7th Annual Women in Global Leadership PHX

7th Annual Women in Global Leadership PHX

Thursday, August 10th at 3:00pm PT/AZ (2+ hours)

HYBRID EVENT: In-person at Bespoke Manufacturing Company (BMC.fashion) plus zoom

BMC is located at 3100 E Broadway Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85040. There's free and plentiful parking - see the map below. The panel discussion will be virtual, but not the plant tour or fashion show.

Our "Women in Global Leadership" event began 7 years ago in the early days of Global Chamber®, and we continue the tradition, always with an engaging and interesting group of global leaders.

The purpose of this annual signature event is to uncover lingering challenges and new opportunities for organizations to add more value with gender balance in leadership including board leadership.

We include one man on the panel to increase leadership engagement across genders, to gather a diversity of opinions and to inspire working together for faster progress with DEIB initiatives.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and gender balance creates innovation, greater success and a better world. And so we're here to discuss the issues and work on making faster progress.

Agenda

• 3:00pm Welcome to BMC Fashion (Kirby Best) / Opening (Doug Bruhnke)
• 3:15pm Connie Kadansky introduces Moderator Diana White
• Introduction 5 Leaders with Discussion, followed by Q&A
• 4:15pm Fashion Show
• 4:30pm Tour of the Factory
• Networking and Connecting 

Welcoming remarks from Kirby Best - President and CEO at BMC Fashion. BMC is a tech-enabled print, cut & sew operation specializing in one-off, on-demand garments and home fashion products. BMC is an ideal manufacturing solution for any size apparel brand that strives to reshape its supply chain. They can offer personalized products on-demand thanks to fast turnaround times and direct-to-consumer shipping options. The event features a plant tour (watch out for the robots!) and a fashion show. Gonna be amazing! Conversation... tour... fashion show... networking.

• Rangina Hamidi - Professor of Practice at Thunderbird School of Global Management and Former Education Minister of Afghanistan
• Martha Medina - Vice President International Sales at 21st Century HealthCare
• Tracey Latham - Founder/CEO at Latham Industries and SBA Small Business Person of the Year (Arizona)
• Alexandria (Lexie) Van Haren - Air Service Development Manager at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
• Shamsh Hadi - CEO and Co-founder at ZorroSign

Moderators:

• Diana White - Executive Director at Moonshot at NACET

• Connie Kadansky - President at Exceptional Sales Performance

Speaker Bios

Rangina Hamidi - Professor of Practice at Thunderbird School of Global Management and Former Education Minister of Afghanistan

Rangina Hamidi was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan. In 1981, she emigrated to Pakistan and then to the USA in 1988 with her family. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in Religious Studies and Women & Gender. Ms. Hamidi returned to Afghanistan in 2003 and took up residence in Kandahar.

For two decades, Ms. Hamidi worked tirelessly to better the lives of Afghan citizens through development projects, advocacy, and, most importantly, education. Examples of Ms. Hamidi's accomplishments include the establishment of a full value-chain model of an all-women’s social enterprise in Kandahar whose products have reached Europe, the Middle East, Americas as well as other parts of the world. In this endeavor, Ms. Hamidi designed and implemented a holistic and full-environment approach to bring value to Afghan women at each part of the value chain. Ms. Hamidi successfully led the Mezan International School to integrate and implement a world-class and internationally accredited curriculum with a solid foundation of Islamic education, Afghan history, Afghan values, and multi-lingual education.

Most recently, Ms. Hamidi was Minister of Education of Afghanistan, until August 15, 2021. Ms. Hamidi is well versed in child development, educational psychology, educational management, Islamic pedagogy, curriculum, business administration, development in conflict-affected countries, and gender issues from an Islamic perspective. She has contributed to numerous publications and radio programs, including TIMES Asia Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Der Spiegel, Business Week, The Guardian, The Telegraph, NPR, BBC, and Voice of America. Her latest publication is a book that she has co-authored entitled “Embroidering within Boundaries: Afghan Women Creating a Future."

Martha Medina - Vice President International Sales at 21st Century HealthCare

Dr. Martha Medina is Vice President of International Sales at Tempe’s leading manufacturing and distributor of dietary supplements, 21st Century HealthCare, Inc. She has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Arizona State University and a M.B.A. from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico. She has presented her doctoral research in international conferences and has published several journal articles and a book chapter. Dr. Medina has a background in R&D and Quality of consumer goods and dietary supplements and for the last 12 years has developed an extensive base of knowledge and experience in international registration, sales and marketing and logistics of dietary supplements.  She has successfully registered and entered markets all around the world, with a concentration in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Her background in Biochemistry, together with her work experience and multilingual and international upbringing have allowed her to establish long-lasting and successful connections for exporting products worldwide.

Tracey Latham - Founder/CEO at Latham Industries and SBA Small Business Person of the Year (Arizona). 

Small business owners are known for their resourcefulness, adaptability, and innovative thinking. They have the flexibility to respond quickly to changing market demands, experiment with new ideas, and introduce unique products and services. Their ability to think outside the box and take calculated risks often leads to groundbreaking innovations that fuel economic progress and technological advancements. Tracey Latham, founder and CEO of Latham Industries, is a perfect example of how innovative thinking can create incredible products. Tracey brought over 25 years of industry experience before forming her own business in 2016.  Latham Industries is a woman-owned and operated electronics contract manufacturer based in Phoenix specializing in printed circuit board assembly. Her business supports (to name just a few) aerospace, commercial, medical, military, and security markets ranging from startups to large businesses.

Initially, Tracey sought to purchase an existing business.  Not finding one that met her qualifications, Tracey launched the company from scratch with state-of-the-art equipment recognizing that some area electronic contract manufacturers were losing business because they were running with technology that was more than a decade old.  To ensure Latham Industries stays current, Tracey is a member of the Arizona Technology Council and has secured several industry certifications including ISO 9001 and 13485.

In 2022, Tracey participated in ASU’s SMB Lab program which is a first-of-its-kind initiative connecting Arizona’s small and medium sized businesses with ASU’s faculty and students, business leaders and development professionals. She continues working with ASU providing her guidance and expertise as the owner of a successful small business.

Tracey was recognized as the Arizona Small Business Person of the Year in 2022 by the Small Business Administration and is a two-time recipient of the Arizona Womens Education and Employment Faces of Success award.  In her spare time, Tracey gives back to the community in several ways as an active volunteer in a variety of charitable organizations including serving on the boards for Homeless Engagement Lift Partnership (HELP) and the U & Improved Leadership Foundation.

Alexandria (Lexie) Van Haren - Air Service Development Manager at Phoenix Sky Harbor Int'l Airport 

Lexie Van Haren has over 20 years of experience in aviation, public relations, government affairs, leadership development, marketing, and tourism.

She recently completed her Executive Master’s of Global Management through Thunderbird School of Global Management. During her studies, she traveled to Washington D.C. and the Middle East for graduate courses in international business and communications as well as government affairs. Her undergraduate degree is in International Business & Marketing.

Ms. Van Haren serves on the International Air Service Steering Committee for Airports Council International as well as on the International Leadership Committee for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council providing guidance on key initiatives and strategies. She is a 5th generation Arizonan, serves on the Board of Directors for the Tempe Tourism Office, and is a graduate of Valley Leadership Ready Together.

As the Air Service Development Manager for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, she manages a portfolio of destinations and airlines to provide the most connected and economical air service for all Arizonans. Phoenix Sky Harbor currently has nonstop service to 142 destinations including 23 international markets, the most on record. The airport has a $38 billion USD yearly economic impact with $3 billion of that from international flights. 

Shamsh Hadi - CEO and Co-founder at ZorroSign

Since the earliest days of his career, Shamsh Hadi has championed a paperless life and greater sustainability, especially in the face of new and emerging technologies. With blockchain, he and his team have created a compelling architecture to elevate trust and transparency—facilitating new realms of digital transactions from anywhere around the world.

His company ZorroSign, Inc. uses blockchain for superior privacy and security. Governments, businesses, organizations and individuals across the globe trust ZorroSign to safeguard their digital documents and to provide an immutable chain of custody for their digital transactions. Their data security platform integrates multiple blockchains (Hyperledger Fabric and Provenance Blockchain) for digital signatures, automated compliance, intelligent forms, document storage, patented fraud detection, user authentication and document verification, identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) and more. 

Shamsh is a lifelong learner and has had the opportunity to be educated in Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Dubai, Vancouver, New York and Boston. He is enrolled in the rigorous YPO/Harvard Presidents’ Program. Shamsh believes we can advance sustainability while advancing technology, and he's always eager to connect with likeminded academic, civic and commercial leaders.

Moderators

Diana White

Executive Director, Moonshot at NACET

Connie Kadansky  

President at Exceptional Sales Performance

Connie Kadansky is the President of Exceptional Sales Performance, providing sales coaching in diverse industries. She is a recognized expert in identifying and eliminating Sales Call Reluctance™, the emotional hesitation to prospect and self-promote. Connie's global experience includes training for the Women in Parliament in Rwanda, and through United Nations grants, she facilitated 26 sales and public speaking training events in Trinidad West Indies for multi-national companies. In October 2022 she facilitated sales training for 47 branch managers for ABSA bank in Kenya. Connie has been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business, and Forbes. Thousands of sales pros have graduated from her programs, benefitting from increased sales and enriched career satisfaction. Connie is a Master Certified Coach, Positive Intelligence® Certified Mental Fitness Coach and an ORSC trained coach. She is also the advisory board chair for Global Chamber® Phoenix. https://www.exceptionalsales.com/PQforyou

Parking

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