On Women’s Equality Day, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG) hosted a Call to Leadership: A Celebration of Women Leaders event at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. The event had more than 400 women in attendance, including female executives, rising stars at Silicon Valley companies, and students off all ages. The gathering was held to celebrate the 100thanniversary of the US House of Representatives passing legislation that would ultimately allow women the right to vote.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi—the first female in US history to hold this position—attended and participated in a fireside chat with US Representative Anna Eshoo. eBay’s SVP & General Counsel Marie Oh Huber introduced Rep. Eshoo alongside NASA astronaut Megan McArthur. Speaker Pelosi acknowledged that there has been significant progress in terms of getting more women elected to the US Congress and into leadership positions, but much more work remains. She noted that women must be deliberate in supporting each other in their careers and encouraged more women to run for office.
Marie Oh Huber also spoke on a Women in Innovation panel with female executives from the Bay Area. This panel was moderated by Audrey Cooper, Editor in Chief of the San Francisco Chronicle, and highlighted personal stories from panelists about rising through the ranks as women. Marie emphasized the importance of exposing girls to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) education at young ages while highlighting some of eBay’s career development and community initiatives. Many of the panelists offered inspiring advice to the women in the audience: don’t be afraid to take career risks and never give up even if you run into roadblocks.
Other participants on the Women in Innovation panel included:
- Jennifer Friel Goldstein, Head of Business Development, Technology and Healthcare, Silicon Valley Bank
- Zoe Cruz, Strategic Advisor, Ripple and Founder & CEO, EOZ Global
- Rhonda Johnson, President, AT&T California
- Ruth Cotter, SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Human Resources & Investor Relations, AMD
- Loni Mahanta, Vice President for Public Policy Development, Lyft
- Revathi Advaithi, CEO, Flex
- Lisa Ferrigno, Vice President of Internal Audit, Chief Audit Executive, NETGEAR
eBay would like to thank SVLG for organizing such an inspirational event. It was an honor to participate in this celebration of women with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Anna Eshoo, and all of the girls and women from throughout the Bay Area who attended.