Women In Power 'Leadership in the Boardroom'

A panel of preeminent female executives sharing hard-earned insights and experiences from their rise to the top of their professions.

Launched in 2008, the Women in Power speakers series has connected hundreds of young women leaders from a variety of backgrounds with high-profile women leaders in the political, legal, business, and civic fields. Acting as role models, these women leaders have touched the lives of many, sharing their stories and experiences of achieving professional success with future generation of women leaders. With an Annual Luncheon and exclusive networking events held throughout the year, the Women in Power program fosters a community built on leadership, inspiration, and mentorship.

Featuring

Cyndie M. Chang (Moderator)
Managing Partner of the Los Angeles Office
Duane Morris LLP

Chang is currently the youngest female minority managing partner of a major American law firm--Duane Morris LLP (Los Angeles Office). In 2010, Chang was one of the 20 lawyers ranked "Best Lawyers Under 40" by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). Chang served as President of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association and is an Executive Officer at NAPABA. In 2014, the Daily Journal recognized her one of "The Top 100 Women Lawyers in California." Chang is also the Pro Bono Coordinator for Duane Morris Los Angeles and an inaugural Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity.

Linda Griego
President and Chief Executive Officer
Griego Enterprises Inc.

Since 1986, Griego has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Griego Enterprises, a business management company overseeing entrepreneurial and historic renovation projects. Between 1990 and 2000, Griego was appointed: Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles; President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Community Development Bank; and President and Chief Executive Officer of Rebuild LA, which was responsible for a five-year economic recovery plan following the 1992 civil unrest in Los Angeles.

Griego is currently on the board of directors of CBS Corporation and AECOM Technology Corporate. She was formerly on the boards of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Southwest Water Company, City National Bank, Granite Construction, Blockbuster Inc., Tokai Bank, and First Interstate Bank. Griego served as Public Counsel for the YMCA of Los Angeles and Trustee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for 12 years.

Jenny Ming
President and Chief Executive Officer
Charlotte Russe

Ming has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Charlotte Russe, a women's retail chain with over 500 stores throughout the United States, since 2009. She was formerly president of Old Navy, a $7 billion dollar clothing subsidiary of the Gap, for 7 years and oversaw all aspects of operations for its 900 retail outlets in the United States and Canada.

Fortune magazine listed Ming among the "50 most powerful women in American business" in both 2003 and 2004. In 2000, Businessweek magazine ranked Ming among the nation's top 25 managers. Ming currently serves on the Board of Barneys New York, the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Chinese in America, and the Board of the Merage Foundation for the American Dream. She has also served on the Board of Directors of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.

Anne Shen Smith
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Southern California Gas Company

Smith is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southern California Gas Company, the world's largest natural gas distribution utility serving over 20 million customers. Smith serves on the board of the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles, and the Southern California Leadership Council.

Smith has also served the Public Advisory Committee of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, the Los Angeles City Environmental Affairs Commission, and the Federal Advisory Committee on Personal Vehicles and Gas Reduction. She is also an advisor to the Hank Lacayo Institute for Workforce and Community, the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center, and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

Special thanks to Women in Power program sponsors: Verizon Wireless and Nielsen.

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Produced by Dark Sunny Entertainment