu Nanda

Senior Vice President, Consumer Lending Regional Executive, Bank of America

Nitu Nanda is best known for her leadership skills, talent development and driving high performing teams across multiple lines of business. She started her career as a part time teller with Bank of America twenty-three years ago and has served in many different roles in the Consumer Banking channel. 

Currently, Nitu leads a team of lending specialists as the Region Executive in Pacific Northwest region serving the state of WA, OR, Northern CA and Reno, NV. She also serves in the capacity of consumer lead for SF-EB Market president team focusing on market share growth and business integration.

Nitu received her Executive MBA degree from Cal State Monterey Bay. She holds her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Series 7 and 66 licenses. She successfully completed D school (Design school) program from Stanford University focusing on product design and innovation in March 2016. 

Nitu also worked on several patent technologies with Bank of America and holds two approved patents.

Apart from her passion of leading people and businesses, she is active in the ALN (Asian Leadership Network), LEAD for women and LGBTQ Network in Bank of America.

In 2022, Nitu was recognized as one of the Most influential Women in Bay Area Business by The Business Journals. She is a board member for Cal-State East Bay as she believes education is central to progress of any community, country and economy.

In her free time, Nitu loves to travel, read books, hike and spend time with her family. She also volunteers for a non-profit organization in Sonoma County by managing their bookstore and volunteer efforts.

Erica Taylor

Senior Vice President, Community Impact and Public Relations Officer, Golden 1 Credit Union

Erica Taylor joined Golden 1 Credit Union in 2015 and serves as Senior Vice President, Community Impact and Public Relations Officer. In her role, Erica oversees Golden 1’s external communications, government relations, community partnerships, corporate giving, and financial education. She has led numerous initiatives for the organization aimed at addressing local needs, driving employee volunteerism, investing in charitable partnerships, and supporting social programs.

Erica has more than 20 years of communications experience. Her background includes work in radio and television promotions and marketing, as well as roles as a broadcast journalist.

Erica earned a Master’s in Communication Studies from California State University, Sacramento and a Bachelor’s in Journalism from Humboldt State University. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Sacramento Covered, Sacramento Metro Chamber, and Valley Vision.

In 2024, Erica was named Community Impact “Luminary of the Year” by the Credit Union Times, and in 2023, she received the “Social Impact Award” from the California Credit Union League.