2021 Los Angeles Women in Leadership Symposium
September 28, 2021
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (PT)
Theme
Onward & Upward: The Era of the Empowered Woman
With the turn of events in the year 2020, women of all backgrounds have experienced what it means to be resilient, adaptable, and forward-thinking. We observed women taking on challenging situations that affect their personal and professional lives with innovation, flexibility, and strength. This year’s symposium will explore the ways women can empower themselves and one another to conquer new norms throughout the journey of life.
The focus of this annual event is to bring together a diverse mix of successful women leaders who, through the discussion of topics relevant to today's issues will educate, inspire and encourage women to reflect on their own goals and status.
Panelists
Cornmesser
With over 25 years’ experience in sales, business development, and marketing for the Channel, Lori has developed as a passionate, results-oriented executive. Over the years, she’s honed several specialties that include recruitment, development, and management for the Channel, the strategizing and execution of business development, and her ability to craft strategic partnerships and alliances. Her commitment and contribution t her work lead to her being named as a CRN Channel Chief for the past 4 years and earned her recognition by CRN Magazine as a Top Woman in the Channel each year from 2009-2021. In 2011 Lori was awarded with the title of 2011 Women Worth Watching, and in June of 2014, Lori Cornmesser was the proud recipient of the Diversity First Leadership Award. Lori has been honored with Top 50 Women in Technology Award in 2019 -2021. She also claimed a coveted spot on the Power 100 list in 2009, 2014 -2021. While she is dedicated to her career and no doubt works extremely hard in order to contribute greatly to the growth and success of her company, as well as the growth and success of herself within her field, Lori Cornmesser served as a the President of the Silicon Valley branch of the larger umbrella organization, the California Diversity Council and was recently named President of the Board for the Women’s Global Leadership Initiative (WGLI), As Lori Cornmesser is of African American and German descent, she relates to issues of diversity and understands the importance of not only celebrating diversity, but also in spreading an understanding of diverse backgrounds and cultivating diverse work environments. As a highly influential and established woman in the business world, Lori Cornmesser sought to make a positive impact on diversity within the corporate world. From the eyes of a business, she worked to, “employ the market,” in order to serve them in the best possible manner. That is to say, companies need to select individuals with the utmost levels of expertise and keep them working within their company. To do this, companies must draw from an applicant pool from a gender-equal standpoint as well as from a standpoint of offering equal opportunities for people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. To use her own words, Lori Cornmesser stated that businesses must, “acknowledge and leverage similarities and differences.” Lori Cornmesser is highly attuned to the changing climate of the business world and the success of businesses on a global platform. In order to keep up with the rapidly growing business world, leaders in their industry can no longer sustain a pool of employees all of the same make and mold. Acknowledging and welcoming diversity is the key to business growth and success in this time. Lori Cornmesser accurately describes the possibility that a diverse company holds in saying, “From this dynamic diversity come the next great idea, the breakthrough innovation, the community cohesiveness, and the commitment that can make us extraordinary rather than merely ordinary.” Lori is married and a loving mother of two children. Lori holds a MBA from Columbus University.
Reynolds
Erica has over fifteen years of leadership experience in global organizational development including leadership development, human resources, diversity & inclusion, and communications. She is a Vice President of Enterprise Learning and Talent Development in the healthcare industry, Founder and CEO of E L Reynolds & Associates, LLC which specializes in addressing the factors of human behavior that affect performance and productivity and a Graduate Professor of Ethics and Diversity in Organizations. Erica has a passion for advancing organizations and people beyond their current limitations to achieve greater results. A dynamic leadership professional, Erica’s work entails delivering innovative solutions that yield impactful and sustainable results. She has provided her expertise in industries ranging from Healthcare, Medical Device, Financial, Retail, Education and Technology as well as host of political and non-profit organizations. Milestones of her career include: establishing and directing international leadership development programs, creating global diversity & inclusion initiatives, and multiple organizational development initiatives that resulted in organization and leadership rewards and recognition. Erica holds a BA in Communications Studies and a MA in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. She is a PhD candidate for a doctoral degree in Organizational Psychology. Erica is a member of Forbes Coaches Council, where she contributes as an expert panelist, and has coached thousands of leaders in various roles, industries, and phases of life. She also holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation and mediator credential. Erica enjoys spending time with family, mentoring and giving back to her community.
Thomas
Highly effective People and Performance-focused leader with experience and education across multiple disciplines committed to ensuring there are no barriers to full human potential in corporate America. Liji's accomplishments include: Built an award-winning diversity and inclusion strategy for Southwest Airlines Directed the design/execution of key partnerships and acted as a Diversity & Inclusion SME on inclusion issues in Corporate America, including on presentations, panels, keynote addresses, etc. Oversaw revenue generation in excess of $40MM in 6 months in a call center environment, leading the transformation of a cost center into a profit center (strategic P&L; responsibility role) Led the first Capitalization of Labor audit for a Fortune 200 and subsequently published an article in a leading audit journal, effectively contributing to thought leadership in the Audit/Accounting Field Delivered Graduate School commencement address Member of the Leadership Dallas Class of 2017
Moderator
Lieberman
Simma Lieberman is internationally known as “The Inclusionist,” because she creates inclusive workplaces where employees love to do their best work, and customers love to do business. She received the Global Diversity and Inclusion Leadership award from the World HRD Congress in Mumbai in 2017. Simma Is the producer and host of the podcast, Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People, www.raceconvo.com. Her passion for diversity, equity and social justice began in 1963 when she went on the March On Washington. In 1963. She wishes she could say that it was because of hearing Martin Luther King give his “I Have A Dream” speech, but she was too young to remember it. However, she has always remembered what it felt like to be amongst 250,000 people for the first time of all colors, cultures, and ages, rallying and marching together for change. Later on, she began working with a multi-cultural social justice coalition in New York City, where she was trained to facilitate dialogues with diverse racial and ethnic groups, in order to reduce tension, and create effective working relationships. Her first culture shock was when she moved from the Bronx to Eugene, Oregon, where she was a member of a multicultural global theater group. Today, Simma works with leaders of organizations who understand that while training in areas of diversity and inclusion is important, internal transformation is crucial and sustainable change only occurs when diversity, equity and inclusion are integrated into the business strategy and into people’s consciousness.. She strongly believes that implementing good diversity management, creating work cultures that support equity, ending social inequities and developing cultural intelligence are necessary for organizations to stay relevant and competitive in tomorrow’s markets. Her unique ability to view organizations through an inclusion and racial justice lens also enables Simma to help leaders in organizations uncover employee genius, and leverage their diverse talents and skills at any level. She has worked with a wide range of organizations that include: Applied Materials, Gulfstream, America Empresarial, Intel, Diageo, Kimpton Hotels, VSP, Boeing, Pillsbury Bakeries and Foodservices, McDonalds, Women’s Foodservice Forum, Oracle, Kaiser Permanente, UC Berkeley, and the US Dept. of Transportation. Simma is a member of two diversity think tanks, a former co-chair of the San Francisco Regional Chapter of Out and Equal, and former board member of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association. She is the Northern California ambassador for the Northern California Chapter of Society for the Advancement of Consulting. Publications that have featured her articles and ideas include The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Fast Company, The Economist, NPR, Black MBA, Restaurant Hospitality Magazine, Insight Into Diversity, Working Mother, , Human Resource Executive, CEO Refresher and CNN. She is the co-author with George Simons and Kate Berardo, of Putting Diversity to Work, how to successfully lead a diverse workforce, the co-author of The Diversity Calling, Building Diverse Communities One Story at a Time and the author of 110 Ways to Champion Diversity and Build Inclusion and Stress Management for the Motivated, A Workbook For You.
$3 Transaction Fee Will Be Added