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Mentorship Lunch

Mentorship Lunch gives ticket holders an opportunity to sit and chat at a roundtable with a mentor. Mentorship and access to mentors is an important part of a successful career development. To speed up the process of connecting people and maximizing what one can get out of mentorship, we bring you ‘Mentorship Lunch’ sessions at our conference. We’ve put together four (4) topics at our mentorship sessions; Lunch Mentorship with Investors, with Entrepreneurs, Intrapreneurs, and Non-Profit/Social Impact leaders. 

Mentorship Lunch with Investors - Open to founders of tech startups, we match founders with angel investors or venture capitalists whose portfolios reflect similar business areas, company stages, and investment capacity. This session provides an opportunity to better understand the investor and funding process, as well a chance to form a valuable connection with an investor.

Mentorship Lunch with Entrepreneurs, Intrapreneurs and Non-Profit/Social Impact Leaders - Open to all conference attendees for fueling inspiration, growth and mutual interests amongst participants, provided each of them have a purchased conference ticket.

Seats for our Mentorship Lunch Sessions are limited and we accept people on a first come first serve basis so hurry and sign up! Did you already purchase your ticket but didn’t sign up for a Mentorship session, don't worry send us an email at info@persianwomenintech.com so we can help!

Godmother of Silicon Beach, Expert Speaker with US State Department, 3x founder, and single mom of twin boys, Cam has worked with 4000+ Entrepreneurs and 700+ startups. She is on a mission to humanize business and her vision is a global economy that…

Godmother of Silicon Beach, Expert Speaker with US State Department, 3x founder, and single mom of twin boys, Cam has worked with 4000+ Entrepreneurs and 700+ startups. She is on a mission to humanize business and her vision is a global economy that thrives on WE, not ME.

Today, Cam is on to her third company, COACCEL: The Human Accelerator, a unique 3- month program, 1-1, that focuses on building powerful, mindful leaders. COACCEL: The Human Accelerator specializes in Female Founders, though are open to Humans. Learn more at COACCEL.com.

Previously, Cam cofounded the first co-working space in Los Angeles for technology startups and entrepreneurs in 2010, Coloft, which was infamously referred to as groundzero for the LA tech ecosystem. During her four years there, Coloft had over 1400 alumni, including Uber LA, Instacart, Fullscreen and so many more.

While Cam works with men and women, she is specifically passionate about working with women because she believes that if women embrace their own deeply rooted power, they can collectively shift the energy in business and ultimately create a harmonious environment for all.

cameron (cam) kashani

Godmother of Silicon Beach / Global Speaker / 3x Founder

May is an Investor at the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm that provides seed capital and regulatory support to entrepreneurs shaping the future of cities. The Urban Innovation Fund invests in high growth startups in industries such as …

May is an Investor at the Urban Innovation Fund, a venture capital firm that provides seed capital and regulatory support to entrepreneurs shaping the future of cities. The Urban Innovation Fund invests in high growth startups in industries such as transportation, financial services, and the future of work. 73% of its portfolio companies have a woman or person of color on the founding team.

Previously, May served as a Director at Tumml, an urban ventures accelerator, where she managed the accelerator program and worked closely with the organization’s portfolio companies. During the last four years, Tumml incubated 38 startups, which created $190M in enterprise value and launched products and services for over 3.6M people.

May has a background in law and public policy. Before Tumml, she worked as a strategy consultant at a boutique venture firm in Sydney, as a corporate lawyer at an international law firm, and as Deputy CEO at the world’s largest volunteer consultancy. In addition, she has provided strategic advice to Australian governments and corporations on digital innovation and startup policy.

May earned her MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and her economics and law degrees from the University of Sydney. She is also an Australian John Monash Scholar, a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow at the Harvard Center for Public Leadership, and an Australian American Young Leadership Dialogue delegate.

May’s writing on entrepreneurship has been featured in numerous press outlets, including TechCrunch, VentureBeat, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Philanthropy News Digest, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.

may samali

Investor, Urban Innovation Fund

Sharif El-Badawi currently serves as Partner at 500 Startups, the most active venture capital firm in the world. In his role, he manages 500 Startups' MENA fund, focusing on seed stage investments in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, Sh…

Sharif El-Badawi currently serves as Partner at 500 Startups, the most active venture capital firm in the world. In his role, he manages 500 Startups' MENA fund, focusing on seed stage investments in the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, Sharif is the Chairman of the Board and Head Mentor at TechWadi, where he leads the TW100 mentors and helps bridge MENA startups with Silicon Valley. He also serves on several advisory boards for startups in the MENA region and Silicon Valley.

Previously, Sharif was the Partner Lead to VCs and Startups at Google where he worked with top tier VCs and their most promising startups on strategies that bring all of Google to their businesses. Joining from AdMob almost 7 prior, he led performance advertising strategy for Google's largest customers in North America covering Mobile, Search and Display ads. Before AdMob, Sharif was a technologist and serial entrepreneur having founded or co-founded several companies in the Consumer Internet and B2B space over twelve years. Sharif earned his MBA from UC Irvine Merage School of Business and his BS in Neuroscience from UCLA. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three children.

sharif el-badawi

Partner, 500 Startups

Manju Mude is an industry Security leader with nearly 20 years of experience in building information security, risk management frameworks and vulnerability reduction programs. She is a “Paranoid” Security Leader at Oath, where she helps lead an esse…

Manju Mude is an industry Security leader with nearly 20 years of experience in building information security, risk management frameworks and vulnerability reduction programs. She is a “Paranoid” Security Leader at Oath, where she helps lead an essential CyberSecurity team defend against adversaries to protect billions of users. Prior to joining Oath, Manju held several leadership positions, including Chief Security Officer of Splunk, Security Leader at Apple, RSA, and Bank of America. She has also spoken at many industry events, including the Security Executive Women’s Forum, Santa’s Clara Law Ethics Center, ISACA Silicon Valley.

Manju Mude

Paranoids/ Security Engineering Director, Oath

Yasmine El Baggari, a native of Morocco and San Francisco based, is the founder and CEO of Voyaj, an online platform that connects people from around the globe for one-on-one meaningful exchanges to foster global understanding. Yasmine is committed …

Yasmine El Baggari, a native of Morocco and San Francisco based, is the founder and CEO of Voyaj, an online platform that connects people from around the globe for one-on-one meaningful exchanges to foster global understanding. Yasmine is committed to creating a safe environment where the exchange of ideas will result in mutual respect and our ability to embrace our differences, to empower each other to become citizens of the world committed to a healthy, peaceful planet.

For the past four years, Yasmine’s reach includes research at Harvard University, and the U.S. State Department as an Youth Moroccan Ambassador to the United States. She has spoken at international conferences, including the World Economic Forum, the Middle East Studies Association, and Obama's Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, NPR, Forbes, and the Huffington Post. Yasmine has also received the Royal Air Maroc Award from the African Studies Association, Glamour Women of the Year Microsoft's Made Achieving Award, Hampshire College’s $60K Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, The Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, the Sander Thoenes Research Award, and two Ingenuity Awards. Recently, she was invited to the White House as one of the 100 Most Influential Travel Bloggers, and on Forbes 30 Under 30's list as one of of the most inspiring and promising entrepreneurs in Africa.

Yasmine El Baggari

Founder and CEO - Voyaj
 

Soso Sazesh is the CEO and Founder of Growth Pilots, a leading digital marketing agency that partners with best-in-class technology companies to scale their paid advertising channels. He is also the Founding Partner of Tempo Ventures, an investment …

Soso Sazesh is the CEO and Founder of Growth Pilots, a leading digital marketing agency that partners with best-in-class technology companies to scale their paid advertising channels. He is also the Founding Partner of Tempo Ventures, an investment firm that helps portfolio companies with growth and marketing challenges.

Soso sazesh

Founder & CEO, Growth Pilots

Zanoon Nissar is the Founder of Women4Good, a network of women who have a passion for social impact. Zanoon has held various roles at Google and Microsoft in Corporate Social Responsibility, and scaled Google's Giving Week into a multi-million dolla…

Zanoon Nissar is the Founder of Women4Good, a network of women who have a passion for social impact. Zanoon has held various roles at Google and Microsoft in Corporate Social Responsibility, and scaled Google's Giving Week into a multi-million dollar giving initiative. She advises social impact startups and mentors women in Silicon Valley. Ms. Nissar is an Alumni of University Of Waterloo and Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Armin Shamskhou is a two-time founder, startup advisor, and financial consultant at his boutique wealth management and financial consulting firm, ARMoney LLC. Armin exudes a passion for supporting technology startups and invests in the future of inc…

Armin Shamskhou is a two-time founder, startup advisor, and financial consultant at his boutique wealth management and financial consulting firm, ARMoney LLC. Armin exudes a passion for supporting technology startups and invests in the future of inclusive and smart tech growth, especially with deliberate emphasis on empowering women and minorities in the space. Combining his passion for technology and nonprofits, he serves as the CFO of Persian Women In Tech.

Armin Shamskhou

 CFO, Persian Women in Tech

Founder & Principle, ARMoney, LLC.

Shanna Nasiri received her B.A. in Business Marketing from the University of San Diego in 2011 and a Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, in 2016. Shanna is passionate …

Shanna Nasiri received her B.A. in Business Marketing from the University of San Diego in 2011 and a Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, in 2016. Shanna is passionate about opportunities for technology to accelerate social welfare and create sustainable impact. She values bold ideas that disrupt the status quo, collaboration, and risk-taking.

Early in her career, Shanna gained experience in market research, corporate communications, and event planning while working at technology companies, Qualcomm and InvenSense. Shanna also serves as a Board Member for Wishbone.org and GreatNonProfits.org and a mentor for Fast Forward Accelerator. Aside from her work in philanthropy, Shanna is currently a Product Marketing Manager at an AI-technology start-up in San Francisco.

Shanna nasiri

Product Marketing Manager, Compliance.ai

Amir is energized by being creative, and tapping into the opportunities for people and brands. He attended the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and the graduate program in interaction at NYU. His career began in the entertainment…

Amir is energized by being creative, and tapping into the opportunities for people and brands. He attended the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and the graduate program in interaction at NYU. His career began in the entertainment industry where his name is credited in television and feature films. As a designer, Amir has had the chance to conceive, design, plan and build digital products and experiences for the world's biggest brands, including Microsoft, Chanel, Proctor & Gamble, Paramount Pictures and Chase.

Amir has a passion for making ideas real and creating products that solve authentic human needs. Amir has helped lead efforts to align brands & products with leading roles in experience design, brand strategy, creative direction, as well as corporate branding and advertising. Most recently he conceived and executed designs for a digital directory at the World Trade Center in NYC. Currently, Amir is a Director of UX at Walmart E-Commerce, helping create innovative experiences at the convergence of physical and digital retail. Amir is also a prolific photographer, painter and facilitator of design thinking, a process for creative problem solving.

Alison Sonderegger is an Engineering Manager at Oath, where she oversees engineering teams focused on Video and Display Advertising. She is the Global Lead of the Women’s Inclusion Network ERG, which champions female advancement at Oath and provides…

Alison Sonderegger is an Engineering Manager at Oath, where she oversees engineering teams focused on Video and Display Advertising. She is the Global Lead of the Women’s Inclusion Network ERG, which champions female advancement at Oath and provides an open forum for employees to discuss the realities of women’s experiences in the workplace. Alison is an advocate for inclusion and diversity in hiring as well as managerial practice. She has spoken to a number of underrepresented groups about issues they may face in the tech industry.

Prior to Oath, Alison spent over 18 years working as a ftware gineer across various technology industries, including e-commerce site Nextag/WizeCommerce, mobile computing at Danger, Inc. (acquired by Microsoft and the precursor to Android), IP/trademark company NameProtect, not-for-profit health insurance company WEA Trust, and the early portals Excite and Snap.com. Alison holds a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Alison Sonderegger

Engineering Manager, Oath