Jewish Paths: Women in Technology & Philanthropy

Date: 
December 11, 2014
TIME: 
12:00 AM
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Location: 
Home of Laura and Gary Lauder
City: 
Atherton

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Due to the severe storm system expected to hit the Bay Area on Thursday, this event has been cancelled.

By invitation only.

Celebrating female tech leaders and philanthropists: Join the conversation with four trail-blazing women who have demonstrated business success and a commitment to philanthropy.

Light refreshments will be served.
 

Interests: 
Organized By: 
Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund
Co-organizers: 
Oshman Family Jewish Community Center
Event Contact Person: 
Rachel Kaber
events@sfjcf.org
Speakers: 
Michele Boal, Co-Founder and Chief Philanthropy Officer, Coupons.com
Michele co-founded Coupons.com seventeen years ago bringing her eclectic mix of consumer marketing and financial experience to help create the vibrant brand that Coupons.com is today. Her involvement at Coupons.com led Michele to realize the importance of truly connecting with employees, resulting in the launching of Coupons for Change, the philanthropic arm of Coupons.com. Coupons for Change has offered employees an opportunity to do community work with others at the company, which benefit our community and individual employees, and has transformed the company culture as a whole. For three years running, the Bay Area News Group has named Coupons.com as one of the region’s top places to work. Understanding your clients and customers has always been critical to any business, but ensuring your employees feel good about their jobs and their company has become a priority at Coupons.com. The business side of Coupons for Change enables consumers and supporters, of any sized non-profit, to give without reaching into their own pockets – a unique save & give model. This platform for change creates a seamless way to give all year long becoming a valuable tool to the $30 billion non-profit sector.
The lessons Michele gained from her family and personal experiences about survival and stretching a dollar have helped her become who she is today, and educating and exciting others on how they can make a difference on any level is a true passion for her. Michele’s philanthropic work includes more than 15 years of experience working with non-profits, serving on boards, volunteering and advising organizations whose missions have a strong focus on children, women and health. Michele earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications - Journalism and Advertising from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Suzanne Dryan Felson, Founder, Reso.io
Suzanne has been a leader in the Jewish community for more than 20 years. Her philanthropic interests and leadership experience focus on her deep and unwavering commitment to Jewish education. She currently serves on the Women’s Fund at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. She is a founding board member and benefactor of Jewish Community High School of the Bay and chaired its 10th Anniversary Gala in 2011. She serves on the Brandeis Hillel Day School board of directors, where she chaired the advancement committee, chaired the 2006 Spring Gala, and was honored for her commitment to Jewish education at the school’s 50th Anniversary Gala in 2013. Ms. Felson was also a fellow in the first class of the Wexner Heritage Program. Professionally, Ms. Felson is a technology entrepreneur with an extensive business background. She is the founder of Reso, a mobile app that helps busy parents discover, book and manage their kids’ activities. Majoring in business at the University of Southern California, she also managed her own mortgage company. Suzanne is married to Elliott Felson, principal owner of Felson Companies. They reside in San Francisco and Hawaii and have three children: Jake and Olivia, who are students at Brandeis Hillel Day School, and Sophia, who attends Jewish Community High School of the Bay.
Kira Makagon, Executive Vice President of Innovation, RingCentral
Kira leads product strategy, product management, engineering, and operations. She has more than 20 years of product strategy, global technology management, and senior leadership experience. Prior to joining RingCentral, Makagon founded and served as the president of Red Aril, a pioneer in real-time audience and media optimization solutions that was acquired by iCrossing, a Hearst company. Prior to that, Makagon co-founded and held key executive positions in flagship online marketing and CRM companies, including Octane Software, which was acquired by E.piphany, and Scopus Technology, where she brought multiple generations of CRM products to market. Makagon holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Janine Zacharia, Lecturer, Stanford University
Janine was Jerusalem Bureau Chief and Middle East Correspondent for the Washington Post from December 2009 through April 2011. During her time at the Washington Post, she reported widely throughout the Middle East beyond Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including assignments in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey. She reported on the uprisings in Egypt and Bahrain as they began in early 2011. From 2005-2009, Ms. Zacharia worked as chief diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News based in Washington. During this period, she traveled to more than 40 countries with then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior administration and military officials. Ms. Zacharia’s earlier career included five years as Washington bureau chief for the Jerusalem Post, and five years in Jerusalem working for various news outlets including the Reuters news agency. She was a regular contributor to the New Republic and has appeared routinely as a cable news analyst on MSNBC, CNN and other networks. She was also a regular panelist on Gwen Ifill’s Friday evening roundtable, Washington Week in Review. During the 2008-2009 academic year, Ms. Zacharia was awarded a Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. She earned her Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Literary Studies from Middlebury College and is originally from Long Island.