Pinnacle 2008 Winners

In her 20+ year career, Brenda has consistently hired, developed, mentored and enhanced the lives of women. At AMN Healthcare, Brenda is responsible for the housing of thousands of traveling healthcare professionals and all insurance and related benefits. She has also been responsible for attracting and recruiting top talent, including several women in leadership roles. In Brenda’s direct responsibilities, she has positively empowered over 50 women.  Following Peregrine’s restructuring, Brenda created a women’s networking group to assist in resume creation, interviewing and networking techniques. While at Encad/Kodak she developed a formal corporate mentoring program to provide one-on-one mentoring for high performing individuals. Women seeking professional council and guidance are naturally attracted to Brenda’s warm, engaging and nurturing personality. She has also shared this empowering quality with women outside of her companies. The mentoring she provides is from the heart and has successfully helped many to advance in their careers.

Nancy Taylor’s passion for growing the next generation of women scientists and engineers is evident in her everyday work and well beyond. While supporting the 42 local school districts in science learning and curriculum implementation in her administrative role at the San Diego County Office of Education, she has gone beyond all expectations of instructional leadership to build networks and alliances that engage the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) community at large. Her contagious enthusiasm for serving the needs of teachers and students, specifically young women and underrepresented populations is evident in the broad range of programs she has developed. Nancy is co-founder of the Better Education for Women in Science and Engineering (BE WiSE) program of the San Diego Science Alliance. BE WiSE brings girls in grades 7-12 together with practicing women scientists for unique and exciting science and engineering learning experiences. Since 1999, BE WiSE has engaged young women representing 83% of the region’s schools in over 80 scientific venues in San Diego county. Nancy’s visibility as a leader in this program has garnered the confidence of school leaders and women in science to advance efforts to engage young women in opportunities to expand their horizons.

Prior to law school, Karen served as a captain in the United States Army where she was a role model who inspired, empowered, encouraged and promoted hundreds of women to reach their full leadership potential. As a commander, Karen was responsible for all aspects of the professional success, growth and advancement of the women in her command. Karen estimates that she personally promoted more than 20 enlisted women and mentored and/or directly recommended for promotion more than 25 women to and within the non-commissioned officer ranks. As a lawyer at Cooley Godward Kronish, Karen serves as co-chair of  the firm’s strategic women's initiative, C.R.A.W.L., which stands for the Cooley Commission on the Retention and Advancement of Women Lawyers. This program is designed to benefit Cooley's women attorneys by advancing their professional skills and opportunities both in the firm and in the practice of law. Over 30 women participated in and benefited from C.R.A.W.L. events in 2008.      Karen helped found Ms. JD, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation serving U.S women in the legal profession. Since Ms. JD’s inception in 2006, Karen has served on the Board of Directors and as the Chief Financial Officer. Ms. JD’s mission seeks to improve the experiences of women in law school and the legal profession. Through Karen’s extraordinary vision, staunch organizational skills and exemplary leadership, Ms. JD has helped literally thousands of women lawyers and aspiring lawyers all across the nation.

As a member of SAIC’s Engineering, Science and Technology Council and its former co-chair, Pam recommended women for high-visibility science and technology tasking. Moreover, she promoted, rewarded, encouraged and distinguished their technical accomplishments. She also energized experts to advise and mentor the next generation of women leaders. In another industry this might sound common, however, in the defense and information technology industries, it is not common to see a woman receive visibility and be promoted into a leadership and management position. Pam has actively helped other women achieve visibility in their career. Pam recently moved to UCSD where she petitioned senators and the Congress to increase the advanced positions and opportunities nationally for women in science, mathematics, and engineering. Pam’s achievement in her professional career has paved the way for many women behind her. The typical stereotyping notion that women cannot excel in math and science has been dispelled with her great and rare accomplishments.

 Cooley has instituted a number of programs to empower and promote women. The firm has publicly committed to a “no glass ceiling” pledge, formed a committee dedicated to retaining women, instituted programs to address mentoring and morale of women attorneys, and implemented flexible and reduced work schedules. Since January 2005, 51% of the new Cooley attorneys are women, 35% of attorneys in San Diego are women, and 18% of all partners are women. In 2009, 43% of the associates promoted to partner are women, an improvement from 33% in 2008. In 2008, Cooley San Diego created a Commission on the Retention and Advancement of Women Lawyers, known as CRAWL. This women’s initiative focuses on promoting the professional development of women lawyers at the firm, helps refine professional and leadership skills and addresses a variety of issues including mentoring, leadership, work/life balance, and career advancement. Cooley ranks in the top 75 U.S. law firms. The San Diego office has evolved into the preeminent law practice serving technology and life sciences companies, venture funds and investment banks in Southern California.