Speakers
Brigadier General Mary J. Kight, The Adjutant General, California National Guard
Brigadier
General Mary J. Kight is the 45th Adjutant General for the California National
Guard, appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on February 2, 2010. As the
Adjutant General, she serves as Director of the State of California’s Military
Department and leads the largest, most tasked National Guard force in the United
States, with an authorized strength of 18,000 Army National Guard and 4,900 Air
National Guard members.
Upon enlisting into the active duty Air Force and receiving a commission in 1974, her successful career began as a Personnel Officer at Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington, followed by an assignment with the Department of the Army. She ended her initial active duty career at Headquarters, Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska. Driven by the desire to continue military service, she joined the Nebraska Air National Guard, Lincoln, Nebraska in 1981, performing duties as the Executive Officer, Group and Military Aide. She later returned to her home state of California in 1984, when she joined the California Air National Guard, Fresno, California. She served as the Avionics Maintenance Officer, Squadron, Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance, Tactical Air Command from 1984 to 1987, Field Maintenance Officer, Squadron, Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance, Tactical Air Command from 1987 to 1990, and Aircraft Maintenance Officer, Group, Air Combat Command from 1990 to 1994. She served as the first Commander for the 144th Fighter Wing, Aircraft Generation Squadron, Air Combat Command, Fresno Air National Guard Base from 1994 to 1998. Prior to 2004, General Kight led the 144th Fighter Wing Mission Support Group, Fresno Air National Guard Base, while concurrently commanding the Detachment, 201st Mission Support Squadron for all members performing duty on Title 10 status in Fresno, California. In November 2004, General Kight accepted the position as the Assistant Adjutant General, Air, California Air National Guard, Joint Force Headquarters, Sacramento, California. In February 2006, she was selected to serve as the Assistant Adjutant General, California National Guard, Joint Force Headquarters, Sacramento, California.
Sara Bordo
Sara
Bordo started her career working in marketing for Clinique and corporate
public relations at the Estee Lauder Companies in New York. She then entered
the advertising arena at GSD&M in Austin managing the UnitedHealthcare and
Kinko’s business. Upon leaving Austin for Chicago she joined DDB supervising
the Johnson and Johnson skincare business and led the U.S. Launch of the RoC
brand to #1 at retail and took Aveeno Body Care from #7 to #3 in its
category.
In Los Angeles, Sara joined FirstFireworks, an entertainment marketing firm as Account Director on the GRAMMY Awards business as well as eBay Strategic Partnerships. She then joined the Interactive Media team at Paramount Pictures where her team’s campaigns contributed to Paramount Pictures being the first studio to reach $1 billion at the box office in 2007. Sara’s current role of Vice President of Digital Marketing at MGM Studios has allowed her to lead a team overseeing all Advertising, Creative, Publicity and Social Networking efforts for all of the studio’s Theatrical releases.
During the last 10 years of Sara’s career she has managed over 40 employees as well as mentored more than 50 women at all stages of their career. Her core belief is that women must no longer be threatened or bullied by each other, but inspired and championed. Because we all need someone special in our corners to help us along our professional road, Sara is leaving her corporate life this Spring to launch and build her own mentoring firm for young women.
Kathleen & Annie Passanisi
SPARK
Moving From Worried to Wonderful
Are the side effects of war making you sick? Has a loved one's long deployment left you feeling lost, hopeless, angry, and alone? Struggling to put on a happy face? Then it’s time to “SPARK” up your life. Restore confidence, discover and activate your strengths, recharge relationships, and add joy to every single day. Light the fire of positivity to unite, inspire, and lead. It all starts with a spark.
About the Speakers:
Kathleen
Passanisi, PT, CSP, CPAE
Kathleen is an internationally recognized transformational speaker, therapeutic humor expert, healthcare pro and author. She has spoken to bazillions of people about life balance, joyful living, the power of perception, and the link that exists between humor and health. Kathleen is the funniest woman in Lake Saint Louis Missouri and, quite possibly, the western hemisphere.
Annie Passanisi
Annie is a budding second generation motivator, as well as a Chicago-based actor and writer. Her passion for Positive Psychology led her to co-author SPARK magazine and to launch the “I’m Contagious” movement, which aims to spread the power of positivity one smile at a time.
Krista Embry
Celebrity
Make-Up Artist | Model
A professional make-up artist for over 20 years, Krista has worked with countless celebrities, musicians, sports icons and politicians including a U.S. President and Vice President
Her reputation as a film and television make-up artist has kept her traveling the country working with major entertainment companies, television networks and high-profile national corporations. Her expertise and experience both in front of the camera and behind the scenes have allowed her to thrive in an extremely competitive career.
As of today, Krista is a highly sought after make-up artist and national speaker, primarily focusing her expertise as a corporate consultant.
Nicole Taylor
Nicole
Taylor is President and Chief Executive Officer of the East Bay Community
Foundation, a philanthropic organization that manages over $375 million in
charitable assets and focuses its efforts on Alameda and Contra Costa counties
in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Taylor, a veteran executive
with 16 years of experience in the Bay Area non-profit community, is the first
African-American to lead the Foundation in its 81-year history.
Before coming to the Foundation in September 2007, she was Managing Director of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, one of the nation’s premier institutions developing leaders capable of making social change.
Prior to her service at Stanford, she was the CEO of College Track, a nonprofit organization that works to get underrepresented students in the San Francisco Bay Area successfully through high school and college. And prior to College Track, she was the director of Oakland’s Fund for Children and Youth, which at that time distributed over $7million per year to youth serving organizations in Oakland, California.
Taylor began her career as a teacher and also worked on school-reform efforts within urban school districts. For most of the 1990s, she worked at the East Bay Community Foundation where her work focused on education, children and youth services, nonprofit management and fund raising.
She holds a B.A. in Human Biology and a M.A. in Education – both from Stanford.
Jessica Earley
Jessica
Earley graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2007, with a Bachelors in Sociology
and a minor in Education: Applied Psychology. As an undergraduate, she was a
Research Intern for Professor Romo with Girls Inc., where she focused on the
relationship between girls and their mothers during puberty.
After she graduated, she started working for Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara until in 2008 when she moved to San Diego. She worked for Girls Inc. of San Diego as the Program Coordinator and focused her work with middle and high school girls.
In San Diego Jessica was a speaker for several other conferences and workshops which focused on multiculturalism, self-esteem and sexuality. She moved to the Central Valley in 2009 and is currently working with Girl Scouts of Central California South as a Program Resource Specialist, creating programs (career, academic and special interest) for all girls with a focus on middle and high school girls.
Julie Foudy
One
of the world’s top female soccer players, Foudy has garnered two Olympic Gold
medals, one Olympic silver medal, and two World Cup championships during her
seventeen years playing on the national team. She was one of the founding
players of the first Women’s Professional Soccer League, the WUSA. Foudy won the
1997 FIFA Fair Play Award for her work against child labor, the first woman and
first American to win the award, and in 2007 was inducted into the National Hall
of Fame. Since 1988, Foudy has served as a soccer analyst and commentator for
ESPN, where she has covered World Cups, Women’s World Cups and numerous
international and national soccer events.
Julie is a leader in sports and leadership education for young women and understands the role both play in developing self-confidence and leadership skills for a future generation of female leaders. She is respected for her strong, articulate voice–both on and off the soccer field and one who works with the highest standards of journalistic integrity and professionalism.