It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of a Financial Women of San Francisco’s long-time member, Cynthia Parker. Cynthia had a huge passion for promoting the advancement of women in finance and helped our organization’s mission through her involvement on a number of committees including Sponsorship, Marketing, and most recently the East Bay Programs Committee.
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FWSF has made a commitment to diversity and inclusion (D&I), but how diverse an organization are we today? Hopefully, by the time you read this newsletter, you’ll already have participated in our short membership survey, designed to help us identify who we are now and how we might make our organization more welcoming to everyone.
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Let’s network, share knowledge and connect with each other by actively engaging on FWSF’s social media platforms. We encourage all members to participate in our LinkedIn group and our Facebook page. Check out our daily posts and LIKE and SHARE. Let’s build a community.
Read moreIn 2017, the FWSF had a record-breaking year, raising significantly more funds for scholarships, primarily from the efforts of Robin Washington, our 2017 Financial Woman of the Year honoree.
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Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) co-hosted this annual industry leadership event on March 13 with the San Francisco Bank Attorneys Association and the Financial Institutions Committee of the California Lawyers Association. Despite challenging weather conditions, approximately 130 people attended this program, held once again at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Attendees included a mix of lawyers and other financial services industry professionals. Networking before the event and during the break provided a chance to exchange perspectives on the topics covered and to make new connections.
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True to the IWD tagline, #PressforProgress, over 100 women gathered the afternoon of March 8 at Golden Gate University to explore the challenges that women face in their careers, especially in finance…and discuss ways to overcome the inevitable obstacles we face. The afternoon was kicked off with a fireside chat with Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, chair and president, Charles Schwab Foundation. Debbie Messemer, Carrie’s long-time professional friend and managing partner, KPMG Bay Area Market, chatted with her in a capable and warm interview. Carrie shared her career experiences and some great advice for women in financial businesses. She cautioned us to make sure that our values are aligned with the company where we work—great advice in this day and age!
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On Thursday, February 15th, FWSF hosted a lively East Bay Industry Leadership Series event on the debate between active and passive investing. The event was held over breakfast at the offices of Robert Half in Oakland. The debate featured Blackrock Smart Beta Senior Strategist Holly Framsted representing the passive side, and Dodge & Cox Client Portfolio Manager Hallie Marshall representing the active side. FWSF Board Member and VP of Programs Sue Mazzetti moderated the debate, and East Bay Co-Chair Minako Steel provided inspiring opening remarks, sharing her personal journey with FWSF and how the event related to FWSF’s mission.
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Financial Women of San Francisco’s first signature event of 2018, featuring San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams giving us his economic outlook, was a well attended gathering at the historic City Club. It was an incredible honor to have Dr. Williams speak to the uniqueness of the current economic environment. Williams predicted growth to be around 2.5% in 2018. Fueling the key tailwinds propelling this growth are stronger, better-than-expected global growth, tax cuts, and favorable financial conditions.
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Can you think of a better way to start the year than learning from a professional strategy consultant how to live your life on purpose? Or in other words, how do you get what you really want? This was the focus of the January 25th Financial Women of San Francisco’s (FWSF) industry event. FWSF was fortunate to host Kristi Royse, CEO of KLR Consulting, who inspired the audience with a thought-provoking presentation on Personal Strategic Planning.
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On October 6, 2017, Melissa Radic and I had the fine honor of co-chairing the 2017 Financial Women of San Francisco (“FWSF”), Financial Woman of the Year luncheon, where we celebrated Robin Washington, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Gilead Sciences.
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There are not enough words to describe the 2017 Financial Woman of the Year event that took place on October 6, when we honored Robin Washington, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Gilead Sciences, Inc. Pat Hudson, FWSF board secretary, could not have said it better: “The event was so impressive, memorable, inspiring, successful and all-around awesome.” Robin’s speech alone, as inspired by the book "The Measure of Our Success" by Marian Wright Edelman, made attending the event well worthwhile. It is remarkable that Robin's number-one thought and piece of advice — "Be your authentic self" (which is no small feat) — oftenr recurs in the words of other top-tier women in finance. Our Financial Woman of the Year Co-Chairs, Jessica Ross and Melissa Radic, provide a closer look at this awe-inspiring event that took place to honor such an accomplished, generous and classy lady.
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It’s easy to get stuck in routine—sometimes getting out of your comfort zone is good for growth and expansion. So, that’s what we did this year with the 2017 FWSF Financial Woman of the Year awards luncheon. As a part of the organization’s commitment to growing its social media presence and taking efforts to the next level, we decided to encourage more posting from luncheon attendees and tested Facebook Live at the event.
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On November 1, 2017, the Financial Women of San Francisco and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business had the pleasure of learning from Cristina Dolan, founder and COO of InsideChains and co-founder and COO of iXledger, about how technology is transforming financial markets. Susan Mazzetti of FWSF introduced Ms. Dolan, who gave an overview of the opportunities the transformation creates within business models and workflows. The financial revolution she spoke about includes the use of crypto-currencies, blockchain, and robo-advisors.
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Financial Planner’s Association of SF hosted a very enlightening event on September 19 – “Cybersecurity: How to Protect Your Business” at the City Club of San Francisco. Led by Craig Watanabe, compliance and cybersecurity expert, this one-hour session described practical, economical and effective safeguards that firms can employ to protect their businesses from cyberattacks. Cybersecurity is a significant regulatory and business risk that affects nearly all firms. Craig laid the groundwork by explaining regulatory expectations and then identified cyber protections and safeguards that can be deployed at firms, including disk/file encryption and multi-factor authentication.
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