Speakers
Ije-Enu N. Udeze Nwosu, Head of Impact Spending, Kaiser Permanente
UK born. California raised. Daughter of Nigeria. As a global child, Ije knows representation matters and so does connection. Currently, Ije serves as the Head of Impact Spending at Kaiser Permanente, leading its national Total Health Spend Optimization portfolio to ensure that spending decisions are environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially equitable. With a focus on bolstering spending in communities with the highest needs, Ije has oversight of sustainability, national supplier diversity, and economic community impact. In addition she leads KP POWER, amplifying gender-focused activities that attract, retain, and equitably advance women at Kaiser Permanente. She was formerly the Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, she was with the University of California system.
Ije serves on the boards of Girls Inc. of Alameda County, MAKERS@, Linkage – Advancing Women Leaders, and the Center for Environmental Health. She was named a Top 40 Under 40 executive by the San Francisco Business Times and was recognized by Modern Healthcare with the Up and Comer award and as one of the Top 10 Minority Executives in Healthcare to Watch. She co-founded Utuh USA, Inc. to promote economic revitalization in Eastern Nigeria and The Pink Couch, a movement focused on changing the world one uncomfortable conversation at a time. Ije earned an MBA from Pepperdine University, a BA in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, completed an Executive Leadership Residency at Harvard Business School and is a Carol Emmott Fellow.
Ije believes if no one is asking you to dance, then throw your own party! Don’t wait for permission or an invitation. Once you decide it is worth it, anything is within your reach.
Jessica Ross, EVP Finance and Chief Transformation Officer, Salesforce
Jessica Ross is responsible for developing and delivering the global Finance organization’s vision and roadmap for scale and growth, Finance M&A, as well as driving operations excellence for the company through Global Shared Services. Jessica brings over 20 years of cross-industry experience spanning consumer business, healthcare and technology. She leads with her values as the Executive Sponsor of BOLDforce, the Black employee resource group, as well as serves on the Salesforce Ethical Use Advisory council, comprised of academics and experts working to ensure technology is used to help society and uphold the basic human rights of all. Most recently, Jessica joined the Board of All Raise, whose mission is focused on increasing the number of female founders and funders in tech.
Jessica is an active California CPA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Katy Brown, Vice President, Enterprise Commercial, West Region, Microsoft & PBWC Board Chair and President
Katy Brown is Vice President for Microsoft’s Enterprise Commercial West Region with $2.1B + in revenue, responsible for directing sales, services and partner efforts across Northern and Southern California, CO, AZ, UT, NV, OR and WA.
A twenty-four-year Microsoft veteran, Katy has a proven track record for delivering strategic initiatives and sales programs to drive overall growth. Before her current role, Katy held the position of Regional Vice President for Northwest Region and previously the General Manager for the NorCal District. She also held the position of General Manager – US National Sales Excellence, where she led a world-class sales team, orchestrating breakthrough development on customer satisfaction, innovation on sales enablement tools, planning and processes, and the overall leadership of the Sales Excellence community.
In her pursuit of sales excellence and customer loyalty, Katy has been recognized with several awards for her sales achievement, management, and leadership. Katy is especially proud of her team for winning the FY14 and FY16 District of the Year and, most recently, in FY20 with West Region winning, Region of the Year.
A native of San Francisco, Katy has a B.S. in managerial economics from the University of California, Davis. Her executive education includes IBM Advanced Business Institute and advanced leadership courses at Microsoft. Katy has three daughters, Sarah, Molly, and Emily, and enjoys running and yoga in her spare time.
Shazia Safi, RN, MSN, Kaiser Permanente
Shazia Safi, RN, MSN, serves as a Women’s Health Nursing Director at Kaiser Permanente. Her background as an immigrant, living on the hyphen, has ignited a passion in her to also lead in the equity, inclusion, and diversity spaces. As a workforce diversity lead, and as the national president for KP’s largest business resource group, she helps with the adoption of effective practices and programs to increase employee engagement, professional development, and a greater sense of belonging.
