Events

Past Events

Bay Area Host Committee x Golden State Valkyries - Speaker Series Launch - February 13, 2025

On February 13th the Bay Area Host Committee launched its inspiring 18-month speaker series building on its mission to Unite the Bay Through Sport. 

The speaker series tip-off event in partnership with the Golden State Valkyries and NBA All-Star weekend, discussed the current and future state of women's basketball's and its commitment to legacy impact. The amazing panel was moderated by Kerith Burke, NBC Sports Bay Area and featured: Cathy Engelbert, Commissioner of the WNBA; Jess Smith, President, Golden State Valkyries and Charmin Smith, Head Coach, Cal Women's Basketball. The event was hosted in the Golden State Valkyries newly renovated, World-Class Performance Center in Oakland, CA.

Attendees had an incredible and unique opportunity to connect with the panel, BAHC leadership, Bay Area business leaders, state and local officials, athletes, and influencers. 

Future panel discussions will explore ongoing topics relevant to the Bay Area community, including women's empowerment, innovation, entrepreneurship, and community impact. Stay tuned for scheduling information and participants.

WISE SF Bay Area and WISE National is proud to recognize that many of the remarkable women who; participated on the panel, are part of the leadership of BAHC and organized the event as well as many attendees are WISE Members and Leaders. Among the WISE Leadership in attendance was Kathleen Francis, WISE President and National Chair!

WISE SF Bay Area  SPEED MENTORING ROUNDTABLES - JANUARY 15, 2025

It begins and ends with great mentors, and the WISE SF Bay Area roster of mentors delivered at our Speed Mentoring Roundtables, our first event of 2025! We extend a BIG THANK YOU to the amazing women as well as the members and non-members who came to network, ask questions, listen and learn.

Special thanks to @meliora - https://experiencemeliora.com/ for supporting WISE SF Bay Area Speed Mentoring. Additional thanks to Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling for jumping in and providing refreshments for our mentors and attendees. And final thank you to the staff at Nixon Peabody for welcoming us into their space.

If you attended as a member, great to see you.

If you attended as a non-member we hope you were inspired and are interested in attending more of our events. Better yet, we hope you join us as a member.

2025 SMR Mentors:

  • Alison Lu - Vice President, Business Strategy & Analytics, San Francisco 49ers
  • Andrea Lepore - Vice President, Brand Partnerships, Oakland Roots Sports Club
  • Amanda Ehrhardt - Founder at Meliora
  • Gail Hunter - Director, Worldwide Events, Apple
  • Kristen Gambetta - Partner Marketing, Amazon Music
  • Maggie Connor - Director, Global Sponsorships & Brand Experience, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • Sara Grauf - Senior Vice President, Experience Development, San Francisco Giants Enterprises
  • Sheena Way - Vice President, Content & Programming, Golden State Warriors
  • Veronne Clark - Director of Community, Golden State Valkyries
  • Airikuh Anderson - Executive Consultant, Sports Sponsorships and Community Relations
  • Carli Thomas - Assistant Athletics Director, Major Gifts, Stanford Athletics

WISE SF Bay Area - Women of Inspiration Brunch - December 13, 2024

SOLD OUT!!

WISE SF Bay Area celebrated our Inaugural Women of Inspiration, presented by Bay FC and Sutter Health on Friday, December 13th at Hotel Via - 138 King Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. Over 80 WISE SF Bay Area members enjoyed networking, and being inspired by our panel, and one another!

Bay FC (the first NWSL team in the Bay Area) was co-founded by four U.S. Women's National Team legends: Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne. This year marked Bay FC's Inaugural Season. In celebration of the team, its focus on fans, community, diversity, equity and inclusion, WISE SF Bay Area will be welcoming Co-founder, Brandi Chastain along with SVP of Revenue, Heather Pease sharing their experiences and insights on launching a brand new women's soccer franchise.

Big shout out to our Title Sponsors, Bay FC and Sutter Health for supporting WISE SF Bay Area as well as our supporting partners; V Group and Meliora for their work in bringing this event to life.

We loved seeing everyone at Hotel Via. Hope you love headshots and were inspired by our panel.

RECAP: WISE SF Bay Area X Bay Area Host Committee - October 15, 2024

On a perfect evening, in a spectacular setting, WISE SF Bay Area welcomed over 100 attendees to listen and engage in a panel event featuring the Bay Area Host Committees top executives; President and CEO, Zaileen Janmohamed, Karina Herold, COO and Gabby Turner, VP of Marketing and Partnerships were part of a very special eventing.

What is the Bay Area Host Committee? An organization dedicated to bringing World-Class sporting events to the Bay Area while focusing on having those events make a positive impact on the region. https://new.bayareahostcommittee.com

Zaileen Janmohamed shared her intentional effort to have her executive team be made up of women! She dove into the role of the BAHC’s responsibility in bringing World Class Events to the Bay featuring NBA All Star in February 2025, NFL Super Bowl scheduled for February 2026 and FIFA World Cup26™

Why Women? As President and CEO, Zaileen noted that over the years she has worked with women who are “rock stars” but have never been given a chance to serve in leadership positions. Her high standard for the organization she’s leading has a small window to achieve success. They know they are setting the bar high and want their work to be an example for the next group of women leaders.

When asked how do these amazing female executives balance work and life?  Zaileen answered, “Do what you love, that’s the balance. Moms are amazing, women are amazing.”

WHY WISE?

Because WISE is an organization that supports and helps women who are searching for a new job, looking for a mentor or just want to find a community that pushes its members forward.

Recap: WISE On Tap with Anchor Brewing

May 23, 2018

On Tuesday, May 22nd, WISE and Anchor Brewing Company hosted "WISE On Tap", an event designed to learn more about sports partnerships and the art of craft beer.

In addition to learning from Anchor Brewmaster Jen Jordan and SF Giants head of sponsorships Michael Martin, we took a VIP tour of the brewery, sampled their amazing assortment of beers, and ate tacos from Frank Grizzly's Taco Truck.

A great evening - cheers to WISE and Anchor!

Power play event. Pictured from the left: Amy Switzer, Pam Javandel, Loryn Ferreira, Zaileen Janmohamed, Mariana Alvaro, Megan Otto

Recap: Power Play with GMR Marketing

March 26, 2018

Thanks for joining us for an insider's look at the women of GMR Marketing! Our panel shared their experience managing strategic consulting & execution for global events like the Olympic Games & FIFA World Cup.

From the left:
Amy Switzer, Pam Javandel, Loryn Ferreira, Zaileen Janmohamed, Mariana Alvaro, Megan Otto

Recap: WISE Networking Scavenger Hunt!

March 13, 2018

Thanks to all who joined us at the WISE networking happy hour! Our event, held at Greens Sports Bar in San Francisco, featured a scavenger hunt to network with new people, drink specials, and great raffle prizes from the San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Earthquakes and Oakland A's.

A WISE Evening with the Women of the Golden State Warriors

October 27, 2017

Following an exclusive photo opportunity with the 2017 Larry O’Brien NBA Championship trophy, WISE SF hosted a fantastic panel of Golden State Warriors executives who will shared their experiences, advice, and insights into running a championship organization.

We were joined by the following Warriors panelists:

  • Gail Hunter - VP, Public Affairs & Event Management & Former WISE Woman of the Year winner
  • Joanne Pasternack - ‎VP, Community Relations & Executive Director, Warriors Community Foundation
  • Gracie Mercado - VP, Human Resources

With a special appearance from Warriors hype-man Franco Finn!

WISE SF Bay Area Members at a workshop sitting at tables with their laptops

Leveraging LinkedIn to Build Your Personal Brand

October 27, 2017

Stephanie Martin provided a very informative session with some great tips to boost your personal brand on LinkedIn.

Stephanie also shared some examples below of LinkedIn profiles that do a great job showcasing their personal brand and using the platform to tell their stories:

We hope you learned a lot during the workshop and were able to implement key changes on your own LinkedIn accounts! If you have any photos from the event, please be sure to share and post - tag us @wisesfbayarea & with #wiseworks. We look forward to seeing you at our next event,WISE SF Bay Area

About BrandForward
We believe an athlete’s story isn’t confined to the field of play. That’s why we created BrandForward - to help athletes tap into the power of their platform. By focusing on not only what drives the player, but more importantly, what drives the person, BrandForward helps athletes translate their skills and passions into a brand that goes beyond the game and into the next phase of their careers. To learn more, visit bfwdsports.com