Home | About Us | Programs | Events | Membership | Sponsors | Board Members | Newsletter | Members

Leadership Conference

"Take the Lead!"

SPEAKERS

MARILEE G. ADAMS, PH.D.
Morning Keynote: Change Your Questions, Change Your Life
Dr. Marilee Adams is founder and president of the Inquiry Institute, a consultancy dedicated to advancing executive and organizational intelligence. She is also the originator of the QuestionThinking™ system, which she delineated in her first book, The Art of the Question: A Guide to Short-Term Question Centered Therapy. Her latest book, Change Your Questions, Change Your Life: 7 Powerful Tools for Life and Work, shows how to consistently choose the questions that can lead people to personal and professional success. An expert organizational consultant and executive coach, as well as a compelling professional speaker, Dr. Adams' clients have included Johnson & Johnson, NASA Goddard, and National Institutes of Health.

NICOLE SHERMAN
The Sky Is the Limit
Nicole Sherman is executive vice president/director of retail and private banking of AmericanWest Bancorporation and its subsidiary AmericanWest Bank, headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Formerly the chief executive office of Power Trainings International and senior vice president with Zions Bank based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Sherman has 22 years banking experience in commercial, retail and wealth management. Sherman was named this year by Spokane Business Catalyst Magazine as a Top 20 under 40 Rising Star. Sherman is also a corporate presenter and trainer, certified professional and personal coach, keynote and motivational speaker. She recently served as the guest speaker at the first California Bankers Association "Women in Banking" conference. Educated at Weber State University and University of Phoenix, Sherman began teaching at Pacific Coast Bankers School in 2003 and has received the highest ratings by PCBS students.

WENDY E. ROBERTS, MD, FAAD
Luncheon Keynote
Voted as a "Best Doctor" by Palm Springs Life Magazine in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Dr. Roberts' private practice is located at the Desert Dermatology Skin Institute in Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs), California. As a board-certified Dermatologist and a board-certified Dermatopathologist, Dr. Wendy E. Roberts specializes in Cosmetic Dermatology, Ethnic Skin of Color, Geriatric Dermatology and Generational Dermatology. Dr. Roberts and "The Roberts Skin Type Classification System©" inspired her recent appearance on The Today Show and a nationally televised, first of it's kind, 'skin health' program, entitled "America's Ethnic Skin" addressing the special concerns, challenges and issues affecting an increasingly diverse America.

Well-equipped by the rigors of her Stanford Medical School training, surgical and dermatology residences, and Pathology fellowship, Dr. Roberts is the founding director of Dermotopathology of Loma Linda Division of Dermatology, and served as the assistant clinical professor of medicine at Loma Linda University Medical School. A forerunner in her medical specialty, her pioneering research includes developing a dual therapy regimen for the treatment of Melasma and other disorders of facial hyperpigmentation. In 2004, Dr. Roberts founded, as a member of the Women's Dermatologic Society (WDS), a national outreach skin cancer screening program called "Play Safe in the Sun," which travels to LPGA tournaments and provides free Sun Safety education and skin cancer screenings.

Dr. Roberts is currently vice president/president-elect of WDS and is frequently quoted in national media including New Beauty, Self, Allure, Essence, Prevention, Readers Digest, O- The Oprah Magazine, CNN and XM radio, CBS and NBC television and the Los Angeles Times. She is also the author of numerous published articles and textbook chapters.

COLETTE CARLSON
He Says, She Says: The Truth About Gender Communication and How to Get Everything You Want / Interactive "Building Relationships" exercise
A nationally recognized motivational speaker, Colette Carlson infuses energy, honesty and humor into her diverse presentations on sales, negotiation, communication and balance. Her impressive corporate client roster includes Boeing, Merck, and Chevron-Texaco. In addition, she is a contributing author with Deepak Chopra and Mark Victor Hansen in the book Conversations on Success, and is featured in the recently released motivational movie, Pass It On.

KATIE FINN
Katie Finn is a certified sommelier with over 10 years in the food and wine industry. Her interest in wine started when she was a server for Fleming's Prime Steakhouse in Newport Beach while attending the University of California Irvine. Her passion continued and grew during her tenure with Roy's Restaurant in Newport Beach where she became their staff wine educator and hosted a number of private wine dinners and educational forums for their guests. Finn continued her wine career at Roy's Kahana Bar and Grill in Maui, Hawaii where she was a manager and director of wine. Currently, Finn is a sales representative with Epic Wines, a small distribution firm based in Santa Cruz, California. She also is the director of wine for Cooking with Class, a premier cooking school in La Quinta, California. Finn founded Great Legs Wine Consulting in 2007 to share her passion and knowledge with the Coachella Valley. Dubbed as the "Rachael Ray" of wine tasting, she prides herself on making wine fun and approachable.

ABOUT WOMEN LEADERS FORUM

Founded in 2001, Women Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley (WLF), a dynamic, diverse, non-partisan organization, provides leadership, mentoring and educational opportunities to women of all ages and connects members in the Coachella Valley and worldwide. WLF contributes to the empowerment of women in the Coachella Valley through its programs including Young Women Ambassadors, Wall Street Teens, Leadership Academy, Desert Women Entrepreneurs, and Scholarships. In 2008, WLF also launched a Microbank program in collaboration with The International Alliance for Women (TIAW).

WLF PROGRAMS

WLF Annual Leadership Academy is an annual event that provides leadership training to the women of the Coachella Valley through featured speakers and panelists. The program also honors an accomplished woman leader(s) in the Coachella Valley.

• Desert Women Entrepreneurs, the networking arm of Women Leaders Forum, promotes connection between women business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs seeking resources and empowerment.
• Young Woman Ambassadors is a mentoring program designed to provide life skills, social, and financial empowerment for young women. Sessions include budgeting, overcoming barriers, personal marketing, oral and written communications, and ethical behavior in the workplace. The goal of this program is to provide students' valuable actualization skills and tools to assure success in higher education and in their professional lives.
• WLF Scholarship Program provides academic scholarships to female high school students attending college, university, or trade schools as first-year students from Coachella Valley Schools.
• Wall Street Teens is an annual day-long seminar open to all Coachella Valley high school girls designed to empower them with financial and career skills. One young woman is also the beneficiary of the Mary T. Roche Seed Fund, a financial initiative that grants each recipient $500+ to invest under the supervision of a WLF Trustee. The awardee works on "growing her money" and is granted the funds upon her 21st birthday.
• WLF/TIAW Microbank Program is chaired by WLF member Margot Nelligan in partnership with The International Alliance for Women (TIAW). WLF's new Microbank Program was inspired by Indian Wells Mayor Mary T. Roche's generous donation in fall of 2007 - on behalf of WLF - to TIAW's MicroEnterprise Development Program. The first WLF-sponsored bank is being established in a small town in Mexico called Tula Hidalgo.