professional-development

The Lam Fam College of Business celebrated the 11^th year of its Women’s Emerging Leadership Forum (WELF) with a sold-out event held on November 14, 2025, at Visa’s global headquarters in San Francisco. 

As the women workforce in finance industry continues to grow, the decision-making roles need more inclusive voices. This year, the flagship event of the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement (CE) Initiative centered around “Women in Finance” and brought together a distinguished line-up of speakers.  

Gulnur Tumbat, Director of the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative and Professor of Marketing at San Francisco State University, expressed the team’s gratitude to all the speakers for their time and the personal insights they shared. She stated, "It was only through the commitment and generosity of all our guest speakers that WELF became a great forum over the years."  

Alesha Breite, COO of Digital Sales at Visa, had the audience captivated in the morning address by covering insights on decision making as a woman in the financial sector. Nicole Mossman (BS '94, MBA '97), former CMO at AssetMark and a proud SFSU alumna, discussed the increasing access women have to capital and how this change might shape the financial industry further on. Additionally, Nicole emphasized the importance of having a personal board of directors in both personal and professional journeys. 

The panel with Nitu Nanda, SVP, Consumer Lending Regional Executive at Bank of America; Melissa Palwick, SVP & Chief Lending Officer at San Francisco Federal Credit Union; and Erica Taylor, SVP, Community Impact and Public Relations Officer at Golden 1 Credit Union was moderated by Sybil Yang, Associate Professor and Faculty Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative at Lam Family College of Business. With creative questions from Professor Yang, each of the distinguished panelists created an informative and engaging session around inclusivity, mentorship, authenticity, and the importance of having a strategy behind each decision. 

Kerry Deichen, Market Executive at Bank of America, took the audience through her leadership journey and emphasized the importance of mentorship at any stage in a career pathway. Amila Tiric (MBA ’07), another SFSU alumna and Senior Director, Co-brand Partnerships and Performance at Visa and Karly Ko, Director of Strategic Accounts at Visa were part of the afternoon session called VISAside Chat. They shared their career stories and engaged with the audience through interactive Q&A session. Professor Tumbat closed the event by thanking all the contributors, the audience, and the student volunteers. She added, “We are especially thankful for Visa for collaborating with us and also for all the employee volunteers who helped make this event such a successful and unforgettable experience for everyone. It was also amazing to see so many attendees stepping up to be mentors as part of our mentorship program.”  

The audience was highly engaged and inspired by all the speakers and facilitators. LFCoB MBA student Emily Zubritsky, second time attendee, said, “The event was filled with inspiring insights from incredible women in leadership across the finance industry plus some gorgeous views!”. One of our panelists, Nitu Nanda, said, “Thank you for making this connection happen and for championing the development of future women leaders!”. Hunsa Tiwana, LFCoB MBA student, and a first-time WELF attendee, said she is already looking forward to the next year’s WELF. 

Under the new vision and leadership of Professor Gulnur Tumbat, in the last four years WELF has aimed to step outside of the SFSU campus to connect with people from various communities. This has been partially realized by WELF’s collaborations with major corporations in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the first two years, the CE Initiative collaborated with KPMG, last year it partnered with LinkedIn, and this year with Visa. These corporate organizations have helped increase WELF’s visibility and participation from industry professionals. As a public higher education institution, such collaborations with the business world are very important for SFSU. 

Another part of WELF’s vision is accomplished by bringing together a diverse audience: employees from industry and non-profit organizations, along with SFSU alumni, students, faculty, and staff. The forum assembled and hosted an audience and speakers that represented a wide range of organizations such as Visa itself, Bank of America, Golden 1 Credit Union, San Francisco Federal Credit Union, Kaiser, New York Life Insurance, Western Alliance Bank, Zeno Group, GRID Alternatives, DLP Capital, and others. With lively interactions and productive discussions, WELF2025 had the biggest audience thus far. 

Visit the WELF 2025 Event Photos page to view more photos from this special event.

The Lam Fam College of Business celebrated the 10^th year of its Women’s Emerging Leadership Forum (WELF) with a sold-out event held on October 25, 2024, at LinkedIn's headquarters in downtown San Francisco.

This year, the flagship event of the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement (CE) Initiative  centered on the theme “Unlock Growth Through Lifelong Learning" and brought together a distinguished line-up of speakers. In business discourses there is a lot of focus on professional growth: how to acquire certain skills, build up a resume, and climb to the top. While these topics are important, the CE Initiative wanted to also emphasize personal growth, since this topic is usually overlooked despite being an integral part of professional growth. By combining personal and professional growth and investing in both, Gulnur Tumbat, Director of the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative and Professor of Marketing at San Francisco State University, believes people can become productive, healthy, and happy members of our society and of the institutions where they work. This was the motivation for Tumbat and her team to put together this year’s WELF with a focus on unlocking growth through lifelong learning. 

Under the leadership of Tumbat with a renewed vision in its last three years, WELF has aimed to step outside of the SF State campus to connect with people from various communities. This has been partly realized by WELF’s collaborations with major corporations in the SF Bay Area. In the previous two years, the CE Initiative collaborated with KPMG, and this year it partnered with LinkedIn. Both organizations have helped increase WELF’s visibility and participation from industry professionals. As a public higher education institution, such collaborations with the business world are very important for SF State. Another part of WELF’s vision materialized by bringing together a diverse audience: employees from industry and non-profit organizations, along with SF State alumni, students, faculty, and staff. The forum assembled and hosted an audience and speakers that represented a wide range of organizations such as JPMorgan, Sephora, Facebook, LinkedIn, Bank of Marin, StitchFix, Kai Ming, and Grid Alternatives. The interaction among everyone was highly engaging and productive.  

The Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative expressed their gratitude to all the speakers for their time and the personal insights they shared.  Tumbat stated, "It was only through the commitment and generosity of all our guest speakers that WELF 2024 became a forum that celebrated and supported personal and professional growth." 

Rebecca Tierney, CEO and Co-Founder of Ada-Marie, took the audience on an intimate journey of her life’s trajectory from being a high-end lawyer at a major law firm in LA to building a platform that supports women in STEM. She reminded everyone that life is not a straight line and there always will be ups and downs, likening it more to swimming in an ocean. Alumna Tani Girton (MBA, ’90), EVP and CFO of Bank of Marin, shared her story of becoming a pioneering force in her sector. She asked the audience the questions that shaped her life trajectory: rationalization or realization? settling or leveling up? The forum included a panel discussion made up of LinkedIn employees and moderated by Nicole Serena Silver, an author, entrepreneur, and Forbes contributor. One of the panel speakers, Megan (O'Meara) Jacobson, Talent Acquisition Manager of LinkedIn’s Global Business Organization, emphasized the personal side of networking where trust and authenticity wins. Another LinkedIn panel speaker, Hope Diwata, Employee Programs Coordinator of the Social Impact Team, shared the importance of curiosity, highlighting the fact that career paths do not have to be linear. The third panelist, Dina To, Director of Legal, shared her story of pushing boundaries through intentional learning and encouraged everyone to use LinkedIn more as it democratizes networking.  

Maya Kraft, a leadership and organizational expert and Dare to Lead™ certified facilitator, led a session that introduced the audience to BRAVING leadership, which includes boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault, integrity, nonjudgmental, and generosity. Kraft helped participants to get a clearer understanding of their values in their professional and personal life. At the end of the program, Guisselle Nuñez, Associate Vice President of Strategic Marketing at San Francisco State, uplifted the crowd with her interactive workshop on personal branding. The audience appeared highly engaged and inspired by all the speakers and facilitators. SF State student Elizaveta Kucherova said, “I can't say enough words of how insightful this conference was. All speakers were sharing their unique stories of success that were incredibly interesting to listen to. Moreover, the networking was great; not only was I able to make connections with speakers but also with the audience who was present during the event.” Another WELF first-time attendee, Glendy Chan, a former JP Morgan Chase & Co. employee and current SF State MS in Business Analytics program graduate student, commented on her LinkedIn page, “I experienced something truly special at WELF, brilliantly organized by Professor Gulnur Tumbat. There's an undeniable magic when people gather to share their authentic stories, and WELF delivered exactly that.”

Tumbat added, "We are also thankful to our event collaborators, LinkedIn and their logistics team, and our student volunteers for their contributions to making this event such a successful and unforgettable experience for everyone.”

Visit the WELF 2024 Event Photos page to view more photos from this special event.

On November 3, 2023, the Lam Family College of Business (LFCoB) at San Francisco State University welcomed a sold-out audience to its ninth annual Women’s Emerging Leadership Forum (WELF), hosted in collaboration with KPMG at their San Francisco office, located at 55 Second Street. An inspiring, one-day event designed for those seeking to advance in their profession, WELF 2023 featured informative and motivational discussions tied to the event theme, ‘Embracing Change and Alchemizing the Future,’ and delivered by prominent community thought leaders and top managers.

The speakers, representing a variety of industries and fields, included Kelly Wong Craven Director and Associate General Counsel for Facebook, Meta; Sally Thornton, CEO and Founder, Forshay; Chia-Lin Simmons, CEO, LogicMark, Inc.; Rachel Konrad, Chief Brand Officer, The Production Board; Heather Watkins, Co-Founder and COO, Bold Reuse; and Thuy Vu, Co-Founder and CEO, Global Mentor Network. They shared their unique stories, which demonstrated how they materialized various forms of change in their professional and personal lives.

The event started with a welcome and opening remarks from Guisselle Nunez, Associate Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Communications and CMO at SF State.

Kelly Chow Craven took over the speaker spot for Rebecca Tierney - the inspiration for the event theme - who couldn’t make it due to a last-minute health issue. Craven shared an insightful presentation on the ways companies and employees think about change, especially within the context of Silicon Valley, in general, and Meta, in particular.

After a coffee break, the keynote speaker, Sally Thornton, took the stage to share a presentation on the future of teams, work, and well-being. She shared her personal story of change that led her to start Forshay and her insights on change with behavioral science references that captivated the audience. 

Representing a wide range of industries and professions, including students, the 100 attendees had time to network with one another throughout the day.

After the lunch break, a discussion with a three-person panel made of Chia-Lin Simmons, Rachel Konrad, and Heather Watkins, was moderated by Bahar Javadi, Assistant Professor of Management at SF State. The discussion allowed each panelist to not only share their own perspectives on change in the world, in their professions, and in their personal lives, but also to interact with each other, creating a robust conversation and an exchange of ideas about the different tools and strategies to deal with challenges and change.

The last session of the event was a fireside chat featuring Thuy Vu, with Guisselle Nunez as the moderator. The audience appeared highly engaged and inspired as they listened to Vu share her story of immigrating to the U.S. on a boat separated from her family, followed by a long and successful career.

One of the event attendees was last year's keynote speaker, Carine Schneider, FGE, now Founding Partner at Compass Equity. Asked what she thought of this year's WELF, Schneider replied, “it was a really good conference, great speakers and good guidance for people of all ages.” Another attendee, Kelly Chuck from LinkedIn, said, “It was special to take a step away from the day-to-day of work to network and invest in my own professional development.”  Dominique Hoover, another attendee from LinkedIn, added, “It was also inspiring to connect with the students present and hear about their goals, career aspirations, and fresh perspectives on the job market and future of work.”

Rachel Konrad, one of this year's panelists, commented, “What a spectacular event. Big enough to get a diverse, engaged crew together but small enough to facilitate one-on-one networking. I talked at length to people throughout, and they raved about the content, the networking sessions, and the overall convenience [of] a one-day gathering in the heart of San Francisco. I plan to attend again next year. Congrats on an excellent event, and huge thanks for inviting me to be part of it. It was a highlight of the entire year.”

WELF is the flagship event of the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative, led by Marketing Professor Gulnur Tumbat, who commented, “as a public education institution, we value our collaboration with KPMG greatly to materialize this event in a very professional space. Such external partnerships are key to what we aim to accomplish with these events, that is, connecting with more people within the communities we are part of, inside and outside of our campus.” She added, "We are also grateful to all the inspiring speakers who donated their time to this event and generously shared their personal and professional journeys and insights." 

Visit the WELF 2023 Event Photos page to view more photos from this special event.

On October 13, 2022, the Lam Family College of Business (LFCoB) at San Francisco State University hosted its eighth annual Women’s Emerging Leadership Forum (WELF) in collaboration with KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms, at their San Francisco office, located at 55 Second Street. Billed as a lively, one-day, interactive event designed for women seeking to advance in their profession, WELF 2022 featured informative and inspiring presentations tied to the ‘Blazing Your Path’ event theme and delivered by prominent community thought leaders and top managers, along with activities to stimulate the minds and bodies of the sold-out audience.

Representing a wide range of industries and professions, the 90 people in attendance had time to network with one another during breaks taken throughout the day. The program began with a talk delivered by Keynote Speaker Carine Schneider, FGE, President of AST, an industry leader in cloud-based capitalization table software for private firms. The audience listened intently as Schneider discussed executive compensation for women and the issues women experience when negotiating compensation—particularly with respect to equity ownership, considered the true source of wealth creation for top managers. A lively question-and-answer session with the audience followed Schneider’s talk, which also included engaging stories of her personal journey to top management.

A  panel discussion on how to ‘Create Your Path:  Thrive During Change and Uncertainty’ was moderated by the event master of ceremonies, Jingmei Li, a faculty member in the Management academic department at San Francisco State and HR consultant with decades of experience in global HR, education, design and strategy. The panel speakers were Lucy Chen, Vice President of Claris FileMaker Platform Engineering at Apple, and Cathy Peng, CEO at ROCS Global, Inc. They shared interesting stories and insights from their unique journeys to the top of their professions. Among other topics, Chen spoke on issues of how she overcame demanding engineering problems in her role at Apple. Peng discussed personal power and emphasized the importance of self-efficacy and the power of nurturing one’s personal energy.

The Plenary Speaker, Gulnur Tumbat, Professor of Marketing at SF State and Director of the Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative, spoke of her personal journey to the top of Mount Everest, an extraordinary tale of perseverance and sheer determination, as well as skills and experience development. Tumbat’s talk was accompanied by dramatic photos and video clips of her experiences “blazing her path” to the top of Everest. As the only female in her climbing party, Tumbat touched on multiple themes broadly relevant for anyone seeking to advance in their careers, regardless of industry. Interestingly, Tumbat has now climbed  the highest mountain peaks on each of six continents, with the seventh continent, Antarctica, awaiting her.  When she achieves this next goal, Tumbat will join the ranks of a select group of women who have summited the highest peak on each of the seven geographic continents.

Peng wrapped up the session with an invigorating round of high energy and fun exercises enthusiastically performed by everyone at the event. Peng believes that forums, such as this one, should stimulate the body as well as the mind.

When asked what it took to pull off what appeared to be a seamless event, Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Director Tumbat commented, "The event took months of planning and executing. It would not have been possible without the commitment and hard work of my colleagues on the WELF 2022 planning team, Professors Bruce Heiman, Venoo Kakar, Jingmei Li, and Matt Hu, and Robert David, an external professional development expert." 

Event attendee Corrina Dilloughery, Cohesity Academy Onboarding Manager at Cohesity, said, "I absolutely loved Carine's session on negotiations. I have no problem negotiating for an organization, but sometimes hold back negotiating for myself because I don't want to appear greedy or that I am just here for the money." She also noted the diversity of the speakers' backgrounds.  Dilloughery added that WELF was a great opportunity, and she would recommend the event to others as she gained insights to help with her future career advancement.

Tumbat considered the sold-out event a major success and stated, “Everyone is looking forward to next year’s WELF with eager anticipation. We are grateful to the speakers who agreed to share their valuable experiences at WELF and to our event partner, KPMG San Francisco, for providing their amazing event space and for elevating the professional advancement of women."

Visit the WELF Event Photos page to view more photos from this special event.