PBWC Board of Directors

René L. Kim - PBWC President and Board Chair
Senior Vice President — Charles Schwab

René Kim is senior vice president at Charles Schwab and is responsible for Bank and Cash Strategy, cash and margin product management and is the Charles Schwab & Co liaison to Schwab Charitable donor advised fund.  René began her tenure at Schwab in April 1999 and has 25 years' experience in the financial services industry.  René joined the Professional BusinessWomen of California board in 2008.  She currently serves as the Board Chair and in this role, she develops programming and helps to set the future direction of the organization.  René lives in Lafayette with her husband and two sons.

Nicole Soluri - PBWC Board Vice Chair
Chief Counsel, California State Lottery
Nicole serves as Chief Counsel to the California State Lottery. Prior to that, she was an attorney with Downey Brand LLP, where she focused on corporate and securities matters. Before joining Downey Brand, Nicole was with the firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC in Palo Alto. In addition to her work with PBWC, Nicole is also on the board of the Sacramento Children's Home.  She received a B.A. from Santa Clara University and a J.D. from the UC Davis School of Law. Nicole lives in Sacramento with her husband Patrick, 15 month old son Connor, and rescue dogs Cody and Duncan.

Shirley Gordon, CPCU, CLU, CHFC and JD - PBWC Board Secretary
Vice President - Operations, State Farm Insurance Companies

Shirley has held numerous operations leadership positions at State Farm Insurance for more than 38 years. She is responsible for State Farm California's Auto and Fire Operations servicing more than 5 million policies.  She also leads the Computing, Processing and Solutions Department.  Shirley serves on the board of the United Way of Kern County and is an Executive Advisory Council Member of Leadership California. She is a past chair of the United Way of the Wine Country, trustee of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, and chair of the American Heart Association Go Red for Women Executive Committee Sonoma County.

John Kunhart - PBWC Board Treasurer
Managing Director, American River Ventures

A serial entrepreneur, John is a co-founder and managing director of American River Ventures, an SRI venture capital fund located in Sacramento.  John has served on the board of many venture financed companies.   Prior to founding American River Ventures, John held senior technical and marketing positions with IBM, Tandem, and Boeing Computer Services.  He is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University.

Jackie Speier - Emerita Board Member and PBWC Founder
U.S. Congresswoman
Representing the 14th District of California, Congresswoman 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.

Judy Bloom - Emerita Board Member and PBWC Founding President
Floral Design and Organizational Development Consultant
Judy has served as the District Director for then-Assemblywoman Jackie Speier, Executive Director of Resourceful Women. Director of Employer Services at Jewish Vocational Service and Development Officer/Director of Imprint Giving at the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.  Judy retired from full-time employment at the end of 2010 and now enjoys studying Hebrew, traveling, volunteering on community boards, working with flowers, and spending time with her family.

Cheryl A. Cornelius - PBWC Director-At-Large
Client Executive — IBM Financial Services

Cheryl has over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry, working with banks, brokerages, asset management and leasing firms.  Currently, Cheryl is responsible for helping clients develop business solutions that leverage IBM; leads IBM's Western Region Women's Council; and mentors several IBM employees. Cheryl is a wife, mother of 2 children and is active in their school's Mothers' Club, sports programs, and Girl Scouts of America.

Deidra Lieberman - PBWC Director-At-Large
Vice President Sales - Cumulus Media

Deidra oversees the company’s sales operations for KGO/KSFO/KNBR/KFOG and KSAN Radio.   Deidra received a BA in Broadcast Communication Arts from San Francisco State University.  She served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Television and Radio, participated in the Women Inspiring Women in Radio Mildred Carter Mentoring program and is currently on the Executive Committee for the Northern California Broadcasters Association. Deidra was recognized as one of the most influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2011 and one of the Most Influential Women in Radio by Radio Ink Magazine in 2012.

Alexandra Roddy - PBWC Director-At-Large
SVP Strategy and Delivery - Bank of the West

Alexandra, a 15 year veteran of the financial services industry, is a creative, analytical, results-oriented executive who doesn't need to think out of the box because she doesn't recognize the box to begin with. As SVP at Bank of the West, Alexandra leads a team of 45 with responsibility for products, technology and project management. Alexandra holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a single parent, skier, equestrian and artist.

Wanda Smith - PBWC Director-at-Large
Senior Administrative Assistant - Abbott Vascular

For the past 14 years, she has been an Executive Assisant with Guidant Corporation and Abbott Vascular (both of these organizations, respectively, were and are leaders in the field in treatment of cardiovascular disease). In 2004, Wanda was the recipient of the PBWC Working Woman Scholarship.  With the impetus of this scholarship and her diligence, she graduated, in 2011, with a Baccalaureate of Arts in Communications Studies (Cum Laude) with a minor in Business from San Jose State University.

Deepti Srivastava - PBWC Director-at-Large
Technical Program Manager - Google

Kathryn Larson - PBWC Executive Director

Kathryn brings more than 25 years of executive experience to PBWC specializing in Strategy, Marketing and Business Development.  She joined PBWC in October of 2012.  Prior to joining PBWC, Kathryn served as Senior Vice President, Bank of America,  where she led the Western Region Global Wealth Management Insurance Division.  Kathryn has held various leadership roles at Wells Fargo, Prudential, and Pacific Life.  Kathryn serves on the Board of Marin YMCA and on the Board and Executive Committee of North Bay Children's Center.