Distinguished Panelists & Guests

Special Guest/Presenter

Lucy Dunn

Special Guest/Presenter

Araceli Gonzalez

Deputy Director, Community Liaison
Office of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Presenter

Margaret Hernandez

International and Procurement markets are at your fingertips Workshop

Director, Contracts and Purchasing Port of Los Angeles

Margaret I. Hernandez is the director of contracts and purchasing at the Port of Los Angeles, one of the busiest, most successful seaports in the world.
In this role, Hernandez monitors the Port’s contracting and purchasing activities to ensure compliance with City of Los Angeles policies and to maximize contractor opportunities.
Hernandez is the Administrator for the Department’s Small Business Development Program, which is designed to identify and educate small minority and women-owned businesses for possible contracting and procurement opportunities.  She works closely with Department staff to insure that all selection processes focus on awarding potential contracts to a more diverse business base.

A 25-year Port employee, Hernandez has held various positions within the organization, from managing Ports O’ Call Village to serving as the assistant to former executive director Ezunial Burts. Her career with the City of Los Angeles began in 1982 as a Clerk Typist in the Controller’s Office and includes a year as adjutant in the Records and Identification Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Hernandez holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Stanford University and is a graduate of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and Coro leadership programs.

As Honorary Mayor of Wilmington for 2004-2006, Hernandez remains active in the Harbor community. She is a member of several Wilmington organizations, including the Rotary Club and YMCA.  Since 2005, she has organized Fiesta Corazon del Puerto, a family event focused on showcasing the Wilmington community.

Hernandez received the Purchasing Agent Award in 2005 from the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce and the Major Corporate Partner Award in 2008 from the National Association of Minority Contractors.  She was been honored by the South Bay Latino Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and ELLAS (Enhancing Latina Leadership Alliances) for her work on behalf of the Latino community.

Hernandez currently resides in Carson, with her husband, Leo Padilla; her son, Gilbert; and youngest daughter, Jacqueline.

Keynote Speaker

Linda Hollander

“The Wealthy Bag Lady”

Linda Hollander is known as the “Wealthy Bag Lady”. She is the author of the #1 best-selling book, Bags to Riches: 7 Success Secrets for Women in Business.

A popular international speaker, she is the industry leader in teaching entrepreneurial women about small business success and how to get corporate sponsors.

She is the founder of the Women’s Small Business Expo, which takes place every year in Los Angeles, California

She received the Caught in the Act of Excellence Award and she has over 20 years of experience in business, corporate sponsorships, sales, marketing, design, promotion and creating lifetime customers. Her forthcoming book, Women Hold the Purse Strings, will give companies powerful strategies for marketing to women entrepreneurs.

She started out worse than broke. She was buried in debt and couldn’t find a way out of the poverty trap and abusive relationships. But that’s not what really bothered her. It was that she was short and had frizzy hair to boot. ¬

She and her best friend, Sheryl Felice, used their girl-power to the max. They launched a packaging business which sells custom-printed shopping bags to leading-edge companies.

Her company was formed in 1988. She devised a sales and marketing plan which made the fledgling business profitable in a very short amount of time. As revenues for the company increased every year, she met entrepreneurial women, understood what motivates them and how she could increase their success. By the way, she is still short with frizzy hair. Hey, some things you just can’t change.

Disney, Cisco Systems, Mattel, Universal Studios, Nissan, Yamaha, Sony, Revlon, Dunn Edwards Paints, Sanyo, Avery Dennison, Columbia Tri Star, CBS, City of Hope, Union Bank, ASCAP, Powerade, Kaiser Permanente, IBM, Variety, Ocean Spray, Sears and Infiniti are some of her clients. Her passions are business, sponsorships, marketing, promotion and packaging (she is a “Bag Lady”, after all).

Linda Hollander owes her success to the wonderful people in her life: Her parents, Bob and Blossom Hollander, Rhoda and Howard Goldie, and her best friend, Sheryl Felice. She lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband, Leslie Greenfield, and their two cats, Carmella and Sneakers.

Presenter

Dr. Osiel Madrigal

Interim Director
Orange County Center of Excellence (COE)

Dr. Osiel “Ozzie” Madrigal is currently the Interim Director for the Orange County Center of Excellence (COE) which is hosted by the Rancho Santiago Community College District.  As the Interim Director of the Orange County COE, a majority of Dr. Madrigal’s recent research has centered on the “green” movement.  In addition, through his  partnership with industry he has seen first hand on what strategies and practices businesses are implementing to become more eco-friendly and cost-effective.  Dr. Madrigal also has 10 years experience working closely with the Millennial Generation.  His doctoral dissertation focused on the Millennial Generation and the information-age mindset which shed some light on understanding the values, needs, and interests of this group.
Dr. Madrigal was awarded an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne.  He earned his master’s degree in Public Administration and B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from San Diego State University.

Presenter

Carolina Manross

IWE Business Consultant
Institute for Women Entrepreneurs (IWE)

Presenter

Irene Martinez           

Author, New York Life Agent,
Business Consultant
Irene Martinez, is the author of the popular self-help audio book, Success and Abundance for the Woman of Today.  She is an agent with New York Life and a professional business consultant with the Institute for Women Entrepreneurs (IWE) assisting women and business owners with retirement planning, business plan development, coaching, mentoring and financial goal setting. After a life-threatening experience, and a successful non profit management career, she shares her wisdom on the importance of taking care of ourselves first.

Presenter

Martha Montoya

President/CEO
Los Kitos Entertainment, LLC

Martha Montoya is a businesswoman whose imagination, creative talent, and drive keep her moving to the forefront of the dialogue regarding diversity contracting with corporate America.  She is leading several initiatives on a national level to advance the position of Minority owned businesses.  Martha has forged relationships with corporate America, State and Federal leaders to understand and bring to the table candid conversations to find solutions for the business position of Minority owned businesses.  Advocating on behalf of those businesses and leading dialogues are the areas in which Martha has chosen to direct her efforts as the United States adjusts to new demographics in all aspects of society: Political, Media, Home/Families and Business.

International Background
Upon immigrating to the United States, Martha developed a business career in International Trade in areas such as telecommunications, agriculture and many more.   Traveling throughout several countries in business taught Martha cultural sensitivity, business practices and negotiating skills while delivering projects beneficial for the supplier and customer on 4 continents.

Hispanic Marketplace
Throughout her career in the United States she has developed a keen sense of the market.  Her experience selling products and services to the Hispanic market over 15 years both at the corporate and retail level makes her an authority on the marketplace. 

Leadership
Martha has played a central role in the development of the U.S. Hispanic market. Among the many honors she has received include the Latin Business Association Latina Entrepreneur of the Year, Hispanic Businesswoman of the Year for 2002 by California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce among other distinctions she received from Hispanic Magazine 2003 honoring her as one of the 100 most influential people in the U.S. market to National Latina Business Woman of the year in 2007 among many more. 

Grassroots, private sector and government
Currently, Martha is spearheading the Access to Business Capital (ABC) Program for Venture Capital for the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce which has become the only program in United States addressing this issue at the grassroots level.   Research and education are key components of the program

Affiliations
Procurement Chair and board member for the advising United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, advisory board Working Families for Wal-Mart, Chair Access to Business Capital for the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, Chair of Los Angeles Metropolitan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Procurement pathway for the National Association of Hispanic Publications and formerly, Latin Business Association, leading convention Expo’s in Los Angeles for several years. 

The Business – Los Kitos
Currently, Martha owns and directs a unique media enterprise, Los Kitos Entertainment LLC, which has three main divisions. The core business is the syndication, through Tribune Media, of the inspirational Los Kitos bilingual cartoon strip to over 300 Spanish language newspapers in the United States having started in Los Angeles based La Opinion now evolving into internet platforms. A second division is the licensing of the characters to several licensees ranging from Good Humor Ice Cream, to State Farm Insurance, to assist those companies to expand their presence in the Hispanic market. The third division of LKELLC is utilizing the characters to bring edu-entertainment to the U.S. Hispanic community through lifting edu-entertaining comic books for entities such as: NASA, Bank of America, Kraft, Wal-mart, Sodexho, SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) Johnson & Johnson, IBM, just to name a few.

Academic
As a child born to educators, in Bogotá, Colombia, Martha began her professional career as a teacher of Chemistry, Biology and English in her native country.  Upon arriving to the United States, Martha integrated herself into the educational system, having taught in both the public and private school systems in California.  She continues to teach in the field of cartoons and comics.
Besides Martha’s formal education in Colombia she has earned a certificate from the University of Chicago and has pursued post graduate business courses at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Presenter

Nancy Naranjo

Business Taxes Representative
State Board of Equalization, Irvine
www.boe.ca.gov

Nancy was born in Los Angeles and raised in the city of Whittier, California by Mexican immigrant parents. In May 2005 she received a B.S. in International Business & Finance and a minor in Anthropology at the California State University of Long Beach. She has served the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) in the Irvine District office for the past four years. Prior to the state she worked as an Educational Career Advisor for Upward Bound; a non-profit organization geared towards shaping our nations youth. She began her career with the State in December of 2005 as a Business Tax Representative in the Sales & Use Tax Department where she taught tax preparation, assisted in bilingual translation, attended local community events and college recruitment.
 
After only a short amount of time she was promoted in late 2008 as a Tax Compliance Specialist where she holds a leadership position taking on high priority cases, training new employees, teaching tax preparation and continues to hold a positive presence on behalf of the BOE within our local community. She attributes her great sense of dedication, willingness to help, hard work and success to her parents whom always strived to give their children the best. Although she has not been part of the BOE family for very long, she hopes that her excellent work ethic and thirst for knowledge will open the doors for many more promotional opportunities. 

Special Guest/Presenter

Enrique Perez

Assistant Vice Chancellor
Educational Services
Rancho Santiago Community College District

Special Guest/Presenter

Brenda Quintana

Office of Governor Schwarzenegger

Brenda Quintana, of El Dorado, has been appointed director of local government and community relations for the Office of the Governor. She most recently served as division deputy for the California United Homecare Workers Union in Northern California. Prior to that, Quintana was regional director for the United Domestic Workers of America in 2005 and served as chief of staff for Assemblyman Bob Pacheco from 1998 to 2005 and Assemblyman Jim Morrissey from 1994 to 1998.

Host/Presenter

Sallie Salinas

Director, Business Advocate
Institute for Women Entrepreneurs (IWE)

Presenter

Nilza Serrano               

Entrepreneur & Founder
The Media Shop

Communities are built from the ground up. Nilza Serrano is a builder.  A successful entrepreneur, Serrano has bridged the gap between private enterprise and public service.  Over fifteen years ago, Serrano founded The Media Shop Production and Post Production firm.  Today she has an extensive client network that includes Paramount Studios, Ford Motor Company, Mobil Oil Company, Tenet Healthcare Corporation, Disney, Warner Brothers Universal Pictures, Dream Works, and various television recording studios.  The Media Shop has just completed a pilot with Black and White Entertainment for VH1. 
  
National Latina Business Women Association selected Serrano as the 2004 Business Woman of the Year, recognizing her for her achievements in entertainment.

The Latin Business Association selected Serrano as the winner 2003 Latina Entrepreneur of the year, a very prestigious award in area of media. 

Beyond her professional life, Nilza Serrano is an active supporter of opportunity, education and outreach for Latinos and Latino Culture.

Serrano currently is the President of the Board of Amanacer Mental Health Services one of the largest mental health center in the County of Los Angeles, serving over 25,000 cases per year. Serrano also serves as the Boards Secretary and fundraising chair.

Her love for children gave the President of the Los Angeles School Board the opening to appoint Serrano as her commissioner to the LATCH.
LATCH is a program that oversees school based medical clinics. Serrano currently serves as the Secretary of the Board

Serrano also proudly serves on the Board of Directors of Plaza De La Raza. Her excellent fundraising skills have made her the leading force on the Board. Serrano has brought in much needed funds from major corporations. She also developed an innovative program that provides the children at Plaza with a complete book bag filled with all the essentials to start the school year with a winning attitude. A total of 600 children benefited from this program.

California had not experienced the tenacity of Latin Jazz, prior to Serrano acting as Vice President of the Los Angeles International Latin Jazz Festival. She was instrumental introducing Latin Jazz to the Greek Theater along with the members such as Andy Garcia, Hector Elizondo, Angelica Huston, Herb Alpert, Lalo Shiffirin and many more. Serrano has passed her torch to the Executive Director in 1998.

Serrano has also served as the Director of the Advisory Board of Humanitarian Outreach Programs Esperanza (HOPE). Developed in 1991, the program objective is to raise funds to build orphanages in underdeveloped countries around the world. Based in Southern California, the program solicits equipment and funding from hospitals and healthcare organizations. Funding is put to use to set up medical teams on goodwill missions worldwide.

Serrano’s public service extends beyond greater Los Angeles. She has spent countless hours volunteering her time on the Board of Directors for the Orange Chapter of the American Lung Association.

Serrano’s love for Latino culture propelled her to co-found the Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival. The Successful event brought Latino films from around the world to the City of Los Angeles during the celebration at Latino Heritage Month.

Serrano served in the capacity of Co-Chairperson of the Latino Heritage Month Organizing Committee. Under her leadership, the City of Los Angeles’ Latino Heritage Month flourished and became the most successful event. Serrano brought together the glamour of Hollywood, the beauty of the City and was instrumental in securing sponsorships from major corporations. Ms. Serrano was also responsible for coining its theme “Building Bridges.” As Co-chair, Serrano was responsible for the overall logistical and creative management of events coinciding with the month-long celebration of Latino contributions throughout the communities of the City of Los Angeles.

Ms. Serrano served as board of President for Navidad en El Barrio a non-for profit organization that was created over 25 years ago to bring food manufactures and corporate leaders in unison, to feed over 20,000 needy families during the Holiday Season.

She is also a member of Los Bomberos Advisory board, a group of City of Los Angeles Latino Firefighters who on their off time devote themselves collecting toys, food, clothing for victims of fire, and assisting with the mentor program.

Serrano is also a long-standing volunteer and organizer of the Annual
Golden Eagle Awards founded by Ricardo Montalban for the television and motion picture academy and Emmy awards.

Serrano is a graduate of the HOPE Leadership Institute and an active board member of the HOPE Hispanas Organized for Political Equality an organization that focuses on State and National policy affecting the lives of Latinas in the country,

Raised in the community of Lincoln Heights in East Los Angeles, Serrano has embraced the Latino experience from a local perspective. A graduate of Lincoln High School, she began her collegiate education at East Los Angeles College and graduated from California State University-Los Angeles with a degree in Advertising Marketing and Business Administration.

Presenter

Maria Sobrino

CEO
Lulu’s Desserts
 

Presenter

Nancy Solari

Founder
Living Full Out

Some people are simply born to lead, nurture, and inspire those around them and Nancy Solari is one of those people. As a child, Nancy watched her parents go through a messy divorce that left her struggling to keep her sisters and mother together. She was young, but she tapped into her inner strength and not only survived that period, but succeeded in keeping her remaining family close. Then, at sixteen, she was diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease that would eventually leave her legally blind.

Yet, not even vision loss could smother Nancy’s spirit, and she overcame her fears and the cautions of others and went on to work for Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight. From there, she became a professional singer and after a successful music career, she moved on and is currently in her ninth year of being a top-producing realtor in Southern California. She knows what it takes to own and operate a successful business and live life full out. She understands the hurdles women entrepreneurs face and the common pitfalls that can keep a business from becoming successful.

Nancy loves to dance, sing, travel, and do everything a fully-sighted person would do, and her mission and focus in life is to help others—especially women entrepreneurs and the visually disabled—realize that they too can live the life they dream about, regardless of the obstacles they face.

Nancy Solari is an authentic, passionate, and successful example of how anyone can live life to its fullest with the right mindset and foundation.

Nancy’s workshops and speaking engagements are filled with humor, passion, and life-changing informative content that leave audiences smiling, excited and eager to start living full out. After years of proving to herself that nothing could stop her from living the life she knew she deserved, Nancy started her business Living Full Out to help others realize their dreams.

If you are ready to learn more about how you can take back your life, please visit our Web site at www.livingfullout.com or www.visualizeyourpotentialnow.com  and www.becomeasuccessfulwoman.com , call us at 310-288-2505 or check out Nancy’s MySpace page at www.myspace.com/nancysolari or visit her YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/livingfullout or www.twitter.com/nancysolari

Keynote Speaker

Susan Solovic

CEO, Chairman
SBTV
Susan Wilson Solovic is CEO and Chairman of SBTV.com – small business television. SBTV is America’s only video news and information source for the small business market on the Internet. Solovic is the author of the popular book, “The Girls’ Guide to Power and Success,” and “Reinvent Your Career: Attain the Success You Deserve and Desire”. She serves advisory boards for the John Cook School of Business Entrepreneurial Studies at Saint Louis University – one of the top rated entrepreneurial schools in the U.S – and the Women Presidents’ Organization. Solovic is a popular media guest on radio and television programs across the country including ABC World News This Morning (ABC Network), CNN, Bloomberg, Early Today, and Good Day New York.

Presenter

Cara Stewart

Founder
WunderMarx PR

Cara Stewart is a public relations entrepreneur, author and speaker with 17 years of experience in journalism, marketing, communications and public affairs. Her areas of expertise include the use of social media in PR, the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in brand-building, as well as merger and acquisition communications.

Cara co-founded WunderMarx|PR in 2002 and has grown it into one of the top four PR agencies in Orange County, Calif. Before launching WunderMarx|PR, Cara held communications management positions at the City of Anaheim Public Utilities, Benjamin Group/BSMG Worldwide and Ethentica. At Ingram Micro, she served on its IPO team and managed worldwide public relations. Cara cut her teeth in business writing as a reporter with The Orange County Register, covering such headline-grabbing stories as the county’s bankruptcy declaration. Today, Cara embraces the concept of giving back. She serves as the vice president of corporate partnership for NAWBO-Orange County and is a member of the Technology Association of America (formerly AeA Orange County Council) executive committee. She also is a founding member the Fullerton College Journalism Advisory Committee as well as a founding director of the non-partisan Southern California Technology Leadership Political Action Committee. An advocate of CSR and philanthropy, Cara lends her time and talent to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Laura’s House and Mercy House.