News Room

Financial Women of San Francisco has been making news in business and financial circles for more than 60 years. Scan the articles below to see all the ways we advance the success of today’s women in finance throughout the Bay Area.

Financial Women of SF Celebrate International Women's Day

On Thursday, March 5th, Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) held a sold-out International Women's Day event at the Wharton School, where over 150 people, mostly women, received valuable insights from executives and leaders in the Bay Area's business and financial community.

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Economic Trends and Outlook for 2020

On Thursday, November 7, 2019, FWSF and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business hosted a panel discussion centered around the new California Law that requires companies to have women serve on their boards. Most companies in our state have to have at least one woman serve on their boards of directors by the end of this year. By the end of 2021, they'll need three. It is not hard to find qualified women to serve on corporate boards. The issue is how to change the mindset of companies to create boards that value diverse perspectives and mindsets, thereby creating a more balanced corporate board. Companies need to be committed to looking beyond the traditional board criteria. 

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Building A Financial Future: Women & Wealth

What’s the single most important thing to do to build a successful financial future? That was one of the questions asked, and answered, at the Financial Women of San Francisco’s (FWSF) Women & Wealth Panel on Tuesday, February 11. The powerhouse panel featured Elaine Martyn, Vice President, Relationship Management for the Private Donor Group at Fidelity Charitable®, Susan Mazzetti, Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Leslie Miller, Financial Advisor and Owner, Miller Pacific Financial Advisors Margaret Reid, Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager, The Private Bank at Union Bank, and Sabrina Ho Stimel, Tax Partner, KPMG LLP, with Jane Hartley, Director, Private Wealth Advisor, Private Wealth Management, Union Bank, moderating.

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Women on Boards—Changing the Landscape of the Corporate Board

On Thursday, November 7, 2019, FWSF and UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business hosted a panel discussion centered around the new California Law that requires companies to have women serve on their boards. Most companies in our state have to have at least one woman serve on their boards of directors by the end of this year. By the end of 2021, they'll need three. It is not hard to find qualified women to serve on corporate boards. The issue is how to change the mindset of companies to create boards that value diverse perspectives and mindsets, thereby creating a more balanced corporate board. Companies need to be committed to looking beyond the traditional board criteria. 

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Master Class: Diversity and Inclusion Discussion

On October 29, 2019, at the Robert Half office in San Francisco, nearly 50 women gathered to hear a panel of highly accomplished professionals discuss diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace. This engaging event attracted attendees who were interested in learning more about progress that is being made within organizations focusing on building positions and programs focused on diversity and inclusion. This Master Class event provided a forum to discuss the past, current and future diversity and inclusion efforts within organizations.

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Kathleen Nielsen, 2018 FWSF President, 2020 Distinguished FWSF Member of the Year

Continuing a tradition, the board nominated members both from the board and from the membership at large for this award. The announcement of the winner was made at the annual Holiday Party on December 4th. Congratulations to all the nominees and especially to the winner, Kathleen Nielsen.

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Embrace the Unexpected

On Friday, October 11th, Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) honored one of the Bay Area financial industry’s most inspiring leaders, Terri Kallsen, former executive vice president, Investor Services at Charles Schwab. FWSF’s 24th Annual Financial Woman of the Year event highlighted Terri Kallsen’s outstanding career and accomplishments. Terri exemplifies FWSF’s guiding principles: lead, mentor, inspire. She also shares FWSF’s passion for advancing the careers of women, demonstrated through her leadership as a successful woman in financial services. She mentors those looking to advance their career within financial services, with an emphasis on financial planning.

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Meet a Member - Barbara Morrison

Meet Barbara Morrison, Founder and President at TMC Financing

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Meet a Member - Vicki Cocchiarella

Meet Vicki Cocchiarella, Sr. Manager, Strategic Sourcing, Workplace at Uber Technologies, Inc.

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Becoming Resilient – Bouncing Back from Mistakes and Failures

On September 18th, Financial Women San Francisco, in a joint event with the San Francisco Bank Attorneys, hosted Sara Holtz, podcast producer and host of “Advice to My Younger Me.” For the past three years, Sara has been speaking to very successful women from all sorts of backgrounds – business and technology executives, journalists, academics, lawyers, authors, coaches and consultants – about what they wished they had known earlier in their careers. One of the consistent themes is the need to take risks.

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EVENT RECAP Zin and Zen – an evening of meditative drawing and wine tasting!

This is the first in a series of interviews with a previous FWSF scholarship winner. In these interviews we plan to provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the scholarship has contributed to the winner’s career advancement as well as the advancement of other women in finance and financial services.

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Behind the Scenes with Previous Scholarship Winner Barbara Janczer

This is the first in a series of interviews with a previous FWSF scholarship winner. In these interviews we plan to provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the scholarship has contributed to the winner’s career advancement as well as the advancement of other women in finance and financial services.

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Aug 2019 - Federal Reserve Bank: Private Luncheon and Tour, “Current Economic Trends in the U.S. and Asia”

On July 10, 2019, Financial Women of San Francisco (FWSF) hosted an industry leadership event at the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of San Francisco. The sold-out event, held in the Janet Yellen Conference room, featured speaker Liz Laderman, senior outreach economist, FRB of San Francisco, and Cindy Li, manager, Country Analysis Unit, FRB of San Francisco. who gave insights into current economic trends in the U.S. and Asia, respectively.

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FWSF Scholarship Mentoring Program — Behind the Scenes with FWSF Board Mentorship Co-Chair, Krystle Chow

The scholarship mentoring program pairs each scholarship recipient with a personal mentor. Each mentoring relationship is unique and customized to the needs of the mentee and mentor involved depending on their goals. The structured mentoring program lasts for one year beginning with the receipt of the scholarship award. There are typically two to three fun group events such as a luncheon, or most recently a session with a personal branding coach on fashion for the workplace. Some mentees and mentors continue to keep in touch for months or years after the first mentoring year.

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Finance of the Future: A master class on digital finance technologies

On Tuesday, June 25, over 150 attendees gathered to attend FWSF’s master class on Digital Finance Technologies. The event was sponsored by Oracle and held at Uber. Leading Bay Area finance leaders from Oracle, Salesforce, and Uber discussed how AI, machine learning, chatbots, and other emerging technologies are reshaping the finance function for our digital future. They spoke about automating high-volume, high-transaction processes such as procurement, expense processing, and accounts payable; as well as how these emerging technologies can augment the decision-making process in strategic finance processes such as planning, forecasting, and strategic modeling.

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