Bay-Area-Based Collaborative Organization Helps Consultants and Women Business Owners Succeed Through Educational and Networking Programs

/EINPresswire.com/ -- SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - April 29, 2016) - Women In Consulting (WIC), a collaborative community of professional consultants and women business owners, today announced its 2016 Board of Directors.

WIC helps its members build strong businesses through a variety of educational, mentoring and networking programs. The organization offers monthly meetings with highly regarded speakers throughout the Bay Area. Members of the email community share everything from best practices, job leads, and technical assistance to professional recommendations and productivity tools. WIC provides other benefits and services such as its new mentoring program with its popular Mastermind groups, and value-added partnerships with companies like Apple Computer and Office Depot.

"WIC focuses on support and collaboration for women business owners and consultants," said WIC's president, Deb Siegle. "WIC is the premier resource for businesses seeking industry experts to deliver high-quality results. We generously share best practices, expertise, advice and resources to expand our capabilities, shorten time frames, and take our businesses to the next level. WIC has been doing this successfully since 1998."

The 2016 WIC Board of Directors consists of the following professionals, who bring years of experience to the organization. 

President -- Deborah Siegle is in her second year as WIC's president. She previously was the vice president of membership and strategic audiences' director heading up WIC's Leaders' Network, a role she held for six years. The principal of Strategic Marketing Solutions, Deb is an authority on market research, strategy, market and product development, and customer loyalty and experience. She has a talent for aligning a company's products, solutions and messages with the customer's needs, and brings a combination of strategic and tactical skills developed through line-management experience at fast-growing companies. The "Silicon Valley Business Journal" named Deb a 2016 Woman of Influence.

Executive Vice President of Operations -- Jennifer Berkley Jackson returns for her fifth term as executive vice president of operations. She has also served as WIC's treasurer and vice president of membership. The owner and founder of The Insight Advantage, Jen has a thorough understanding of the impact of customer insight for organizations. She works across a variety of industries, giving companies the means to gather customer input via telephone interviewing, web or print surveys, and focus groups. Jen also teaches the Power of Marketing Research at University of California at Santa Cruz Extension in Silicon Valley.

Programs Vice President and Satellite Director -- Bobbie LaPorte is new to the WIC board. She is the founder and principal of Bobbie LaPorte & Associates, which provides executive-advisory and leadership-development services to Fortune 500 organizations and promising start-ups. Previously, Bobbie served in GM, COO and CMO roles in several Fortune 50 companies -- including IBM, GE and United Healthcare -- as well as in two healthcare technology start-ups. A thought leader on how to handle challenges and an endurance athlete, Bobbie understands how today's professionals can benefit from the strategies and disciplines of athletes. She is currently training for her seventh IRONMAN triathlon.

Programs Director -- Ellen Grace Henson is the new Programs Director, responsible for planning and recruiting speakers for the WIC monthly general meetings. The managing director and founder of Marketing Mechanics, Ellen Grace has been working in product management since the mid-1990s and has been consulting for 15 years. A thought leader with experience across multiple markets and technologies, she brings a combination of analysis and creativity to business and product strategy, market and customer insight, product-delivery process design, and aligning cross-functional teams to deliver high levels of customer satisfaction and strong business results.

Finance Director -- Joanne Lehmkuhl is returning as WIC's finance director for the fifth consecutive year. The owner and founder of Virtual Ms Moneypenny, LLC, Joanne provides administrative support solutions to small business owners. She helps clients free up time to generate more profits by taking noncritical, but essential, tasks off their plate. Her specialties include marketing support, client relations, online research, business systems and resources, and publishing services.

Sponsorships & Partnerships Director -- Angel Rampy is a returning board member. She served as satellite director for WIC and co-hosts the South Bay WIC meetings. As founder of Success through Learning, Angel specializes in coaching and training technical and foreign-born professionals. Her relationship-systems work with teams has earned her the reputation of being the "team whisperer." She is one of only a handful of facilitators in California who are certified in cultural intelligence.

Social Media Director -- Nancy Nelson is WIC's new social media director. She is the principal of HRProse, LLC, an HR consultancy dedicated to building HR policies and practices that work for small businesses. She is also the program chair for the HR Management certificate program at UCSC Extension Silicon Valley In addition to her work for WIC, Nancy has held various volunteer leadership positions with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) at national, state and local levels, including president of the Bay Area Human Resource Executives Council and director of the California State Council of SHRM.

Director of Mentorship Programs -- Robin Weintraub is returning as WIC's director of mentorship programs for the second year. A seasoned strategist and trusted advisor, Robin helps companies create the action roadmap to seize new growth opportunities. After running her strategy consulting firm for 15 years, Robin recently returned to the client side, accepting a full-time position with Salesforce as a director, experience strategy. She has been mentoring professional women since the early days of her career, and is committed to helping high-achieving women develop the skills they need to attain their personal and professional goals.

Corporate Secretary -- Katherine Van Diepen is new to the WIC board and is the CEO of the digital marketing agency Surfwoman, LLC. With more than 20 years of strategic sales and marketing leadership, Katherine is an expert in B2B and B2C technology marketing, and helps clients in a wide variety of industries fill their sales pipelines. She has lead global teams, and marketed to more than 90 countries worldwide. She's spearheaded initiatives in product research, development and launches. Her communications experience includes demand generation, marketing operations, product brand management, public relations, social media, website development, and direct marketing.

About Women In Consulting

Women In Consulting (WIC) is a vibrant, diverse, and powerful community of professional women who help each other build strong businesses. Founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1998, WIC provides its members and affiliates a forum to connect and share with like-minded professionals. Established as a nonprofit, collaborative community to foster successful businesses for its members, WIC sponsors programs and activities to help members network, improve their skills, and thrive. WIC also provides consulting leadership and support to the community at large. 

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