PBWC Board of Directors

Ann Barlow - PBWC Board President and Chair
Partner and President, Peppercom West Coast Operations
As a partner and president of Peppercom's west coast operations, Ann is responsible for helping to set agency direction, grow the business, create new offerings, service clients and manage teams.  In 2005 she led the founding of GreenPepper, Peppercom's environmental sustainability offering. 

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Ann has been published in a wide range of publications on topics ranging from sustainability strategies to rebranding.  She was recently named one of the Bay Area’s Most Influential Women by the San Francisco Business Times.  Ann lives in San Ramon, Calif., with her husband, two teenage children and two spoiled beagles.

Nicole Soluri - PBWC Board Vice Chair
Senior Associate Attorney, Downey Brand LLP
Nicole Soluri is a Senior Associate Attorney in the Corporate, Securities and Tax Group of Downey Brand LLP, where her practice focuses on the representation of corporations, limited liability companies and other business entities. Prior to joining Downey Brand, Nicole was in the corporate group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC. While at WSGR, Nicole was the recipient of the John Wilson Award for outstanding pro bono legal service.  Nicole is a member of the Sacramento County Bar Association, the Women Laywers of Sacramento and the Junior League of Sacramento.   Nicole received a B.A. from Santa Clara University and a J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law.

Shirley Gordon - PBWC Board Secretary
Vice President - Operations, State Farm Insurance Companies
Over her 30+-year career at State Farm Insurance, Shirley Gordon has held numerous operations positions, culminating in her current role as vice president of operations. Shirley is also the executive sponsor for CA Continuous Renewal, Diversity & Inclusion and People Development Strategy. She is active in the community, and sits on the boards of the Northern California Center for Wellness, and the School of Business and Economics Advisory of Sonoma State University, among others.

René Kim - PBWC Board Treasurer
Senior Vice President — Product Development,
René Kim is responsible for brokerage and bank product development and management for a large financial services firm in San Francisco.  Rene has worked in financial services, including insurance, banking and brokerage for just shy of 20 years.  She is a graduate of UC Davis with majors in English and Italian and a Masters degree in Business Administration.  She lives in Lafayette with her husband and two sons. 

Jackie Speier - Emerita Board Member and PBWC Founder
U.S. Congresswoman
Representing the 12th District of California, Jackie Speier formerly served as a California State Senator, where she authored groundbreaking legislation in health care, privacy, consumer protection, child welfare, education, and prison reform; and served as Assistant Pro Tem of the State Senate, Chair of the Senate Finance, Banking and Insurance Committee, Chair of the California Legislative Women's Caucus, and others.

Debra Boblitt - PBWC Past President
Vice President - Agency, State Farm Insurance
Debra Boblitt develops vision, strategy and direction for agents and leadership in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and the New England states. In her 20 years with State Farm, she has served in such roles as Director of Marketing Programs and Assistant Vice President-Agency Sales. Debra has a MA in administration and supervision from the University of Toledo, and a CLF designation from American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Judy Bloom - PBWC Emerita Board Member
Development Officer/Director of Imprint Giving Jewish Community Endowment Fund
A founding president of the Professional Business Women of California while she served as the District Director for then-Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, Judy Bloom was also the former Executive Director of Resourceful Women. She is currently the Development Officer/Director of Imprint Giving at the Jewish Community Endowment Fund and former Director of Employer Services at Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco.

Cliff Bell - PBWC Director-At-Large
Chief Information Officer, Infogain Corporation
Before becoming CIO at Infogain, Cliff Bell was CIO of Phoenix Technologies. He was also Vice President and Chief Information Officer at two Internet startup companies, and previously served as Regional IT Director at Iomega Corporation based in Singapore. He has held IT management positions at Bay Networks and Apple Computer. Cliff holds an M.B.A. in finance from Purdue University.

Mary Ann Bianco - PBWC Director-At-Large
Vice President — Service Delivery Management, Oracle Corporation
At Oracle, Mary Ann Bianco leads a Customer Management team serving Oracle’s Global 100 Customers. Mary Ann began her career at Oracle in 1997 and has held positions in Business Development and Alliances. She has over 20 years experience in Sales, Business Development, Alliances and Customer Management primarily in the high-tech field. Prior to Oracle, Mary Ann was with Siemens Corporation as Senior Director.

Judy Love - PBWC Director-At-Large
Exec. Vice President of Middle Market Banking for North America, Comerica Bank
Judy Love has held a variety of management positions at Comerica since 1982, including President of Comerica Securities, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, Treasury, Controller, and Real Estate. She has served as the Chair of the Board for Inforum Center for Leadership in Michigan, Chair of Comerica’s Women’s Initiative, and was recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Detroit.

Marilyn Nagel - PBWC Director-At-Large
Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Cisco Systems
Marilyn Nagel brings a business-centric approach to diversity and inclusion to Cisco with a track record of proven results. She has more than six years’ experience within Cisco in roles that require large-scale change management, talent planning, and learning. Marilyn has worked in academia, corporate training, and communications for almost 30 years, including at American Transtech (a division of AT&T) and American Express.

Cindy Solomon - PBWC Director-At-Large
President, Solomon & Associates, Inc.
Cindy Solomon is president of Solomon & Associates, Inc., an organization dedicated to creating high performance leaders, developing highly effective employees and building truly customer-focused organizational cultures. She is known for the witty, motivational and fully customized delivery of her material that allows every audience to build their knowledge base, while building their enthusiasm for productive change, life-long learning and exceptional customer service.

Lara Lee - PBWC Director-At-Large
Principal, Jump Associates
Lara Lee is a principal at Jump Associates, a growth and innovation strategy firm based in San Mateo, Calif. At Jump, she leads the firm’s brand community and sustainability practices and is a member of the executive management team. Lara’s commentary and writings on sustainability, marketing, and business strategy have appeared in numerous publications, including The Harvard Business Review, BusinessWeek, Forbes and The New York Times. Prior to Jump, Lara was VP of Enthusiast Services at Harley-Davidson, leading a division that included experiential services, a new business incubator and the company’s online presence. Lara holds dual master's degrees in business administration and international affairs from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business, and a bachelor's degree in Chinese language from Brown University.

Patricia Williams - PBWC Past Board President
Vice President, Director — Silicon Valley Complex, Merrill Lynch
Patricia Williams is Vice President, Director of the Silicon Valley Complex at Merrill Lynch, which includes the San Jose, Cupertino and Carmel offices, as well as those in Asia Pacific. She has been with Merrill Lynch for 20 years, the first ten as a Financial Advisor in the Menlo Park office, and subsequently serving the company as Sales Manager and Resident Manager. Patricia holds a BA from Vassar College.

Arquelle Shaw - PBWC Director-At-Large
AT&T Vice President Premier Client Group, West
With global responsibility for the Mid and Enterprise business customers headquartered in the Western United States, Arquelle is focused on developing integrated solutions which help customers to transform their businesses in order to attain critical objectives, expand their capabilities, and achieve significantly greater business velocity.

Arquelle is a three time recipient of AT&T's Circle of Excellence award and was named one of the Bay Area's 100 Most Influential Women by the Bay Area Business Times.  She also chairs the AT&T Relay for Life Tee it Up Golf Tournament for the Bay Area to raise money for the American Cancer Society, serves on the Sycamore Elementary Shark Fund Board, and is a team coach for Odyssey of the Mind.  Arquelle attended Sonoma State University, majoring in Sociology.  She currently resides in Danville, CA with her son Benjamin.

Hallie Hart - PBWC Director-At-Large
Senior Financial Advisor, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
As a Senior Financial Advisor in the Global Wealth Management Division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch; her practice is focused on retirement planning for families and businesses.  Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Hallie founded and grew to national distribution, a ceramic tableware company.  In addition to her current role, she serves as CEO of the Merrill Lynch Women's Exchange, East Bay Chapter.  Externally she serves on the Board of Lazarex Cancer  Foundation.  She supports and is a member of Women's Initiative for Self Employment and Oakland Rotary.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Hallie has been invited back to speak to her experience within financial services.  She has also been published on topics regarding privately held business transition strategies.  Hallie lives in the Rockridge District of Oakland, CA with her husband and several pets.