Nizar is a trainer on leadership, negotiation and advocacy with extensive experience across the Middle East and North Africa. He has been consulting and training diverse groups, from students, to young professionals, to executives and political figures. Between 2003 and 2008, he advised senior Palestinian officials including the President and Prime Minister.
Nizar was born and raised in Dubai, the U.A.E, studied at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and then worked for ten years in the West Bank, Palestine before immigrating to the US in 2008 to pursue a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School. Upon graduation, he became a teaching assistant with renowned leadership professors Marshall Ganz on Public Narrative and Ronald Heifetz on Adaptive Leadership. Nizar subsequently became active in both the Leading Change Network as well as the Adaptive Leadership Network, which bring together hundreds of alums to enhance their impact in government, private and civil society sectors across the globe. Currently, Nizar teaches negotiation at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and is involved in several non-violence initiatives in Palestine/Israel and the US. He is also chair of the board of the Museum of the Palestinian People in Washington D.C.
Rathana Lim Soenneker was born and raised in the countryside of Oregon with 8 siblings; 3 bio and 6 adopted children who were orphans in a refugee camp during the Khmer Rouge war in Cambodia. Her mom opened the first Cambodian restaurant in Oregon, where she spent her youth helping cook and providing table service since she was 7. She is Cambodian-Chinese and speaks Khmer (Cambodian). After high school, she went to college in Boston, MA, majoring in English and Asian American Studies. After graduation, she worked with Asian community organizations with at-risk youth and taught preschool until she moved back to Oregon in 2005.
Once home again, she spent 10 years doing IVF to create her family. She has 3 children ages 14, 9, and 4. After she gave birth to her firstborn, she battled two types of cancer. After her second born, she had brain surgery for a brain tumor. After the medical issues slowed down, she went back to her passion and started Rathana’s Catering. During the pandemic, she used her freezers of food for canceled events to feed frontline workers for free, dropping off free food at clinics, grocery stores, hospitals, covid testing sites, and other places for those who kept the world running during the pandemic. She estimates she fed over 3,500 in those two years and continues to do Thanksgiving and Christmas meals for needy families in the community.
Brittney Pioquinto is a first-generation Filipinx American, born and settled in East Portland. Their first language was karaoke, which connected Brittney with Filipinx and Asian American communities and organizations through performance and music. At 17, Brittney joined the Multnomah Youth Commission, catalyzing their work in social justice and youth advocacy. They continued on to study communications and ethnic studies at the University of Oregon while organizing with college students and identity-based groups. Currently, Brittney is a youth organizer at APANO, building power with youth of color through community organizing, leadership development, and political education. Outside of APANO, Brittney can be found jamming with the Filipino Bayanihan Center, dancing, and sharing time with the earth.
Lahaina Phillip is a Chuukese language & culture advocate, storyteller, and Community Health Worker for her local community here in Oregon. She identifies as a Pacific Islander, specifically Micronesian, originally from the islands of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. She has been working in different roles to support the Micronesian population in Oregon for over 10 years now. Through her work, she has worked on various health-themed projects specifically designed for Pacific Islanders in the community. Some of her previous work include organizing and facilitating diabetes awareness workshops in partnership with OHSU nursing students; promoted community gardening to community members in partnership with City of Portland Parks and Recreation; and co-hosted a series of culturally-specific nutrition classes with Cooking Matters. Lahaina’s current project is Learn Chuukese, a platform where she teaches the Chuukese language through different levels of learning, and creates educational materials on the Micronesian cultures and languages.
Mari Watanabe served for over 11 years as the as executive director of Partners in Diversity until she retired in April 2023. She grew the organization from a halftime position to six full-time staff with 400 employers as members across the state of Oregon and SW Washington. Partners In Diversity has won several awards including the Community Partner Award from the Portland Metro Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Award from Portland General Electric.
As executive director, she oversaw all aspects of the nonprofit whose mission is to help employers diversify and retain their workforce. Up until November 2019, Mari split her time between Partners in Diversity and Leadership Portland, a 10-month civic engagement leadership program operated by the Portland Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Prior to transitioning to the nonprofit sector, Mari’s career was in the apparel industry for over 20 years, working for corporations such as Nike, Nordstrom and Union Bay Sportswear in the development and manufacturing of apparel styles imported from across the globe.
Mari is proud to be a 2011 APAWLI Fellow of the Center for Asian Pacific Women. Other highlights include serving six years as a leader of the Oregon Commission for Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, a governor-appointed commission to help create policies that support the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. She is a founding member of the City of Beaverton Diversity Advisory Board and has served on many nonprofit boards.
The Oregon Commission for Women selected Mari as their 2023 recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum, has a diversity and inclusion certificate from Cornell University and a B.A. from Washington State University in fashion merchandising. Raised in Seattle, Mari moved to Portland in 2000.
My name is Nyna Switzer. I am a California native who currently lives in Oahu, Hawaii with my husband and corgi. I work as a fashion buyer for the Kahala brand that is owned by Tori Richard. I attended California State University, Fresno and received a bachelor’s in arts in Fashion Merchandising. As a young age I always knew I wanted to be in fashion and never knew how that would look until I got into college and followed my dream in becoming a buyer. I am very lucky to say I am in my dream job; I find so much joy in doing what I do. Plus who wouldn’t love to be a professional shopper. I also recently followed another dream and became a certified 200-hr yoga teacher. I have been practicing yoga for about eight years now and decided it was time to share my love of the practice with others. I teach two classes a week and am beyond grateful for the beautiful studio I am a part of. I also am apart of 2023 sHERO cohort, which has been an amazing experience and has helped me developed professionally and personally. I have a wonderful family that is back in California, they love to support me in my crazy ideas to travel the world and emerge myself into all different cultures. I can’t wait to see what the world brings me, but I know I will always share my love and positivity with others.
Mali Philliber is the Director of Business Development for SolluCIO Partners, an esteemed IT staffing and consulting company. With an impressive track record spanning over 20 years in executive management within the financial sector, Mali brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her role.
At SolluCIO Partners, Mali’s primary responsibility is to cultivate strong client relationships while igniting creativity to drive the growth of new business and product lines. Her collaborative approach and thought leadership plays a crucial role in ensuring seamless integration with business partners, positioning the company as a leading force in the IT industry.
Beyond her dedication to business development, Mali is a champion for women in technology leadership. As the visionary leader behind the Women Executive Leaders in Technology (WE-LIT) initiative at SolluCIO Partners, she aspires to empower women on a global scale, inspiring them to take up leadership roles and become beacons of change for future generations. The mission of WE-LIT is to create a safe platform for women executives in technology, providing them with inspiration, support, and mentorship opportunities to transform the workforce for years to come.
WE-LIT’s journey began with its inaugural webinar in March 2023, a momentous event that fostered growth and learning for all participants. Building on the success of the webinar, Mali is leading the pivot of WE-LIT to a podcast platform called “WE-LIT: Lead, Uplift, & Inspire,” set to be published by September 2023. This transition will further amplify the voices of women leaders in technology, sharing their wisdom and insights with a broader audience.
Outside of her professional accomplishments, Mali cherishes her roles as a loving wife and a devoted mother to two adult daughters, both happily married, and also a cat mom to “Dolly Parton”. She finds joy in traveling whenever the opportunity arises and delights in spending quality time with friends and family. Looking ahead, one of Mali’s heartfelt aspirations is to become a grandmother someday, cherishing the prospect of building memories with her future grandchildren.
Mali’s dedication to empowering women, fostering growth, and surrounding herself with positive influences exemplifies her unwavering commitment to making a meaningful impact in both her professional and personal life. Her passion and vision continue to shape SolluCIO Partners and inspire countless individuals to reach new heights in their careers and aspirations.
Dr. Eliza Ng serves as the Chief Medical Officer of CAIPA. She is responsible for the medical
management and quality operations for over 1,200 providers serving about half a million
patients. She is a Board-Certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist with extensive
leadership experience in both payers and provider sectors. Prior to joining CAIPA, she
held both C-level and Senior roles in organizations including RWJ Barnabas Health
System, Montefiore Health Systems and Emblem Health. Her area of expertise includes
population health and total cost of care management. She is passionate about creating
a system of care that supports high quality care and patients and providers’ quality of
well-being.
Dr Ng graduated from Yale University as an undergraduate, and went on to receive her
medical degree with Drexel University School of Medicine and her Master in Public Health
at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She is a frequent national
speaker on Value Based Care and on the Intersectionality between physical and
behavioral health.
Dominique Narciso is a High Performance Coach for Creative and Entrepreneurial Women. She
helps her students and clients overcome fear, self-doubt, and failure, in order to pursue their
higher calling.
Dom is the author of “Live Your New Story: Discover Your Best Self and Live Your Best Life” – a
memoir and coaching book that illustrates her career journey and how she overcame career loss
after moving to over six countries in ten years as a trailing spouse in the US Foreign Service.
She is also the host of the podcast “The Positive Success Show” where she inspires women
entrepreneurs and leaders to pursue their highest calling, dedicate time to personal
development, and learn from successful, positive, and influential leaders.
Dom began her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, serving on the Women +
Development Committee and hosting the country’s first Girl’s Leadership Conference and
Magazine. She went on to pursue a Master’s in Foreign Service at Georgetown University with
experiences at Women Thrive Worldwide, the US Senate, and Mercy Corps/Indonesia.
Shortly after graduate school, Dom and her partner welcomed twin daughters to the world. While
raising babies, she took a step back from her career to pursue a social impact venture, AIDWELL,
which eventually failed. But her year of trying entrepreneurship, led to writing her first article on
DEVEX, earning two scholarships to prestigious conferences, and a belief that anything was
possible.
After her attempt at business, Dom joined the Foreign Service and served as a Consular Officer in
Lima, Peru, while welcoming her third daughter. Although she had reached what seemed to be a
dream job, after much reflection, she realized her true calling was in teaching, coaching, and
mentorship. Dom left her career in international affairs to pursue her own business in coaching
ambitious and high achieving women to find their unique voice. Today, Dom has spoken at the US
Embassy in Korea and Australia, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business,
Fulbright Program, and McKinsey & Co. in South Korea. She continues to dream big and serve
others. Dom’s next big goal is to do a TEDx during her posting in Australia.
She currently resides in Canberra with her wife and three daughters.
You can find more about Dom at http://www.domnarciso.com.
Alana Rich is a genre-fluid pop artist. Combining danceable sounds and lyrically enigmatic rhetoric, her songs leave the listener with a mystifying energy. Rich has independently written and released a handful of singles within the past years, which has garnered her over half a million streams and spotlights at the NBA Trailblazers halftime show and news television stations, performance features on international tours, as well as a handful of global brand collaborations (Raycon Global, Beatstars). She was named one of the the Top 25 Independent Artists to Watch (Music Connection Magazine) and continues to demonstrate her versatility off-stage as an event curator & host of various events across the Pacific Northwest, including Pop Fever, a music & arts showcase that amplifies AANHPI artists and rising pop voices in the creative industry. Learn more about Alana Rich at www.alanarich.com and on her social platforms.
Tutti coaches cofounders and tech leaders to embrace their unique leadership style to achieve professional impact and sustainable company culture. She focuses on working with women, people of color, and immigrants. Previously she was a design leader at design firms, startups, and large companies, including Disney and Facebook. Tutti writes for Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, and Fast Company and her first book Make Space to Lead shows high achievers how to reframe our relationship to work. She’s currently bewitched with her second book, Hardworking Rebels: How Asian American Women Claim Their Integrated Leadership.
Tutti grew up in seven countries on three continents and is settled in San Francisco as her home base. She spends her time parenting two spirited girls, obsessively reading, and paddling out for the next wave. Find her at tuttitaygerly.com.
Transformational Speaker, Movement Artist Inclusioinist Founder, Infinite Flow Dance
Sandy’s coaching helped me better understand the process of shaping my Public Narrative. She understands the Asian American experience and helped me put together pieces of my own story during the workshop. I was so inspired by her approach, heart and coaching. I ended up booking a couple 1:1 sessions with her after the workshop to prepare for my TED talk. Her insights and feedback were spot on.
Do you find yourself having to adapt to a wide array of challenges amid uncertainty? Learn the practice of leadership through Public Narrative – telling stories that enable others to respond with agency rather react out of fear.
Inspire people to achieve a collective goal when you register for Inspire Leadership School’s Public Narrative training! You will learn how to develop your Story of Self to motivate people to join you in achieving a common goal. Inspire Leadership School’s course modeled after Harvard Kennedy School Professor Marshall Ganz’s leadership framework.
