8th Annual Women in Global Leadership PHX

8th Annual Women in Global Leadership PHX

Thursday, August 22nd, in-person 2:00pm PT - 5:30pm PT (local time)

In-person at Skysong in Scottsdale, 1365 N Scottsdale Road (Building 3, Synergy)

Via zoom starts 30 minutes later, 2:30pm PT (10:30pm London, next day 23rd 6:30am Tokyo / 7:30am Sydney)

Join us August 22nd at 2:00pm PT in-person to be connected, informed and inspired at the 8th Annual Global Chamber "Women in Global Leadership". We're continuing the tradition of this Global Chamber® signature event by covering challenges and new opportunities for leaders to add more value in their organization and lives with gender balance in leadership, including board leadership.

With keynote speakers, global leaders speaking on trade, wellness and AI, strategic connecting, and special surprises from past speakers. Free accessible parking, see below.

Who should attend:

• Global leaders, women and men
• Young global leaders
• Leaders open to being informed and inspired
• All leaders open to global opportunities
• Executives open to more growth and success

Agenda (2-5:30pm)

• Networking/Connecting
• Kickoff, Welcome!
• Three Keynote Speakers and Panel
• Four Past Keynote Speakers (check-in)
• Global Leadership Discussions: Trade, AI + Wellness
• Networking/Connecting

Moderator: Mary Rabago

Sponsors

• Thunderbird at ASU Degree programs
• Arizona State University Economic Development
• Arizona State Global Career Initiative
• NAI Horizon
• Bank of America
• Paylocity
• GSE Biomedical / KOLAB
• Primero Negocios
• Global Chamber®

Keynote Speakers

• Mayor Kate Gallego - Opening Remarks by Video
• Charla Griffy-Brown - Director General, Dean, and Professor of Global Digital Transformation at Thunderbird School of Global Management
• Francis Tesmer - Global Entrepreneur and Philanthropist; Economic Senator of the German Senate of Economy
• Matt Salmon - Special Advisor on International Affairs at Arizona State University

Mayor Kate Gallego has spent her career working to find solutions to complex problems. Prior to being elected as Mayor, she served for five years as the City Councilwoman for District 8, a large district covering much of South Phoenix. Her record of proven results includes leading the campaign to pass Phoenix's citywide transportation plan through 2050 and working to ensure equal pay for equal work. While on the council, Mayor Gallego helped make Phoenix a leader in job creation and worked with police and firefighters to improve public safety and make neighborhoods more secure.

In March 2019, Mayor Gallego became the second elected female Mayor in Phoenix history and the youngest big-city Mayor in the United States. Mayor Gallego is passionate about building a Phoenix that works for everyone, including her two-year-old son, Michael, and she led the effort to partner with AARP to make Phoenix a city where seniors can thrive. She believes everyone should have access to cutting edge medical care and has led on expanding Phoenix's biomedical campus. Mayor Gallego is working to grow the city's economy, create jobs, and stand up for the city's core values.

Prior to being elected Mayor to the city that she loves, Mayor Gallego worked on Strategic Planning and Economic Development for the utility company, Salt River Project. She worked to attract new companies and jobs to Phoenix. Mayor Gallego graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mayor Gallego is a past keynote speaker at this event, and she's at the Democratic Convention in Chicago today... and she supplied an opening video that you'll enjoy!

Charla Griffy-Brown - Director General, Dean, and Professor of Global Digital Transformation at Thunderbird School of Global Management

Charla Griffy-Brown first joined Thunderbird in August 2023 as vice dean and professor. An accomplished professor, board member, and consultant, she leads transformational change through her expertise in digital innovation, helping organizations leverage new opportunities through analytics, risk evaluation, and emerging technology deployment to achieve their strategic objectives.

From the earliest days of her life, Griffy-Brown has been a global citizen. Born to a first-generation immigrant mother and foster-adopted from Los Angeles County, her journey reflects a lifelong commitment to global engagement and interdisciplinary development. After graduating from Harvard University, she spent her summers working for NASA. She then embarked on a Fulbright Fellowship in Japan, where she met her Australian husband. They moved to Australia, completed their doctorate degrees, and she then had the privilege of working in India, China, and Indonesia.

Returning to Japan, Griffy-Brown worked as an associate professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and at the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, Tokyo. Her career includes significant contributions to both academia and industry, working on complex multinational projects with the European Commission, the United Nations Global Environmental Facility, the Pacific Telecommunications Council, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

Griffy-Brown has served as a visiting fellow at Tsinghua University in China, Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan, and Jyväskylä University in Finland. As the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Technology in Society, she has led the global scholarly discourse on the social impacts of technological change, publishing over 100 manuscripts, book chapters, and books.
Griffy-Brown is a former Fulbright Scholar, and holds a doctorate degree in technology management from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. She has worked for NASA in programming at the Kennedy Space Center and served as a consultant for the United Nations Global Environmental Facility and the European Commission.

Her background includes over 25 years of dedicated experience working with executive boards and leading-edge technology companies. She created significant growth, stronger rankings, and impact as a leader at the Pepperdine Graziadio School of Business before joining Thunderbird. Her cross-sectoral leadership engaging government, academia, and industry reflects her commitment to the interdisciplinary development of global and digital leaders.

In addition to her current work in higher education, Griffy-Brown has been a featured speaker sponsored by the U.S. State Department in transitional economies such as Bangladesh and Bulgaria. She has worked with government advisors and heads of state, as well as CIOs from the U.S. Treasury Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FDIC, and NASA. Her research, consulting, and workshops with companies such as Coca-Cola Reyes, Honda, Hilton Hotels, and Pratt-Whitney Rocketdyne/Boeing demonstrate her unique skill set in expanding perspectives on technology deployment to achieve strategic objectives.

Griffy-Brown has received numerous accolades, including the Outstanding Leadership Award and the George Award for her work in data privacy and cyber risk at Pepperdine University. Recognized as one of Pepperdine’s outstanding faculty with the Howard A. White Teaching Award, she has also received special congressional recognition for her contributions to helping small and medium-sized companies and nonprofits address cyber risk.

With extensive experience living and working in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, and the United States,  Griffy-Brown brings a global perspective to her engagements, enabling her to identify and solve mission-critical problems and design strategy. Her published work, funded by prestigious endowments and grants, solidifies her standing as a thought leader in her field.

Francis Tesmer - Global Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Economic Senator of the German Senate of Economy

Francis Tesmer is a global entrepreneur and philanthropist. With over 25 years of outstanding international business, leadership and humanitarian commitment, Francis Tesmer’s inspiring professional journey reflects her lifelong passion for social justice, economic growth, affordable education, and commitment to making the world a better place.

Matt Salmon - Special Advisor on International Affairs at ASU

Matt Salmon is a Special Advisor on International Affairs at ASU. Formerly, he represented the 5th District of Arizona for five terms in Congress. Matt served three terms before honoring a self-imposed term limit and leaving Congress in 2000, at which time he worked as a consultant to ASU on matters related to education policy. He returned to Congress in 2012 and was re-elected in 2014 and retired in 2016.Salmon was a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, serving as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and as chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. In that capacity he has led numerous delegations to China.

From 1977 to 1979 Matt lived in Taiwan as a Mormon missionary and speaks fluent Mandarin. During his tenure in Congress, he introduced several pieces of legislation to expand Taiwan’s international stature, such as the bill to include Taiwan in Interpol. In 2017, Matt joined GTI’s delegation to Taiwan for a conference with Taiwan Think Thank. Matt graduated from ASU in 1981 and holds a Master’s of Public Administration from Brigham Young University.

Moderator

Mary Rabago 

With a career spanning over 30 years in various media companies nationally and internationally, Mary Rábago has become a very well-known and respected public figure, a multi-award winning journalist. Born in Sonora, Mexico, Mary Rábago was the main news anchor of Univision Arizona as well as Univision California. Serving as correspondent for national shows such as “Noticiero Univision” and “Primer Impacto”. She is one of the “Top 10” Hispanic women with more media presence on both sides of the United States and Mexico border.

With a long list of regional and national awards for her career, she has displayed great versatility embracing every role from journalist, news anchor, reporter, producer and writer. For over a decade, Mary Rábago has taken on a new role, that of entrepreneur, opening “Mary Rabago Productions” a Marketing Agency that has already garnered national attention for their creative solutions. She has been recognized by Latina Style Magazine as Entrepreneur of the year, Cox Communication as entrepreneur of the year and Outstanding Women in Business by the Phoenix Business Journal in her short career as an entrepreneur.

Global Speakers on Trade, Wellness and AI 

Suzy Zeng

President and Co-founder of Z-Choice International

Suzy Zeng is a dynamic business leader based in the U.S., with extensive executive leadership experience in multi-national markets. She has worked in the food industry for over 20 years, including at Fortune 500 companies such as PepsiCo, Kraft, General Mills, and WhiteWave/Danone. Most recently, she was the Vice President of Market Development at Whitewave/Danone, where she led the growth of its billion-dollar brands in Asia Pacific.

Ms. Zeng’s diverse leadership experiences include business & strategy development, product innovation, executive board management, joint-venture formation, and U.S.-Asia import & export. She specializes in building strategic partnerships and navigating omni-channel marketing and eCommerce in emerging markets such as China.

Ms. Zeng is the President of Z-Choice International , a strategic development and business implementation firm dedicated to helping small- to medium-size U.S. companies grow globally—including in China—through developing go-to-market insights, strategies, implementing sales; marketing, and selecting strategic partners for local landing.

Ms. Zeng earned her Master of Science degree in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Minnesota Twin-Cities, and has completed the Executive Business Innovation Program at the IMD Business School in Switzerland. She is passionate about holistic wellbeing, holds several U.S. patents and has been invited to speak at various global innovation conferences. 

Sarah Cornett - Founder and CEO of SC Innovate

Sarah Cornett is the founder and CEO of SC Innovate, which provides AI consulting services to help clients with every aspect of their AI journey. The company's services include AI education to simplify complex AI topics for business leaders, AI strategy workshops to develop customized AI strategies to maximize ROI on AI solutions, and AI implementation of AI solutions. Sarah is passionate about AI and is committed to helping her clients benefit from AI solutions.

Sarah has firsthand experience with the complications that arise during the delivery of AI solutions. Obstacles like poor use case definition and data limitations can all impede a company's progress in implementing an AI solution. Realizing the need for a better approach to strategically implement such solutions, she founded SC Innovate. Her company utilizes her AI Strategy Development methodology to set companies up for success when implementing AI solutions.

While SC Innovate is tech agnostic, Sarah holds certifications from Marketing CRM systems HubSpot, Pegasystems, and Salesforce. Sarah is also experienced with AI cloud computing programs like AWS, and IBM Watson. Sarah is also certified in Design Thinking for Innovation.  

Sarah has 10+ years of experience in data and technology with expertise in delivering AI software. Sarah has previously held positions across Product Ownership, Product Management, and Software Delivery Management within the Banking and Technology industries. Her responsibilities included leading a team of developers to migrate machine learning AI software to AWS, deliver Pegasystems Customer Decision Hub to support enterprise business use cases, oversee all AI software delivery, develop product roadmaps, and lead design thinking sessions with business stakeholders to develop new product use cases. 

Sarah decided to align her career towards embracing AI solutions while working as a Senior Quantitative Analyst by witnessing the power of harnessing AI solutions for data modeling.

​Sarah previously worked in the banking industry as a Data Analyst and later as a Senior Quantitative Analyst supporting the Treasury department. Her responsibilities included extracting and analyzing transactional level data, developing new financial models, tuning or enhancing existing financial models, quantitative risk management, and safeguarded financial models met CCAR and DFAST economic scenario regulations. Sarah also served as a Product Owner supporting in various projects including FTP process improvements and the QRM upgrade project. 

Parking

• Surface parking lot North of building 1 and 5
• Innovation Place Parking (2 Hour Limit)
• SkySong Boulevard parking (2 Hour Limit)
• No access to parking garages

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