Microsoft is bringing together key groups in the San Francisco area that are helping support and build the start-up and entrepreneur community. Please join:-Penny Delgadillo, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia and 85 Broads Power Circle member Barbara Kasoff, President/CEO of Women in Public Policy Kathleen Thurmond, President, National Association for Women... [read more]

Microsoft is bringing together key groups in the San Francisco area that are helping support and build the start-up and entrepreneur community. Please join:-Penny Delgadillo, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia and 85 Broads Power Circle member Barbara Kasoff, President/CEO of Women in Public Policy Kathleen Thurmond, President, National Association for Women Business Owners (S.F.) Sepideh Nasiri, Director of Corporate Sponsorships and Events at Women 2.0 About the Presenters: Penny Delgadillo is Microsoft’s Us Subsidiary Office 365 Launch Lead. She has been with Microsoft for the last six years, having joined the company from FrontBridge. She is a seasoned marketing professional and has spent the last 11 years working with companies of different sizes on marketing. Penny holds a BA from UCLA.  Sharon Vosmek is CEO of Astia, an organization whose mission is to create an inclusive community to support women entrepreneurs and help them impact today's global economy. She has an unwavering passion and uniquely well-suited background to drive forward the company’s mission of propelling women-owned, high growth, entrepreneurial businesses to success. Sharon draws from her expertise in public policy, economic gender analysis, management consulting and entrepreneurship to build Astia’s powerful network of diverse resources that serve to mobilize and help promising, women-led businesses thrive. Barbara Kasoff is President and Co-Founder of Women Impacting Public Policy, Inc. (WIPP), a nonpartisan public policy advocacy organization advocating on economic issues, with more than half a million women business owners including 59 small business organizations.WIPP was founded in June of 2001. Barbara previously owned Voice-Tel of Michigan, a voice messaging enterprise, Voice Response Corporation, a database marketing company and in a global expansion opened Voice-Tel of Australia and New Zealand. Barbara incorporated her skills in management and communications, empowering her companies to secure a solid foothold in the rapidly expanding world of communications.Prior to becoming a business owner, Barbara previously served as a Senior VP of Research and Software Development for World Computer Corporation.  Kathleen Thurmond brings more than 20 years of executive experience in corporate and non-profit settings. Leveraging a collaborative leadership style, she functions with a sense of urgency and a passion and commitment for supporting women and girls to find their leadership voice, a voice without limits that unfolds through conversation and emerges with a new understanding and creative solutions. Currently Ms. Thurmond serves as President of the Board of NAWBO-SFBA (National Association of Women Business Owners, San Francisco, as Treasurer on the Board of California Common Cause, and on the Board of Girls Inc. She previously spent 12 years as the CEO of a uniform rental company and 9 years in non-profit management. Thurmond holds a graduate certificate in Environmental Business from Presidio Graduate School, an MBA from the University of Southern California, an MSW from Washington University, and a BA from Southern Methodist University. She also is a licensed clinical social worker.Sepideh Nasiri (“Sepi”) is responsible for securing global corporate sponsorships as well as directing and planning events for Women 2.0, an organization aimed at increasing the number of women entrepreneurs and founders in the technology space. Prior to Women 2.0, Sepi was actively involved in numerous up and coming technology companies helping them with project management and marketing. She is an avid technology and fashion enthusiast, and a frequent tweeter (you can follow her at @SepidehN).