National Association of Women Business Owners, Orange County, CA Chapter

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2007-08 Slate of Officers

President (elected in 2006) Barri Carian Carian Consulting 949-640-2141	Barri Carian is a Consultant and Business Advisor to small and mid-size companies. Providing strategic and tactical planning, business assessment, hands-on implementation and ongoing management tools and coaching. She also Chairs a CEO group for Vistage International. She founded Insync Partnership Services to provide conflict resolution and alignment for business partners and assessment for compatibility for potential partners. Her background includes two senior positions in Fortune 500 companies (Regional VP of Merrill Lynch Relocation and Senior VP of Aon Consulting) and COO and partner in a company that grew from start up to $12m in 5 years. She also had involvement in two additional start-up companies. Barri has served on the NAWBO-OC Board since 2001; as the Director of Marketing from July 2001 to July 2003, as Vice President Membership from July 2004 to July 2006 and President-Elect since July 2006.
President-Elect Cassie Hoag Equity Architects, LLC 949-388-7375 www.equityarchitects.net	M. Cassandra (Cassie) Hoag is the founder and managing director of Equity Architects, LLC, a strategic advisory firm that helps small companies prepare for and secure capital for growth, realize truly synergistic mergers, structure essential liaisons and engineer cultural change. Equity Architects provides its clients with customized, creative solutions to grow, better manage and fund their businesses. Cassie currently serves as NAWBO’s Vice President, Membership, and is also active on the Education Committee and in the Mentoring Program. She was recognized as NAWBO’s “Entrepreneur to Watch” at the October 2006 Remarkable Women Awards Luncheon. Serving on two corporate boards, she is also a member of the Orange County Venture Group, the Association for Corporate Growth, the Kieretsu Forum and the USC Alumni Association. Cassie has done volunteer work for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Y-ME Organization, the American Cancer Society and St. Anne School.
Secretary Lydia Welton McKenzie Coaching Group 949-608-7347 www.mckenziecoaching.com	Lydia Welton is the President and Founder of McKenzie Coaching Group, a leadership and team development organization. Through assessments, coaching, facilitation, and talent management consulting, McKenzie Coaching Group supports leadership and management teams facing performance challenges associated with growth, turnover, and strategic change. Client results include improved financial performance, increased employee commitment, reduced turnover, and increased customer satisfaction. Lydia draws on a broad and deep base of experience and training as a coach, trainer, and facilitator of leaders in financial services, information technology, health care, and professional services. She has been an external organizational development consultant, the director of organizational development for a major medical center, a line manager of business development, and a family and adolescent therapist. Current and past clients include Deloitte Consulting, Morgan Stanley, Philip Morris, Emerging Health Information Technology, National Center for Children and Families, and Montefiore Medical Center. Lydia is certified by the International Coach Federation as an Associated Certified Coach. She serves on the executive boards of the Orange County chapters of the International Coach Federation and National Association of Women Business Owners and is a member of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. Lydia received a Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology and a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Treasurer Josefina de la Cruz, CPA 714-558-8703 www.jccruzcpa.com	Josefina C. de la Cruz has been a CPA in the State of California since 1977 and formed her public accounting practice in 1980. Since its inception, the business has been geared towards small business planning, tax services, and strategic pension & retirement planning. The firm is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and California Association of CPA’s – Tax Practice Division. She has been a member of NAWBO since 2003, and a recipient of the Remarkable Woman award in the same year and is now the current Treasurer of NAWBO-OC. Josefina is a founding member of the Board of the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce in Orange County and served as President for two terms, becoming the first woman president of the chamber. Currently she serves as one of the advisors. Josefina is also the founding president of AWE, Asian Women Entrepreneurs. The other associations in which she is currently involved are: Asian Business Association in Orange County, Orange County Asian Bar Association, WIPP; Women Impacting Public Policy, Business Advisory Council of NRCC. She has received various awards for civic and community service, the latest of which was the 2005 U. S. Small Business Administration Women in Business Minority Award.
Vice President, Membership Kimberly Gerber Excelerate, Inc. 949-679-9235 www.iexcelerate.com	As a rising corporate star for 17 years at such companies as Starbucks and Fleetwood Enterprises, Kimberly Gerber developed an entrepreneurial drive and service ethic that has fueled a remarkable career. Gerber founded Excelerate in 2002, and the company’s position as an invaluable resource to management professionals is the culmination of Gerber’s extensive work with Fortune 500 company executives on organizational, strategic and best practices skill-building. Previously, as regional director at Starbucks, Gerber was the marketing wisdom behind the company’s most successful frozen coffee drinks. Her branding sensibilities and connection with the consumer marketplace were legendary, and she brings these skills to each client at Excelerate. Her forte is identifying a company’s core strengths and then devising methods of execution in such areas as human resources, compliance, hiring, planning and thinking strategically — allowing business owners to build a bridge between vision and production. As a veteran of top management for several firms, she has developed a sense of best practices that can guide all great companies. Years in these environments have given her direct experience in the power of long-term profitability. Gerber’s clients are executives, owners and emerging leaders who possess considerable technology or intellectual capital, and who need a management infrastructure. She helps them ride growth curves as they tap unrevealed resources. This talent for problem-solving is also reflected in Gerber’s community involvement. She is on the board of the National Association of Business Women Owners and mentors young professionals. She helps young adults in an emancipation program through Mariner’s Church, where she assists foster teens with such issues as autonomy and wise life choices. As a positive role model, she demonstrates the power of economic independence and the balance of both career and a personal life.

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